From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #1)

Madeleine L'Engle

Start date: February 1, 2018

Finish date: February 28, 2018

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: RJ - Slayer of Trolls

Why we're reading this: Group discussion topic February 2018
[close] Group discussion topic February 2018

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 250 topics — 8,801 comments total

Book Discussions

"Cyteen" by C.J. Cherryh
By deleted member · 48 posts · 105 views

last updated May 24, 2025 11:25PM

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
By deleted member · 46 posts · 150 views

last updated Mar 28, 2025 02:28PM

showing 10 of 18 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Apr 30, 2011 EA Solinas rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

When a strange old lady turns up at your house and tells you random facts about five-dimensional space, you should probably call the police.

Fortunately, that does not happen in "A Wrinkle In Time," where reality can twist and bend, and strange worlds are just a tesseract away. Madeleine L'Engle's classic sci-fantasy is many things -- a coming-of-age tale, a rescue quest, a clash between good and evil -- spun with rich, luminous prose and eerie alien worlds.

On a stormy night, the strange Mrs. Wha When a strange old lady turns up at your house and tells you random facts about five-dimensional space, you should probably call the police.

Fortunately, that does not happen in "A Wrinkle In Time," where reality can twist and bend, and strange worlds are just a tesseract away. Madeleine L'Engle's classic sci-fantasy is many things -- a coming-of-age tale, a rescue quest, a clash between good and evil -- spun with rich, luminous prose and eerie alien worlds.

On a stormy night, the strange Mrs. Whatsit takes shelter in the Murray household, and informs Mrs. Murray that "there is such a thing as a tesseract." Teenage Meg Murray suspects that that the tesseract has something to do with her father's mysterious disappearance. So she, her little brother Charles Wallace and her classmate Calvin go off to get more answers from Mrs. Whatsit and her pals, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which.

The three old woman soon whisk the kids off on a journey through time and space, to worlds and creatures that are utterly alien to them. But it turns out that Mr. Murray has not merely become lost on an alien world -- he has been ensnared by an evil intelligence that threatens them all. To save her family -- not to mention the entire universe -- Meg will have to face the most horrifying threat of all.

"A Wrinkle in Time" is a book that defies easy classification -- it isn't typical fantasy or sci-fi, it's a CHILDREN'S novel that integrates physics and philosophy into the story, and it's rife with religious symbolism. L'Engle also had a truly sublime writing style -- she wrote in a rich, almost sensual style with lots of little details that make you feel like you are actually THERE.

And L'Engle had the rare talent for making you feel like the universe is a vast, strange place filled with wonders and terrors, which are physically bizarre but spiritually familiar to us. This is a story where you can be instantly swept from our planet to a dark world filled with four-armed eyeless yetis, or a grey planet of perfect order, and somehow it feels wholly real.

And while the characters sound like stereotypes -- the weird old ladies, the plain girl, the child genius, the popular boy -- they really aren't. Meg seems kind of whiny and wangsty at first, but once the kids get swept up in their quest she gets to show her inner strength at last. Charles Wallace doesn't bug me as most child geniuses do, and Calvin serves as the "normal" one who serves as a source of strength. And the Mrs. W's are absolutely delightful -- eccentric, kindly and utterly mysterious.

"A Wrinkle in Time" is one of those rare books that can change the way you see the universe -- and it's a friggin' good read too. A richly imagined, exquisitely written story.
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2017 Dawn Reid rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 8-ya-children, sci-fi, fiction, fantasy, 6-classic-fiction, 7-series, audio-book

I had completely forgotten about this book. I read it when I was quite young and don't remember it. I heard the movie is coming out and watched the trailer and didn't remember anything about it so I had re-read this book again. I have to say that I throughly enjoyed it and will be reading the others as I know I didn't read the whole series. ...more

Like · see review