A Wrinkle in Time
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Possibly the worst book I have ever read.
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King Shit of Turd Mountain
(last edited Jan 15, 2015 04:48PM)
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rated it 1 star
Interesting. So basically the process of reading/writing falls somewhere in between a nuclear chain-reaction, a pyramid scheme and Mormonism.Definitely food for thought.
Rivka -- that is poetic truth! I will remember that forever!
I actually really love this book. It is written in a style that is very interesting, raw and no beating around the bush. This may seem like bad writing to some people but I disagree strongly. There are themes and ideas explored in this novel which can be difficult to understand for anybody. I see that. I also see that this book simply ROCKS!!!
Some comments (and I do like various opinions, that's why I'm here) have completely changed the way I see a few of my favorite books. I've always loved Atlas Shrugged and A Wrinkle in Time, and never saw either one of them as anything more than really great reads. I haven't read any politics or religion into either, until recently! But that's fine, it's good to re-evaluate one's opinions in new light!
All I know is I was always worried about finding out that the person in charge of the universe was a jiggling brain on a platter. That image haunted me for about 5 years after reading this in elementary school.
King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "*** NOTE: If you do not want to read my comment (TL;DNR), please just skip straight to the other 1 star reviews and read them instead. ***This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read, a..."
I didn't like it either, and I read it for a Juvenile Fantasy Lit class at my college. I had so much trouble understanding why this book is valuable to juvenile fantasy literature or young adults and child readers at all, considering the plot makes like absolutely no sense.
I personally love A Clockwork Orange, even despite the Russian meta-language. But this book was just, as Alex would call it, a fuckin' horrorshow.
Cait wrote: "King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "*** NOTE: If you do not want to read my comment (TL;DNR), please just skip straight to the other 1 star reviews and read them instead. ***This is quite possibly..."
Cait, I think we all have a favorite novel/a loved novel and we all have a least favorite novel/a hated one. (And I'm so glad goodreads doesn't edit what we say unless it's abusive to a person.) Today, my fav novel is "The Art of Fielding" and least fav "Jane Eyre". As far as "Wrinkle" I loved it as a child, have liked it as an adult, but am now questioning the whole book on a religious level because of discussions here. And "Clockwork Orange" is something I should read!
Oh hey, I forgot about this thread. I was really into it for a while there, in a big way. Good times.I still have to do that second comparative essay essay I promised. I actually really WANT to do it, I've just been too busy.
Hey King, great name! One not to be confused with anyone else! So nice that goodreads doesn't censor much of anything (nothing at all as far as I can tell).
I am sad that so many are talking badly about this author. She is somewhat of a staple in English education and teaches us a lot about the fantasy genre. I believe that her works are works of art that can easily transport the reader into a new world. I will agree with some of the critics that her writing and character development are not at the top of the game, but I think that it is meant to be read that way. She is writing for a younger generation who cannot yet process and understand large words with veiled mysterious points and huge repercussions in the literary world. I think these books are a great gateway for young readers to find the joy in a good book and to find the amazing feeling that a book can create for you. I think that she paved a way for books like Harry Potter and even The Giver to be accessible to young adults. I believe that L'Engle did a wonderful job on this book and all of her other books (yes, I read every one of them as a kid because I feel in love with A Wrinkle in Time).I hope for those of you that are looking at this thread and deciding whether to read her or not that you pick up one of her books and decide for yourself how you feel about L'Engle's writing style and her characters.
Books can be valued for different reasons. I can treasure a book for its amazing writing, or its powerful themes. There are books, and writers, that I love because of their ability to write dialogue or characters that feel so real I can't believe they're fictional. And then there are the books that speak to my heart and my life in some way so I don't care if they aren't technically perfect. I think AWIT was that kind of book for many people growing up. I've wondered over the years about its power to touch so many young people's hearts, including mine, and I can only say the L'Engle managed to touch a vein. I can't tell how or why.
As an adult I've had the opportunity to return to some magical places from my early years. Some of them are still full of magic, others leave me shrugging and saying, "It felt different back then." Again, AWIT seems to be that kind of book.
