Book Review: THE TIME QUARTET, by Madeliene L'Engle

Book I: A WRINKLE IN TIME

I read A WRINKLE IN TIME for the first time in second grade, and would be willing to bet that WRINKLE was one of the first chapter books that I read, ever, though it was an assignment for school. Did L'Engle figure largely in my developement as a bibliophile? Most certainly, though I forgot about WRINKLE completely until I was nineteen.

That's when I read Walking on Water for the first time and, upon discovering that L'Engle was one smart lady, picked up her Time Quartet and read the whole thing in roughly a week. This is one of those series that I love, not only for its fantastic stories and huge concepts crammed into child-size characters, but because it is cozy and familiar to me--reading about Meg Murry's attic bedroom reminds me of reading WRINKLE on a wet fall day in our first apartment, snuggled into an afghan and sipping a cup of tea.

It's not just pleasant connotations that bring me back and back to The Time Quartet, however--L'Engle's interpretation of theology is fascinating, and I love that she flat out quotes Scripture in such fitting contexts as strange space creatures singing praises to God. She manages to write a great story without turning faith into an ambiguous allegory, but also without watering the book down to that lamest of lame genres, "Christian Fiction."

Aside from that, though, the story is just plain old good. Meg gets a little obnoxious at times, but L'Engle uses that to the tale's advantage, and counters nicely with the ever-amazing Charles Wallace. To top it off, it is my opinion that the Time books get better and better, with the fourth, Many Waters, being my absolutely favorite. Next up? Book Two: A Wind in the Door.

Book II: A WIND IN THE DOOR

This really is the sort of series that every time I reread it, I become convinced that whichever book I'm reading presently, be it Book I, II or otherwise, is my very favorite of the series. This time through, I developed a real fondness for A WIND IN THE DOOR, not least because of all the fascinating information L'Engle introduces through pint-sized characters. Her ability to reveal to the reader both science and theology in new and exciting ways but in a single image or character, astounds me. I respect L'Engle tremendously for this, and found it most apparent in WIND, as Meg, Calvin & Co. explore mitochonria and farolandae with the most excellent cherubim I've come across (in literature) yet.

Book III: A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET

Of the quartet, PLANET is probably my least favorite book, but only because the other three are so stinkin' rad. I find L'Engle's manipulation of time, and the interlocking, closely knit pattern of it, more and more interesting every time I read the book, but PLANET still seems a little more awkward than the rest of the series--mostly because I miss the Murrys, given that they're only present for maybe a third (half?) of the book, and some of the aspects of the plot seem a little too coincidental for me.

But that's all preference, and I'm sure I'd love PLANET too if it weren't dwarfed by the awesomeness of the other books. Maybe some day PLANET will even end up as my favorite, but for now my very favorite is still:

Book IV: MANY WATERS

Yup. MANY WATERS still won out, which is odd, since Sandy and Dennys remain my least favorite of the Murrys (again, only because the rest of the Murrys are so great). The book starts off pretty awkward, since the twins feel rough and undeveloped and are prone to stating the obvious, such as, "Well, we're the normal ones of the family," and "Well, our parents are scientists," and so on. But I only criticize the beginning because L'Engle wins me over so completely by the second chapter.

The twins' adventure to me seems the most beautiful of all the books, and the most packed with huge, difficult questions that L'Engle handles with tremendous grace. Add this to an interpretation of the story of Noah and the ark that goes above and beyond anything I could have dreamt, and you have yourself an excellent book. I re-read the entire quartet, really, just to get to this book. MANY WATERS is beautiful in seventeen different ways.

RATING: 5

Book Review: LETTERS TO MALCOLM, by C.S. Lewis

Full title runs like this: Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer: Reflections on the Dialogue Between Man and God. Whew. Looks impressive or utterly geeky when you whip this one out on the bus, doesn't it? Or pretentious. At any rate, the book is marvellous and worth every snap judgement your fellow passengers may make, because it all comes down to the fact that C.S. Lewis was a smart guy, and it shows even in the a batch of letters that he never intended (to my knowledge) to publish.

I know I'm merely one of the tons of people who can claim that C.S. Lewis has been profoundly influential in the development of my faith, but it's very very true. I spent one whole summer with my friend Becca reading every Lewis book we could get our hands on, with the result that I catch myself constantly interjecting, in theological discussions, "Well, you know, in The Four Loves C.S. Lewis addresses that very topic. He says..." Makes me feel copy-cattish when I put it like that, but it's true. In a way, he has an answer for everything, even if the answer is sometimes "I don't know."

LETTERS TO MALCOLM is a skinny little over-looked book of letters, probably published after Lewis' death and therefore probably without his consent. There is no introduction to explain who Malcolm is, and Malcolm's response letters are not included--but it's just as well, because we get all we need from Lewis' side of the dialogue. I don't know why MALCOLM isn't more widely read; it ought to be. The chapters are short and concise, the topics big but well-written, and exciting to read. I will come back to this one, I can tell, just like I return constantly to Mere Christianity and L'Engle's Walking on Water.

RATING: 4

Book Review: WALKING ON WATER, by Madeliene L'Engle

You probably know Madeliene L'Engle as the author of A Wrinkle in Time, but she's written roughly a bazillion other books--everything from kids' fantasy, to memoir, to adult (sorry, "regular") novels, to nonfiction essays, and WALKING ON WATER: RELFECTIONS ON FAITH AND ART, written in 1980, falls somewhere in between those categories as one of her more meditative and openly Christian books (though all of her books explore Christian themes), and as my absolute favorite.

"Reflections on Faith and Art" means precisely that: a friend asked her to write some thoughts on what it means to be a "Christian artist" and she reluctantly sat down to do so, resisting firstly the notion that art could be cleanly divided into "Christian art" and "non-Christian art", and secondly the idea that it should be divided at all. Her words are clear and convicting on the many subjects that she eventually covers in WALKING ON WATER--at times she seems to veer very much away from "art" or "Christian", but the diversions are every bit as interesting as the main thread, as they touch on all kinds of things: the evolution of language, division within the Christian Church, the relationship between God and science, higher mathematics, the significance of names, and so on.

But her thoughts on art are plenty collected. She treats it as a holy endeavor, a gift given by God that must be maintained through discipline and practice, but that can transport both artist and viewer (or listener, or reader) to a place outside time, for a split second or for hours, depending on how long both parties remain willing. She also presents the fascinating idea that humans were intended to be much more than we are--that we should be able to move unfettered through time, or that we once could walk on water, but have forgotten how--and that the artistic process provides us briefly with a window into the nature we have forgotten as a consequence of the Fall.

L'Engle is brilliant and wise, and though she is two whole generations above me, I find her remarkably easy to relate to. WALKING ON WATER is one of my favorite books to pick up and read a single page, or a segment, or a chapter, whenever I'm feeling artistically (or spiritually) unmotivated. A friend got it just right in calling L'Engle's writing "quiet," because reading WALKING ON WATER creates in me a feeling similar to sitting by a still pond on a sunny day, or lying out on the grass and listening to all the small sounds of the world moving around me.

RATING: 5