Rating: 
Summary: Very memorable story though I have a few objections
Review: I am now in the middle of the first sequel to this book, going through the Time Quartet (don't understand why it isn't called the TIME QUINTET, the only logic I can come up with is AN ACCEPTABLE TIME deals with Polly and not one of the four Murry children) for the first time. A WRINKLE IN TIME is one of those books that have a sterling reputation, and a book I had been meaning to read for a long time. It was worth the wait, being one of the most memorable and unusual books I've read. For you old school gamers, perhaps Mother Brain off Metroid came from the villain here? Just a thought.The story is tightly written, very good buildup of characters, dominant themes very apparent (acceptance, curiosity, and very importantly: love), plausible resolution. All the characters are very memorable, people you would love to meet in real life. Charles Wallace is one of the most intriguing of all characters I have met in literature, and it's a shame we don't get to see more of the REAL C. W. (to those of you who have read the book you know what I mean). The images and story are so diverse, so far reaching I consumed the story rather quickly. To those of you familiar with C. S. Lewis, he said one of the purposes of literature, and primarily myth, is to give you 'stabs of joy', awaken a spiritually yearning that ultimately is consummated in the character of Christ Jesus. This book is myth. I wanted to go to the land of the centaurs and bask in that glory. This story awakens a longing and a yearning for things of the supernatural. It certainly did for me. I would end it at that, but I do have some issues or problems with this book. One largely rests in the fact that the three Mrs. Ws are maintaining the illusion of haunting and witchcraft to scare away people. No angles of God would do this, as described in the book, for "a joke" (its in the passage where Meg is attempting to help Charles Wallace at Camazots). I do not object to magic in literature depending on how it is handled. But I do object to this simply because they are painted as such wonderful servants of God, and there's the whole feel to the book of goodness and holiness, and then this element which for me goes completely against everything L'Engle otherwise consistently maintains in this work. Another is the inclusion of The Happy Medium. Medium is generally associated with sorcery and evil, and wish she had chosen a better title for her than this. Yet another is the feeling of universalism that predominates a particular passage in the book where Charles Wallace is describing the heroes who have fought against the encroaching darkness. One is Jesus. Since the book plays with the time element extensively, L'Engle should have said the Jesus won the battle already, even though we must fight it. This I do not hold against L'Engle, simply because the doctrine is complex and very difficult to understand, but I do resent the inclusion of Buddha as one of the people who have fought against the darkness, which, oddly, is included a few lines down with a lists of artists. My own thoughts on universalism are clouded (no, I do not believe full-blown universalism: the one I waiver back and forth with is found in THE LAST BATTLE). But Buddhism is a false religion, and he did not fight the darkness, although he had been deceived into thinking he had. While, for me, those things I've cited above do detract from this book, the story is wonderful, and one of the most remarkable books I've read. You will be changed by this book if you allow yourself to be. It's such an unusual book. I just soaked it up. Well done, L'Engle. Another impression I have of L'Engle, and which she herself supports, she has a very large curiosity about the world. There's a definite shift from NARNIA to WRINKLE. With Lewis you feel like he's an uncle telling you this wonderful story, but he's wise. With L'Engle, you get the feeling she's just as amazed at this world that's been uncovered as you are. In an interview with L'Engle here on Amazon, she said Lewis had a lot more answers, and she had a lot more questions. Lets see what she can turn up. Mike London (P. S. Have you seen those dreadful illustrations, the cover art, to the other paperback edition? That edition has the three children standing in an egg-shaped circle with a white creature flying over. They are much to young looking for this book - I don't like the cover art at all on those. I much prefer the one with the centaur on the cover or the hardback edition).