You can argue about its shortcomings but you can't argue that for many it was one of the memorable books of their childhood. I think it deserves respect for that, if nothing else.
And if it's seriously the worst book you've ever read, well, keep reading. lol There are lots of worse books out there.
Teri-k wrote: "Books can be valued for different reasons. I can treasure a book for its amazing writing, or its powerful themes. There are books, and writers, that I love because of their ability to write dialogu..."As someone who read Wrinkle in Time as a kid and really liked it, I can still allow that someone else like King Turd might have hated it. In the end these are all books written by humans and sometimes they work for us and sometimes they don't. If a book just bombed with someone, seems like they should be allowed to hate it without undermining all of Western civilization or the suggestion being that the person has not read enough.
Mayor wrote: "Teri-k wrote: "Books can be valued for different reasons. I can treasure a book for its amazing writing, or its powerful themes. There are books, and writers, that I love because of their ability t..."Agreed. But if you're going to post your opinion on a discussion board you need to be prepared for people to disagree. :)
King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "*** NOTE: If you do not want to read my comment (TL;DNR), please just skip straight to the other 1 star reviews and read them instead. ***This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read, a..."
Quite a name you go by, your majesty. I am flumoxed by the amount of people who love this book. It takes all kinds but I do not get it.
Thank you Joni, but alas, I cannot take the credit. The title was bestowed to me by a Goodreads user named Jack on the second page of comments.
have to say that whe i re-read this as an adult, i didn't adore it. but, BIG BUT, when i was a kid, this was the first time i read a book with time travel, parallel universe, fantasy themes, and i KNEW that if there were more out there like it i had to find them. I will always be grateful to the librarian who handed it to me for a summer reading program.
I thought this book was, yes, not very... Realistic, But, this book was deep and interesting and a very fun book to read. (I like most books though)
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 as dangerous as conformity.Apparently the pages were shared with the Wall Street Journal by L'Engle's daughter-in-law just last year.
KSOTM, I couldn't agree with you more. I finally read this after age 40 because of its longstanding reputation, and my distaste only deepened after turning each page. I interpreted it as a relic of the Cold War, a simplistic ideological bludgeon meant to brainwash children. It is funny that this text is held up as an example of the value of persistence ("rejected 40 times, and now a classic!" haha). It should be recognized as a classic example of archaic propaganda that has been debunked. Joe McCarthy would've loved it, I'm sure! If you're an anti-fascist go watch "The Interview," it's much more entertaining and realistic.
Kthaeh wrote: "I loved this trilogy as a child, and at the particular time I loved it, I was a child who had been brought up Catholic and was just beginning to reject religion. I didn't read L'Engel's books as be..."Nichole wrote: "Haha, This thread was a great read. I totally agree with the original poster on everything. And I thought I was crazy for not liking this book because I've heard people say how great it was, non-st..."
Ditto, Nichole. I'm 59 and remember nothing about what it's about but absolutely remember thinking (at age 12), "What is this ABOUT?! What am I not getting?" I was an avid and advanced reader as a kid but had never read sci-fi, my family swung by the Protestant Church a couple of times/year so no religious upbringing and I, too, thought, "Wow, and here I thought I was bright(ish). Clearly not." I'd give it a second whirl but that very first B (was used to all A's) I got in 6th grade English was because of this book. I'm being somewhat facetious about any "trauma" but clearly it's a divided group-some loved it, some not at all. And I think both views are probably valid. But I just hope no one is still handing this to middle-school aged kids, thinking it's a "fantasy kids' classic" that surely every child would love (and understand).
King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "*** NOTE: If you do not want to read my comment (TL;DNR), please just skip straight to the other 1 star reviews and read them instead. ***This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read, a..."
What a great review! Couldn't agree with you more but wouldn't even bother trying to write a review of a book I read 47 years ago and all I remember is being totally baffled.
