A Wrinkle in Time: June 2016

[Michele]

Tolkien would have disagreed with you :)

[Tej]

Michele wrote: "Tolkien would have disagreed with you :)"

Ha, yes..I havent read the whole your whole article link but I have seen documentaries on both CS Lewis and Tolkiens life, their pub meetings and Tolkien's eventual bewildering reaction to the "ridiculous" narrative of his dear drinking partner. Poor Tolkien, I do symapthise with him, Narnia stories are bonkers and totally illogical but there is a magic charm that Tolkien is not quite grasping but he is a such literate legend, so its ok :) Wonder what he would have made out of Wrinkle in Time.

[Michele]

Tej wrote: "Wonder what [Tolkien] would have made out of Wrinkle in Time. "

An interesting question. It might also have bewildered him since it's more science-based (folding space/time, alien planets, etc.) and doesn't have elements of myth or fantasy. But I think he might have appreciated the idea of small beings (i.e., pre-adolescent humans) fighting a Big Bad.

[Tej]

Another thing about literature criticisms is that most critics apply too much technical judgement. How is the prose, the structure of acts, the crafting of narrative etc...which is all very important but sometimes an artist can break all the rules or even be ordinary with their narrative constructs but still somehow be compelling, or radical in the storytelling which sets them apart, its where the magic really comes in and propels the authors celebrity status while the more technically advanced storytellers linger in the shadow and annoy the hell out of the text book loving critic. Narnia books surely comes into that magical but bizarelly annoying category and having read Wrinkle in Time, I think I will class that book in the same way even though, I am not as fond of it but I appreciate its justified popularity. Same JK Rowling who often gets critisiced for technicalities in her narrative.

[Landis]

Thank you, Tej and Michele. My favorite is, "The Horse and his Boy".

[Tej]

Landis wrote: "Thank you, Tej and Michele. My favorite is, "The Horse and his Boy"."

Oh, I love that one too and thats another one totally ignored by filmmakers, I guess because of its isolated storyline from the main saga which is understandable.




I havent read the rest of the Wrinkle in Time series even though I have the box set so I am wondering what are anyones guesses for the whole series to flourish as a cinematic series given the first book adaptation is in preproduction. My guess is it will have ti be exceptional to get sequels made as not as too many beloved mutli book series has suffered abrupt halts on the big screen. Only very few such as potter, hunger games, Lotr, twilight are the rare lucky ones that made it all the way.

Btw, anyone actually saw the tv movie adaptation of Wrinkle in time? Made in 2003, i saw a bit of it when it was on our tv but didnt catch the beginning. It seemed alright, production wise but also a bit tacky. Those of you who really like the books might want to seek it out if you havent

[Michele]

FYI, I just found out that last year, the Wall Street Journal published three very interesting pages that were cut from the book during editing. They express the (rather timely!) idea that an obsessive need for safety/security can be quite a dangerous thing.

Apparently the pages were shared with the Wall Street Journal by L'Engle's daughter-in-law just last year.

[Tej]

Good find, Michele! Timely indeed. That was very interesting and gives meaty food for thought if very slim disguising of Engel's political thinking there. Understandable why its cut but makes for a great dvd extra!

I live a life in moderation, trying to strike a balance in everything, and failing often, lol but I try. Safety is important but not at the sacrifice of freedom and choice. So I guess i can agree with the father's thoughts.

Also reminds me of Asimov 's I Robot. But on a different angle of false safety. Casused by not just the robots that implemented extremism in safety but the humans who programmed them as such without really thinking through the permutations.

[Glynn]

Michele wrote: "FYI, I just found out that last year, the Wall Street Journal published three very interesting pages that were cut from the book during editing. They express the (rather timely!) idea that an obses..."

Just "wow!" :)

[Michele]

Also, it appears there's a new movie version in the works. Looks promising.

[Cheryl]

Michele wrote: "FYI, I just found out that last year, the Wall Street Journal published three very interesting pages that were cut from the book during editing. They express the (rather timely!) idea that an obses..."

oh wow... thank you for letting us know!