L'Engle, Madeleine

Average customer rating:

Review for the AUDIO BOOK
SOOOOO BORING!!!
reading from an adult perspective
Awesome...Inspiring :)
This book is amazing.

A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440498058
Release Date: 1973-03-15

Product Description

A Wrinkle in Time

Amazon.com

Everyone in town thinks Meg Murry is volatile and dull-witted, and that her younger brother, Charles Wallace, is dumb. People are also saying that their physicist father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumors and an unearthly stranger, the tesseract-touting Mrs Whatsit, Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time. This is no superhero tale, nor is it science fiction, although it shares elements of both. The travelers must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep within themselves to find answers.

A well-loved classic and 1963 Newbery Medal winner, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is sophisticated in concept yet warm in tone, with mystery and love coursing through its pages. Meg's shattering, yet ultimately freeing, discovery that her father is not omnipotent provides a satisfying coming-of-age element. Readers will feel a sense of power as they travel with these three children, challenging concepts of time, space, and the triumph of good over evil. The companion books in the Time quartet, continuing the adventures of the Murry family, are A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which won the American Book Award; and Many Waters. Every young reader should experience L'Engle's captivating, occasionally life-changing contributions to children's literature. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Customer Reviews:

Review for the AUDIO BOOK.......2007-06-26

My review is for the AUDIO BOOK not the real book. I have not even read the real book.

I got the AUDIO BOOK and began listening. The AUDIO BOOK is read by the author. I can't believe the editor would allow her to read her book. She has one of the worst voices for reading I have heard. Raspy, like she has smoked too much and angry like she's pissed off at the world. She shouts! (She sounds, in fact, like Hilary Clinton screaming and I'm not kidding)

I will read this book myself because I love a good fantasy but I would caution you to listen to an example of the AUDIO BOOK before getting it. I don't understand how anyone, but especially the editor, could have allowed this woman to presume she had any talent for reading. Yes, it is that bad. Voice acting is a real skill best handled by trained actors.

Better check it out for yourself before laying out any money for the AUDIO BOOK. As for the real book, I'll be picking it up soon and reading it to myself.

SOOOOO BORING!!!.......2007-06-19

I picked up this book and thought that I might actually like it. WRONG! I was so bored that I didn't even know what they were talking about! I quit around page 106, and I just couldn't read anymore! I rarely abandon books, but I obviously did to this one! I understand why it was rejected 26 times before somebody actually decided to publish it because it is one of the worst books I have EVER READ!!!

reading from an adult perspective.......2007-06-06

After reading on a friend's blog that she had recently read this book, I was tempted to do a re-read myself. I was sure I had read it at some point in my childhood, and remember finding it magical and engrossing. So when I came across the book in the thrift store for 99 cents, I couldn't resist.

Once I started reading it, though, it became clear to me that I had probably never read this book before in my life. Not one thing about it seemed familiar to me, except maybe for the centaur-like creatures (but that could be because the book cover features this image). Even though I would have read this more than a decade ago, I still think I would have remembered something about it (for example, I remember aspects of Maniac Magee quite clearly, and I read that ages ago). So I'm not quite sure where I got the idea that this book was fantastical and wonderful, but those were my expectations going in.

I'll admit I was a little let down. I did keep in mind while reading that it's a children's book first and foremost, but I couldn't help but feel that it was a little disheveled in places. I loved that the protagonist is female, and quite ordinary (braces, mousy brown hair, glasses), even if she was slightly annoying at times (I imagine all 14-year-olds can be annoying). Time travel is always cool, and the unfamiliar planets (especially Ixchel with its sightless, faceless creatures) were incredibly fun to imagine. The crazy Mrs Ws were very interesting, and if their stories are continued in further books in the quartet, I'd be all over that.

The story itself is great - the classic battle of good versus evil in a sci-fi / fantasy setting. The manifestation of evil as a dark cloud reminded me of The Nothing from The NeverEnding Story (loosely). The themes of individuality, love, and acceptance carried strongly throughout; even though they were almost shoved in the reader's face, I'm ok with that since it is a children's story.