✞кεℓℓү cσsтιgαη✞ wrote: "I suppose it was okay. It's not the worst book I've ever read (Frankenstein is. Gosh, I loathed that book). I found A Wrinkle in Time somewhat boring and monotonous, but I can see why some children..."
King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "Lis, thank you for the input, I very much appreciate what you are trying to say (and I would be even more hypocritical than I already am if I were to care about typos).I will make time to read th..."
King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "So it sort of is entirely a sentimental thing then. Maybe this is a cultural thing I will never understand being that I am an Australian who only caught the tail end of the Cold War and as such hav..."
(just whisper the name of the other author? If it's the author of the Harry Potter "series" or even if not, I am fine in saying that I just found it bizarre when the first book came out and then the second....
and my son was not interested nor was I. But God forbid should you tell a grown woman (because it was usually the mothers), "Nope, didn't read any Harry Potter. Have zero interest in even considering it. Why? Because I'm not a Young Adult so I don't read Young Adult books." Well, actually it was pretty easy to say that. But maybe you weren't even talking about HP.
Eric wrote: "It should be recognized as a classic example of archaic propaganda that has been debunked. "Not sure I understand: How is it propaganda?
Look, Shit King of Turd, I may be a teen, but hear me out on this oneI don't really understand why you don't like the book, the characters are spectacularly well written, and the fact that it applies to modern day issues makes it all the more of a classic.
Also, books don't necessarily have to be long to be good. Think about cannery row, by John Steinbeck. not long, but a true classic. Do you just want to have a big fat book on your desk to impress the cool people???
You also mention that you do not like the book partly because it is popular. This makes no sense to me. Since when is a book bad when it is popular. If it's popular, that probably means that people like it and it's a good book. I don't feel as if you actually read the book.
You also say that it is not science fiction. How in the hell do you define sci-fi then???? Are you going to say that "The Hunger Games" isn't sci-fi? It's the same genre.
Then, going back you what you said about Christian's trying to explain the universe; THIS BOOK IS NOT NON-FICTION. it does not have to be true. the book is for enjoyment. Also, though i'm not religious, it does not hurt to look at evil in the way that Madeleine l'engel does. honestly.
FIVE STAR REVIEW FOR THIS BOOK!!!
I'm just about to go on holiday for a week, but I promise I'll respond some time after I get back.I do want to point out that I agree with you on brevity - I hate superfluous writing and a story should be told on as fee words as possible. Fat books mean nothing; it's about quality not quantity, hence why I mentioned that Philip K Dick's short story is a better example, promised to write a full comparison on the two, then never got around to it for 2 years. It's still on my to-do list.
See you in a week.
Sam wrote: "...You also mention that you do not like the book partly because it is popular...."Hey Sam -- I know your comment wasn't directed at me, but I thought I'd give you my $.02 worth on this particular point. There are some of us (me included) that have an instinctive reaction against something that gets tons of hype. I think it might have to do with being older, and having seen a LOT of stuff get a LOT of hype that is in NO way deserved.
You say that "If it's popular, that probably means that people like it and it's a good book." You will find, grasshopper (and I say that with affection!), that this is far from the truth. Something may be popular (i.e., sell a lot of copies) because everyone has heard about it, or because Oprah mentioned it, or because it's the "in" thing and people buy it so as not to be left out, or because it's so bad that people want to buy it and laugh about it.
Fifty Shades of Grey was/is humungously popular, and it is an objectively bad book: Poorly written, lousy character development, laughable dialog, and a dangerously inaccurate representation of the dom/sub relationship.
The Twilight series was/is humungously popular, and they are also in many ways not very good books. They certainly hooked a certain audience, though.
I guess what I'm saying is that it's a sad truth that popularity does not always equal quality. I wish it did. These days, popularity often just equals the lowest common denominator. So yeah, I kind of agree with KSoTM: if it's suddenly wildly popular, I view it with some suspicion. I wait to see if it has staying power.
