As the skipping rope hit the pavement, so did the ball. As the rope curved over the head of the jumping child, the child with the ball caught the ball. Down came the ropes. Down came the balls. Over and over again. Up. Down. All in rhythm. All identical. Like the houses. Like the paths. Like the flowers.
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wrinkle in Time is an old classic of which you’ve likely heard. It’s somehow one of the few sci-fi books I’ve ever read, and it left me very…confused. In this review I’ll explain why.
(Also, a side note. A few days after finishing this book I watched the recent movie adaptation, and I don’t recommend it. It’s even weirder than this book in a weirder way.)
Table of Contents
Plot
It was a dark and stormy night.
Meg Murry is alone in her attic room. Her father left home years back, supposedly working on some government project, though town gossip says otherwise.
From this windy night, a strange visitor named Mrs. Whatsit shows up at the Murry household. This peculiar caller draws Meg, her kid brother Charles Wallace, and her newfound friend Calvin O’Keefe into a universe-wide conflict.
As they soon learn, a dark cloud known as the Black Thing, the very power of evil itself, is in a fierce conflict with good and light. Meg and company are tasked with traveling to another planet, via tessering, to rescue her father from the Black Thing.
I have no problem with this part of the book. While maybe not the most creative (it’s basically another form of ‘destroy the dark lord’), it is gripping and tense at times.
Characters
Meg is a good character. From the very first page, the author builds sympathy for her. She’s falling behind in her grades. She’s bullied for being different, and thus has no friends at school. She’s impatient and irritable, flaws that become vital parts of the book.
Her only real companion is 5-year-old (from my best guess) Charles Wallace. He’s a child prodigy, more competent than many adults. He might be my favorite character for his brilliance and seeming superpowers; however, he’s not even present for half the book.
Calvin starts an interesting character, but proceeds to be a useless sidekick and love interest for Meg throughout the story. If I remember right, he does nothing to influence the plot.
The three Mrs’s, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, are different, to say the least. They seem to be some sort of supernatural beings who exist in a world beyond our own, which could work in another scenario, but for reasons I’ll soon discuss it’s just weird here.
Theme & Content Warnings
My real confusion lies in this category of the story. A pleasant surprise to me, A Wrinkle in Time contains many Scripture quotations and Biblical references. It seems to be that the author was trying to fit this story into a Biblical worldview; yet, it doesn’t fit.
The three Mrs’s might be angels, but the Bible never shows female angels. They’re also described almost as if they were gods themselves.
A handful of “magical” things happen, like Charles Wallace’s telepathy, an alive disembodied brain on a table (that can also use telepathy), and aliens speaking with tentacles, that work in a secular book, but don’t fit in a Christian worldview.
The explanation might be that the author sees Jesus as just a good man. This is hinted at in one scene. But, as you can tell from all the “seems” and “mights” in this review, much confusion surrounds this book.
Overall
I feel compelled to read the rest of this series to see if it clears up any of my confusion, though considering my never-ending list of non-weird books to read, I may not get around to it.
I wouldn’t go recommending A Wrinkle in Time to anyone, but if you’re looking for a clean, decent sci-fi adventure, this fits the role.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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