What I didn't like, primarily, was the character of Charles Wallace. For some reason, he really creeped me out. I understand he is supposed to be "gifted," but his words and actions seemed far too adult for a 5-year-old. I also wasn't a huge fan of the religious references made in several places in the story. Too many mentions of "God" turn me off. However, I am willing to admit that it was quite daring of L'Engle to mix religion with some pretty heavy pagan aspects, like witches and crystal balls.

Overall, I did enjoy the story and definitely appreciate the themes and values, I was just turned off a little as an adult reader. I also spotted the aforementioned Maniac Magee in said thrift store, but I'm hesitant to re-read that book because I'm worried it might not be the same to me now as it was when I was young.

Awesome...Inspiring :).......2007-05-20

This book was written over 50 years ago, before the discovery of black holes or the science of time traveling (tesseracts), but I think the author has gotten most of the science to be fairly accurate and understandable. I loved the science fiction, and how Meg and Charles Wallace are seen as stupid in school, but are really very smart: Meg is strong and Charles Wallace is a genius and has interesting abilities that people would never understand but can appreciate. They land on a planet that she talks about where everyone is controlled by "It" or the brain, which tries to take over the minds of Meg and her brother, is like examples of history where dictators brainwashed their people and secretly killed dissentors (like George Orwell's 1984).

If you want to go on an adventure through dimensions, different planets, and discover how endless, exciting and beautiful the universe possibly is (and feel sad that you'll probably never get to visit there), then, obviously, read this book :) I wanna time travel! :)

This book is amazing........2007-05-06

I read this book in about the 7th grade which was around four years ago. I loved this book when i read it. It combines fantasy and amazing writing into one book. I loved how Meg went to save her brother and father. This book is really truly amazing. When I review a book on amazon that i love, i like to look at the one star review and read why people did not like that certain book. I did the same with this book and learned that a lot of kids under the age of 13 were reading this book, and not enjoying it. They either said that they didn't understand it, and therefore it was boring, or that people can really tesser to another planet. If you do not understand a book, then you should put it down and read it a few years later. Those who stated that no one can really tesser to another planet or place are right, you can't, but this story is fiction, meaning it is not real.

thank you for your time
and i sincerely hope that
you read this book,
Loran

Average customer rating:

The Eternal Triangle
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
A review of A Swiftly Tiliting Planet Allie (LA7A)
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
THE LEGACY OF WARRING BROTHERS

A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440401585
Release Date: 1980-12-15

Product Description

Swiftly Tilting Planet

Amazon.com

Fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace Murry, whom readers first met in A Wrinkle in Time, has a little task he must accomplish. In 24 hours, a mad dictator will destroy the universe by declaring nuclear war--unless Charles Wallace can go back in time to change one of the many Might-Have-Beens in history. In an intricately layered and suspenseful journey through time, this extraordinary young man psychically enters four different people from other eras. As he perceives through their eyes "what might have been," he begins to comprehend the cosmic significance and consequences of every living creature's actions. As he witnesses first-hand the transformation of civilization from peaceful to warring times, his very existence is threatened, but the alternative is far worse.

The Murry family, also appearing in A Wind in the Door and Many Waters, acts as a carrier of Madeleine L'Engle's unique message about human responsibility for the world. Themes of good versus evil, time and space travel, and the invincibility of the human spirit predominate. Even while she entertains, L'Engle kindles the intellect, inspiring young people to ask questions of the world, and learn by challenging. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Customer Reviews:

The Eternal Triangle.......2007-04-15

The Owl Service
A similar theme is seen in the Alan Garner new classic The Owl Service.
With global warming hanging over a tilted planet , this story seems
to still have a current bite: with an element of Celtic legend mixed with popular magic
it gives a very entertaining result. I liked the original
"A Wrinkle in Time". In this series of books the Sidhe are
reborn as benevolent aliens and fayness becomes an high I.Q.
with telepathic traits.Magic and familiars become
"Christian" in a strange peace loving way.
Blue eyed Indians which are the paleoanthropology dream
make a new American history with a Welsh folk tale of recurring archetypes.
Can past and future both be changed for the better ,
if we know the consequences of failure?
Hugo Chavez: The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela

A Swiftly Tilting Planet.......2006-12-14

A Swiftly Tilting Planet
By Madeline L'Engle

What would you do it your country was being threatened by a nuclear war? Maybe hop on a unicorn and travel through time? That's what Charles Wallace, a 15 year old boy does.
Charles Wallace, the son of a great scientist, has the most frightening Thanksgiving ever. His father is informed that the U.S. is being threatened a nuclear war, by a man named Madog Branzillo. Thinking of the impending doom, his sister's mother in law recites a rune for hope, which later that night, Charles Wallace repeats in his backyard. Out of nowhere, a unicorn appears, and whisks him away for an adventure not soon to be forgotten. The unicorn travels through time with Charles Wallace and makes him go "within" certain people to learn how to stop Madog Branzillo.
This book is 278 pages of pure fantasy. It has all the elements, like mystical places and creatures. You haven't read a fantasy until you've read this, thus recommending it to all fantasy lovers.
The only down side to the book is that the climax isn't very well defined. The author makes up for that with her colorful descriptions.

"The moon slipped behind the trees to join briefly, her brother sun. The stars danced their intricate ritual across the sky."

This book, being third in the time quartet series, is one of Madeline L'Engles best. With that, you don't have to read the first two in the series, one of which, A Wrinkle In Time, has won a Newberry award.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet is a page-turning, suspenseful, must-read, and in my opinion the best of the time quartet.

A review of A Swiftly Tiliting Planet Allie (LA7A).......2006-12-13

Allie LA7A

In this book, the fourth of the set, Meg Murry O'Keefe and Charles
Wallace must try to save the world from being blown up. Meg is unable to accompany
Charles Wallace because she is with child. They must kythe to know what is happening.
On Thanksgiving night, Mrs. O'Keefe comes over for dinner. During dinner a phone call
came from the president and a mad man called Mad Dog Branzillo, is about to
declare nuclear war and is going to try to blow the earth up. This could alter the whole universe. That night Mrs. O'Keefe says a rune that Charles Wallace is intrigued by. That night after Mrs. O'Keefe went home; Charles Wallace went to the star watching rock to think of a way to fix things. This is where his adventure begins.
Charles as at the star watching rock and he says the rune he learned earlier that day. All of a sudden there is a unicorn telling him he was sent there to help Charles save the world. They must travel through time and Charles Wallace must go within people. The first person who Charles goes "within", or goes inside of, is a boy named Harcels. This is just a practice so he can get used to going within. The time when Harcels was a boy was a time of piece, or at least in that community. Harcels has a porpoise like animal friend who takes him in the water and a bird like creature that takes him above the clouds. At this point in the book, you might forget about Charles Wallace and Meg because you are so caught up with Harcels. One day when Harcels was flying above the clouds, Charles Wallace was taken out of him by Gaurdior, the unicorn. Now, they must travel through ecthroi, the evil. The ecthroi blew them right in to a projection, or a Might-Have-Been. This is a very desolate wasteland. Suddenly there is a beast coming towards them They flew away just in time. The suspense in this book makes it good. Such as the suspense when Charles Wallace is blown off Gaurdion. Luckily he was caught by him. Another thing I like about this book is that it is one that leads you into different directions. It confuses you. Usually I can guess the way a book will end up, but in this book, it is more exiting because you cannot tell what possibly could happen. There were clues, bit they were very cryptic. You sometimes couldn't even tell if Charles Wallace was going to save the world. In addition, half of the time you would forget that it's Charles Wallace inside of the person. When I can predict the end of a book it usually ruins the element of surprise, but in this book I love how you could guess ten different things and have none of your predictions be true.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet.......2006-11-02