Rating:
Summary: For adults, too
Review: I didn't read this book until I was in my 20's. Why it took so long I don't know, but I wish now I had read it as a child. Not that I didn't enjoy it as an adult--on the contrary, I enjoyed it immensely. I even prefer L'Engle to another well-known children's novelist, C.S. Lewis. L'Engle did a wise thing, I belive, in choosing as her hero a young woman, Meg, who is going through her Ugly Duckling phase--she has glasses and braces, and is misunderstood at school. An additional burden is her younger brother, Charles Wallace, who is obviously in his own world. Or maybe universe. Although a science fiction/fantasy novel, this book is also a 'growing up' novel. Meg has to grow up and see that she has to be the hero. At first she wants her father to be the hero, but finds he cannot do it. L'Engle shows a fine understanding of a young woman's psyche--Meg adores and idealizes her father, but when he cannot live up to her standards she is disappointed and devalues him. She is in fact dangerously close to scapegoating him (or as L'Engle suggests, she is in the grip of the evil Black Thing). But through love Meg overcomes her narcissism. The one character who stands out in my mind is Aunt Beast--physically frightening at first but in reality a wonderful being, one who 'sees' not the temporary physical universe but the eternal wonder beyond it. Superb book, and recommended for all.
Rating:
Summary: Care to tesser?
Review: Reading this book once in middle school and again in my freshman year in college, I find that there is more to the story of the nerdy Meg Murray and her extraordinary brother, Charles Wallace, than meets the eye. A tale of love and of finding faith in yourself, this book not only entertains the young reader with fantastical adventure, but teaches a lesson in living -- living with yourself.
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Summary: "It was a dark and stormy night."
Review: Thus begins Madeleine L'Engle's classic first volume of her "time trilogy." I somehow did not discover this book until I was an adult, and it has become an enduring favorite of mine. The story of the tesseract travelling Murrys, accompanied by the odd three "Missuses," has elements of many genres in one tale. Science fiction, written at the dawn of our own space age, fantasy, coming of age, spiritual quest are all woven deftly in the tale of children seeking answers in a threatening and often dark world. The characters are immensely memorable and interesting, leaving the reader just enough room to imagine for themselves what it would be like to meet Meg, or Charles Wallace, or any of the time travelling ladies who become their guides. Children will read this book for the adventure and plot, which is fully engaging, but adults will read it for the deeper themes that are explored. "A Wrinkle in Time" is one of those rare, many-layered books that will reveal something new to its readers each time they re-read it. Those who are becoming impatient waiting for the next "Harry Potter" might well enjoy visiting this classic, and reading on in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover!!
Review: Don't judge this book by it's cover or it's first five pages because they are not that exciting. But this is a great book and you will most likly never want to put it down! If you like adventure,mystery,suspense and cliff hangers you'll love this book! This book is made up of mystical and magical characters as well as real people. This book is about two siblings who meet this boy named Calvin. The siblings names are Meg and Charles Wallace. They haven't seen their father in a realy long time and they want to see him, who wouldn't.To find out if they ever meet their father again read the book!! This book shoul teach you to always lesson to what your teachers and parents tell you because you can get in a lot of trouble!! If you like all these things you will love this book!! That why I give A Winkel in Time by Madeline L'engle Five stars!
Rating:
Summary: fiction with a brain
Review: "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle is one heck of a book. It is so engrossing in fact, that I read this book in one day. I highly recommend it. "A Wrinkle in Time" is fiction with a brain. It tells the story of how the Murry family (from the perspective of Meg) attempts to rescue their father from a place consumed by darkness. A lot of thought has obviously gone into creating the wonderful (and horrible) worlds in the story. The Murry's are a family of scientists. Both of Meg's parents are in fact world renowned scientists. Yet Meg seems to be the black sheep. Outside of math, she can do little but be awkward. "A Wrinkle in Time" is a story about how one's faults can become strengths. I like that. Another thing I like about "A Wrinkle in Time" is its focus on reality versus perception. The characters of the story learn in multitudes of ways that the unseen is often the most real...while the visible are often just shadows. The whole book sings with an inner strength about things we all must face in our everyday lives. While the situations are ones I doubt any of us may ever encounter, L'Engle's solutions are profoundly earthy and true. In this life where Angels so often look like witches or demons, (and vice versa) where our vision is clouded by the present darkness our fallen humanity..."A Wrinkle in Time" reminds us that the light is always there to shatter the darkness; and it is never beyond our reach. I recommend this book wholeheartedly to everyone.
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Summary: Adding an extra half-star here...