Of course, that means that I don't get around to the good popular stuff until late in the game. I didn't start watching Buffy until season 3, for example, and I really wish I'd started watching Breaking Bad a lot sooner lol
P.S. I also gave Wrinkle in Time five stars :)
Hello michele, and thank you for giving your input. I agree with you completely. I really did not like the harry potter series or ready player one (which I'm sure many people disagree with me about), and they are surprisingly popular. I was more saying that you should not dislike something just because it's popular. While I agree that a wrinkle in time is sort of an acquired taste (along with Rendezvous with Rama, The Chocolate War, and The Three Musketeers, all of which got five stars from me), but it feels like KSoTM (I copy-and-pasted your acronym) did not really read the book, or his suspicion of the popularity got in the way of the reading experience.
Thanks for your input, and I would love this to become a serious discussion,
Sam
Linda wrote: "...I just hope no one is still handing this to middle-school aged kids, thinking it's a "fantasy kids' classic" that surely every child would love (and understand). "Sure they are :) My 11-year-old nephew had it assigned as his "summer reading" last year. I still remember our conversation:
Him: Have you every heard of a book called A Wrinkle in Time?
Me: Sure I have. It's great. How did you hear about it.
Him (with a disgusted sigh): Because everybody keeps telling me how great it is!
I need to follow up and see what he thought of it...
I think somewhere above I said that Elom was the worst book I'd ever read -- sludgy pacing, juvenile (in a bad way) characters, etc etc etc.I think I have another contender, though: Crash. As I said in my review: "Vapid unlikable characters, sexually graphic to the point of disgust, and repetitive to the point of boredom. I suppose Ballard was trying to make some sort of point, but if so, I didn't get it."
So Sam, what would you pick as the worst book you have ever read? As a teen, of course, you've got lots more books in your future but what the worst literary felony you've encountered so far?
Hmm, I'd say probably Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, because it's not all that well written, the dialogue doesn't really have any realism, and there isn't much complex character development. Although its hard, since I've given a three star and above to most books.
Sam wrote: "Hmm, I'd say probably Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, because it's not all that well written, the dialogue doesn't really have any realism, and there isn't much complex character development..."Awwww. See, now I loved the Harry Potter books :) You're right about the character development in the first book, but across the series as a whole, there's quite a bit.
Yeah, I mainly didn't like the first book; the movie was better.
It honestly sounds to me like you hate this book only because you consider it Christian propaganda and you are a hardcore atheist. (You state several times through your comments that it is pushing Christianity). Since Jesus is only mentioned once, quoted as one of several light bringers in the world during a philosophical discussion, I find it hard that a difficult argument to swallow.I love the book and always have since the first time I discovered it in a library back in the early 80s. I never saw it as specifically anti-communism directed, although now of course I see how it could be. But its message of anti-bullying and nonconformity are ones I always took to heart and I think are strongly needed today. I worry that all children today are being treated like the little boy in Camazotz - forced into painful therapies when they step out of line with all other children and labelled sick. Like Meg and her family, I resist this push toward universal oneness at the cost of individuality and call it evil. I am not a Christian :)
I also am not sure why you feel you need to "save" people from reading this book. I am suspicious when people try to keep me from reading a book. What do they not want me to see? What are they afraid I might learn? The book is not long and if they don't like it they will likely set it down fairly early on in their reading.
Well,this book was wonderful to me so to all you haters opinions I say 😜
I liked this book too! Finally somebody who agrees with me!
Hannah wrote: "I liked this book too! Finally somebody who agrees with me!"I think there are plenty of folks who agree with you :)
Ravens wrote: "...I never saw it as specifically anti-communism directed, although now of course I see how it could be. But its message of anti-bullying and nonconformity are ones I always took to heart and I think are strongly needed today...."Ravens, well said. I agree. I never felt the book was pushing Christianity (and I'm a confirmed atheist myself!), I just felt like it was encouraging everyone to fight "The Dark Side" in whatever way they could, according to their gifts. Hence the mention of Jesus in the same category as Einstein :)
Wow! I was very surprised by the bad comments and the basis for them. Ah well, to each their own. I first had this story read to me in first grade by the teacher. I was 5 years old, in the year 1960. The story mesmerized me. My family moved a lot, different school every year, but I could never forget that story. Couldn't remember the name, until a computer search for Mrs Who, Mrs What, Mrs Which, that I found it again to read. For me it was a story rich with fantasy, surprise, and unknown. About life, struggle, and evil, and love winning in the end. I'm 62 now, have read the story many times and get joy at the simplicity of it. I've never even entertained the thought of religion, perhaps the mind control represented by some political bent of the time. Don't really care. The rants and raves over this child's book is way more disturbing to me than the story.