A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeline L'Engle is a highly recommended book (by me). This book is Science-Fiction. It is about a family named the Murrys. The family is very close to the president of the U.S.(mostly the father). The leader of another country, 'Mad Dog Branzillo' threatens everyone in the world that he is going to go, and take the whole world with him. It is up to a 15 year old boy, Charles Wallace has special powers, and has to use them a lot in the next 24 hours. If he fails, the whole world exept Mad Dog Branzillo will fail. If he suceeds, the whole world exept for Mad Dog Branzillo suceeds. I'm warning you, if you read this book, you will never be able to stop.

THE LEGACY OF WARRING BROTHERS .......2006-08-14

Fans of L'Engle's exceptional Murry family will delight in the continued adventures of the more grown up siblings. Married Meg is enjoying her pregnancy while wishing that her husband were not in distant London. Still very close to the youngest brother, Charles Wallace, she also tries to welcome her crusty
mother-in-law, Mrs. O'Keefe-usually a pessimistic recluse.

Suddenly the Murry's meal is shattered by a phone call from
the President (long aware of the parents' prestigious paranormal scientific research, who urgently requests their help to forestall a South American dictator--Mad Dog Branzillo--from triggering nuclear annihilation of the world.

First Mrs. O'Keefe starts chanting an ancient rune, then lays a mighty charge on CW's slender shoulders, urging him to sue the rune to save the world. Meg quicky that she must help her brother in her own special way; sice childhood the two have been able to Kythe--an exalted form of ESP communication. She fully understands why he feels impelled to seek the solitude of their beloved, star-gazing rock.

While the Western hemisphere sleeps, blissfully unaware
of impeding doom, Charles undertakes a mighty mission, during which he must use the various phrases of the ancient rune. In response to his call for aid, celestial powers send a brave, white unicorn which can fly--through time as well as space. Gradually affection grows between boy and steed, as they trust the Winds to send them to different Whens. CW must delicately alter details and decisions in the past--in order to avert the birth of Mad Dog. Trusting in Gaudior's cosmic knowledge and in Meg's unique communication channel, CW learns how to go Within various males of the past. The boy is understandably confused when he cannot choose the dates he wishes to visit.

Readers must be flexible, as the author jumps from seemingly unconnected events and time frames. Trust L'Engle to weave a complicated but well-knit tapestry of fantasy and
galactic evil. Human and unicorn are intermittently attacked by those primordial entities of evil--the vicious Echthroi, which constantly struggle to tear CW off Gaudior's back. Their nemesis even seek to thrust the pair into Projections--Future might-have-beens. How to distinguish between the intertwined bloodlines of Welsh princes and Native Americans, to be sure that the scion of the right warring brother achieves precedence. The fate of Earth rests on CW's slender shoulders (although 15, the boy seems more like 12). Fortunately he has powerful allies in Meg, Gaudior and Mrs. O'Keefe--giver of the Rune. Suspenseful and instantly captivating, this story launches readers on one wild ride into cosmic chaos!

Average customer rating:

a lot of pompous idealism with no real message...
Great science fiction/fantasy
A Wind in the Door
My favorite
Is there really "A wind in the door"?

A Wind in the Door
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440487617
Release Date: 1974-03-15

Product Description

A Wind in the Door

Amazon.com

"There are dragons in the twins' vegetable garden," announces six-year-old Charles Wallace Murry in the opening sentence of The Wind in the Door. His older sister, Meg, doubts it. She figures he's seen something strange, but dragons--a "dollop of dragons," a "drove of dragons," even a "drive of dragons"--seem highly unlikely. As it turns out, Charles Wallace is right about the dragons--though the sea of eyes (merry eyes, wise eyes, ferocious eyes, kitten eyes, dragon eyes, opening and closing) and wings (in constant motion) is actually a benevolent cherubim (of a singularly plural sort) named Proginoskes who has come to help save Charles Wallace from a serious illness.