Review: At first I was offended because the average rating was half a star short of five stars... but I have to be realistic. It's not a PERFECT book, and there are some parts I do skip over here and there.... but on the other hand, and this is something very special from a bookworm as enthusiastic as I am, this is, regardless, my FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WHOLE WORLD. It is inspiring and deep and multifaceted and many layered. It has even given me encouragement during rough times in my life. Meg is a very ordinary girl with horrible self-esteem, and yet she faces down the forces of evil and scores one more for Good. It just goes to show us that everyone has worth, and everyone can do something for Good. In fact, I recommend almost any of L'Engle's books, because all her writing is deep and inspiring.
Rating:
Summary: This book was awesome
Review: What a great book A Wrinkle in Time is. I think people who like good books would love this book. What I like about it is that it involves science, but in an adventerous way. Also, when you stop, you want to keep on reading it. It also involves a nice, beautiful beast. So I think people who like good adventerous books would definitely like this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Wrinkle in Time
Review: A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, is the story of Meg and her little brother, Charles Wallace, and the search for their missing father. Meg is a 13-year-old girl who is mathematically brilliant, but everyone in town thinks she's volatile and dull-witted. Her brother Charles Wallace is a five-year-old who is also brilliant and reads other people's minds, but everyone believes that he, too, is also dumb and slow. Meg and Charles Wallace's physicist father has been missing for several years, and with help from three unearthly women, Mrs.Whatsit, Mrs.Who, and Mrs.Which, the children go to the fifth dimension called "tesseract" to rescue their father, Mr. Murry. There, Meg and Charles Wallace learn about the existence of a cosmic battle between good and evil that their father is somehow involved in, and their mission is to rescue him from an evil force called IT. With the success of rescuing their father, they prove the power of good over evil. Meg and Charles Wallace are both brilliant, but the townspeople think they are both dumb. Although Meg is very good at solving difficult word problems by finding short cuts, she can't manipulate numbers in the correct order. As a result, she often loses her temper, and people consider her unstable. The townspeople think Charles Wallace is dumb because he didn't speak in front of people, even in front of his family, until he was four-year-old. The only reason he does not speak is that he is a very shy boy. However, his vocabulary is better than the vocabulary of college students, and at five he now speaks in entire sentences. The three unearthly women and Mrs. Murry do not think Meg and Charles Wallace are dumb. They believe that the children are brilliant and just different from their peers. They encourage the children to save their father from the danger, and the result is spectacular. Meg and Charles Wallace save their father. Meg and Charles Wallace appealed to me alot because their personalityand their backgrounds were realistic. As I mentioned above, Meg gets frustrated by manipulating numbers, so she often loses her temper, and Charles Wallace gets very shy in front of other people but knows all the college vocabulary words. I found some simular things between Meg, Charles Wallace and me. I often loses my temper just like Meg, and I am very shy in front of people who are not my family or friends, just like Charles Wallace. I really liked this book because through out the book, I can relate myself to the characters and understand them. I would recommand this book to those who have hard time because of their shyness.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wrinkle in time
Review: Can you imagine a life where you never do anything right and have a psychic brother? In one of my favorite books, A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle, that's exactly what happens. Meg is always gettting into trouble at school, but she is very smart in math. Her little brother seems to know things before they happen. One night they met a lady named Mrs. Whatsit. A few days later something tells Charles wallace, Meg's little brother, to gog to Mrs. Whatsit's house. So Charles and Meg go. On their way they met a boy names Clavin who had the same powers as Charles. They became friends. The next night something told Charles to go to Mrs. Whatsit's house again. There they met up with Calvin, but this time Mrs. Whatsit and her two friends, Mrs. Who and Mrs. which, were there. The three woman took the children to save their father who is on a planet that has almost given in to the black thing. The black thing is a shadow of evil that tries to take over stars and planets. Mrs. Whatsir shows them that the black thing is over our beloved earth too. First they take them to a beautiful planet and Mrs. Whatsit turns into a man house that is white with rainbow colored wings. Then they try to go on a two dimensional planet, but the kids can't breath. finally, they go to Comazotz and find their father. IT, the big brain that runs everybody's mind, takes Charles Wallace. Meg's father tesseracts them to an outside planet. Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which finally show up. Only Meg can go back to comazotz. Do you think she will get Charles Wallace and escape from IT? You never knbow. I encourage you to read a "real page turner", A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L"engle.
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