You should really start conversations on things you like jerks. This book is old fashioned but I dont expect you to appreciate it with all this contemporary clishe crap, so dont stomp your last season prada shoes at me.
This book is not classic cliche crap and I think it is great. Be positive keep your thoughts no one wants to here to yourselfe turd bucket. This novel is not contemporary crap so I would expect you not to apreciate it the way I do but it is not bad. Maybe not so exiting but it is more memorable than some books I have read which were worse. Please shut up and maybe post about a fandome you love ok turd bucket?
Whoa, folks, easy there. No need to start hurling insults. We all have different likes and dislikes, and that's OK. Don't take it or make it personal, please.
Sorry, ok. I just feel like if you want to talk about a book and get others to share your opinion you should lead them toward the book not away from it. You don't have to destroy books to destroy a culture, just get people to stop reading them.
uh uh, you guys, some of these are just rude. keep your mean opinions to yourself
King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "*** NOTE: If you do not want to read my comment (TL;DNR), please just skip straight to the other 1 star reviews and read them instead. ***This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read, a..."
Nice that you spilled your bile over this one, but unfortunately your insights are warped. This is science fiction. Transgalactic travel comes under the domain of SF. But then you are so prejudiced against this children's novel your literary analysis suffers.
King Shit of Turd Mountain wrote: "Lis, thank you for the input, I very much appreciate what you are trying to say (and I would be even more hypocritical than I already am if I were to care about typos).I will make time to read th..."
You say that you have a problem with novels written around your own generation. Perhaps the fault lies with you. You just haven't got with it. You are misplaced in a time warp that the rest of us have insights and relevance to. So beef it up. Get real. Become a member of this society in this real time. Cuz you can't go back to 100 years to live in.
King Shit, I am overwhelmed that you are so naive that you got taken in by a book and became a soldier. The tragedy lies in your character not society.
Enchantingmonkey wrote: "Sometimes I think I like YA fiction too much for my age. Aside from Hermann Hesse, I have yet to find an adult fiction author who motivates me to read more than one or two of his/her novels. Perhap..."Interesting comment about being motivated by authors. I was mesmerized by THE GOOD EARTH and went on to read 4 other Pearl Bucks during my teenage years. With a good reading of the House of Mirth, I went on to read two more of her books. After reading THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, 3 more of Kundera's, and after THE TORTILLA CURTAIN, 4 more of Boyle's. And after reading the GRAPES OF WRATH, a dozen of Steinbeck's. And that's just for starters. Dostoyevsky, Mann, Hesse, Baldwin, even low brow evonavitch, rex stout, allingham, and Poirot's creator. How is it that you weren't ever motivated to read more of an author's book list after being enthralled.. I find that a bit strange.
After taking one bite of pad thai I would want to each more Thai food.
Geoffrey wrote: "Interesting comment about being motivated by authors"Books can have a profound influence on people. Two examples from my own life:
I started keeping a journal after I read Harriet the Spy. Still at it more than forty years later.
I read The New Lucinda (about a girl who decides to take advantage of her family's relocation and her starting at a new school to "reinvent" herself) right before my family moved and I started at a new high school. It gave me not only the idea but the guts to try it myself, and let to some great experiences/opportunities I likely would never have had otherwise.
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All stories are true. When a writer writes a fictional story, he or she creates an alternate universe where the characters are real. They go on to write their own books, creating infinite universes. However, not every book creates a universe. It must be read, and there must be willing suspension of disbelief for it to work.