In her usual masterful way, Madeleine L'Engle jumps seamlessly from a child's world of liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches to deeply sinister, cosmic battles between good and evil. Children will revel in the delectably chilling details--including hideous scenes in which a school principal named Mr. Jenkins is impersonated by the Echthroi (the evil forces that tear skies, snuff out light, and darken planets). When it becomes clear that the Echthroi are putting Charles Wallace in danger, the only logical course of action is for Meg and her dear friend Calvin O'Keefe to become small enough to go inside Charles Wallace's body--into one of his mitochondria--to see what's going wrong with his farandolae. In an illuminating flash on the interconnectedness of all things and the relativity of size, we realize that the tiniest problem can have mammoth, even intergalactic ramifications. Can this intrepid group voyage through time and space and muster all their strength of character to save Charles Wallace? It's an exhilarating, enlightening, suspenseful journey that no child should miss.

The other books of the Time quartet, continuing the adventures of the Murry family, are A Wrinkle in Time; A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which won the American Book Award; and Many Waters. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

Customer Reviews:

a lot of pompous idealism with no real message..........2007-06-04

im sorry, but i truly and honestly do not understand how anyone can find this book the least bit interesting. the characters r absolutely random (in appearance, significance to the story, and in their actions), and the story brings us nowhere. there is no character development (even though l'engle desperately tries to make meg appear as though she learns something), and every character and theme is cliche. on top of all this, l'engle loses herself in the religiously-soaked, scientific part of the story. she goes into a ridiculously unorganized chaotically-written adventure within the mitochondria of the boy-genius (another cliche), charles wallace.
i only read this text because i had to create a workbook for it for an intensive summer literature camp. after reading it, i suggested that this book be omitted from the curriculum because it is so poorly written.
my suggestion? if u want your child to experience a sci-fi adventure, pick up THE GIVER, a book that actually teaches him something about humanity. dont read these religiously-biased pseudo-intellectual worthless novels. your child will grow up to think that this is good literature and will thereby become an imbecile with bad taste (much like the others who have reviewed this book on this site).
sorry to be so harsh, but this book was so bad that i will forever be disgusted by the author's photo in the back cover of the book.

Great science fiction/fantasy.......2007-05-14

I love Madeleine L'Engle's work! Nice sequel to "A Wrinkle in Time".

A Wind in the Door .......2007-04-25

Echtori, a cherubim named Proginoskes, Meg Murry, and Meg's peculiar brother, Charles Wallace are a few of the characters in this fantastic, page turning story, A Wind in the Door. Charles Wallace has always been different because of his ability to know how his sister and mother feel and what they need and also being small for his age. So, Meg worries terribly when he comes home from his first day of first grade covered in bruises with a black eye, but soon it seems that that is not all that seems to be wrong, he starts seeing things that Meg thinks do not exist. A few days later Charles starts to look pale, and Mrs. Murry, his mother and a scientist, makes a shocking discovery about the illness he has. Meg soon discovers that it is up to her to go on a dangerous mission to save her brother, and (as she finds out later) herself. She will not go alone for affable and trustworthy cherubim named Proginoskes. Together they face the evil echtori and try to save their world.
This really is a remarkable story about trust, loyalty, hope, and bravery! I really enjoyed this book and if you have a wide imagination and love adventures you will too! Madeleine L'engle really allows you to feel like you are in the book with Meg and Charles the whole time, and she causes you to feel like you have known them your whole life. With Mrs. L'engle's vivid descriptions this book becomes even better. What is wrong with Charles Wallace? What is his illness? Will Meg be able to save him? You will have to read the book to find out.

My favorite.......2007-02-24

Of all Madeleine L'Engle's books, this one is my favorite. Once a year I pull out Wrinkle, Wind, and Planet, and thoroughly enjoy revisiting imaginary worlds and always provocative and powerful ideas. In this story, it is the concepts of "naming" and "deepening" that forever make my heart smile. I am well over the age of 13, but one is never too old for these timeless, ageless stories.

