/|\

“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”


Friday, September 7, 2007

Just Stick a Knife in my Heart

Wow. This year just keeps claiming my favorite writers. First Vonnegut, then Lloyd Alexander; now Madeline L'Engle.

A Wrinkle In Time was the first challenging book I'd ever read. Before that my reading consisted of things like the Ramona Quimby books--good for the age in question (I was 9), of course. But I stumbled upon WiT, sitting on a shelf in my fourth grade classroom. And here was the first book I ever read that dealt with philosophy. Physics.* Space travel. It was mindblowing, kind of the way music would be when I was 13. At 9, it was A Wrinkle In Time.

Like I said, I'd never read anything like it. The weird mix of mythology, science fiction, and theology appealed to me like nothing had before. The things it dealt with--alienated kids, the monstrous society of Camazotz (which is nothing if not the worst aspects of suburbia), the power of love and compassion--felt instantly more real to me than anything I'd ever read before.

And I read the other books, and they expanded my mind even further. In A Wind in the Door--when Meg has to decide that yes, she does love the despicable Mr. Jenkins because she can find goodness in him--well, this is something I still struggle with, every day--finding goodness in people I despise. I'm not even sure I can believe it. It's something, frankly, I doubt I'm strong enough to do. But reading that as a kid (and I was older than 9 when I read it, I was probably 11 or 12), it made a huge impression on me.

And I don't know how many times I've read A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Like the Prydain Chronicles, it was one of the unexpected ways I found out about the Mabinogion, because one section briefly tells the story of Branwen; and it was the first place I read about Madoc ap Owein, Patagonia, and Patrick's Breastplate. Funny how these things make us who we are.

L'Engle's books were about love--universal love I guess you'd say. It's a concept I still struggle with. (You probably already know that.)

*Hey, the physics in the book wasn't perfect, but it introduced me to the idea that there are more than three dimensions.

|

posted by Mary, 4:30 PM