Is there really "A wind in the door"?.......2006-10-17

Is There Really "A Wind in the Door"?

A wind in the door is an exuberating book! Meg Murray, an intelligent girl, can't help but feel concerned for her frail six year old brother Charles Wallace. Lately he has been battered and bruised every-other day. Recently Charles Wallace has been so pale and worn out, he could possibly have a serious disease. Meg is also having trouble believing all of the strange things that have been going on. Scientists have been saying there is a "rip" in the galaxy, Charles Wallace is claiming there are dragons in the backyard, a cherubim has settled in her backyard along with a strange man who calls himself Blanjey. He is advising Meg that she help him complete three tests to stop the malevolent Ethrochi from destroying the world. But what is more important is that completing these tasks can save Charles Wallace's life. I thoroughly enjoyed the dialect between the characters located in this book. The way the author describes each character is outstanding. I do believe there is a strong gust of wind blowing through this book's door.

Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage (The Crosswicks Journal, Book 4)

Average customer rating:

Personal & Insightful look into Madeline L'Engle's world
I did this, then I did that. Boring
Aspects of marriage
Sentiments rarely praised these days
Wonderful

Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage (The Crosswicks Journal, Book 4)
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0062505017

Book Description

The story of a marriage of true minds and spirits--a brilliant writer's tribute to lasting love. "A vivid and touching chronicle."--Chicago Tribune

Customer Reviews:

Personal & Insightful look into Madeline L'Engle's world.......2007-05-22

I enjoyed this book - it was an insightful look into L'Engle's life. I never knew that she had been an actress. I especially liked her stories about her theatre life. The fact that she was married to the actor that eventually played "Dr. Tyler" on All My Children was interesting too. She shares her views on things that matter to her, and tries to impart some wisdom upon the reader about living with an actor husband, doing what is best for her family, and ultimately doing what is best for her husband in his time of illness. I would recommend this book for anyone going through a difficult time with a gravely ill spouse, and anyone looking to find out more about L'Engle's life.

I did this, then I did that. Boring.......2007-05-20

I have finished Predlude, the first 70 pages. I'm done. This is a step-by-step and quote-by-quote retelling of her love-life, courtship, etc. There are too many great books out there waiting to be read for me to waste my time waiting for this to get better. I don't really care how many times some suitor proposed to her and what her response was, nor how many dog biscuits she ate after taking a bath. The sentences are boring and so is the story. Farandolae are much more interesting.

Aspects of marriage.......2006-07-02

A great read on the complexities of marriage, life and facing death. Two of my favorite quotes of all time are in this book.

Sentiments rarely praised these days.......2003-10-02

(Two Part Invention) I was touched by the way this woman thought as she entered marriage; how she considered the marriage before any other factor in life. As someone born in the last 40 years, I have honestly never heard a woman talk about her marriage in those terms. I was humbled and thought what a shame...we have lost something very special and gentle: honoring marriage. I never did, never knew anyone who did, marriage for myself and those in my circle was more of a nuisance. After two painful divorces I could finally hear Madeline's voice and everything she said made such beautiful and perfect sense. I long for that type of life and marriage and never realized all along it had to come from me. I also cried after putting the book down and a tear often comes when the book comes to mind. I always remember her thought about moving into the city - where she didn't particularly want to live - so that she could be the wife "hosting the slumber party" when they were snowed in, rather than being the wife getting the call when the husband wouldn't be coming home to the suburbs. And how she adjusted her whole sleep schedule to accomodate her husbands' late work nights. Sigh. Thank you Madeline, thank you for a voice that is not often heard.

Wonderful.......2003-03-05

Two-Part Invention was wonderful. Madeleine L'Engle talks about her 40 year marriage in retrospect - while dealing with the imminent death of her husband after a long struggle with illness. It is moving and profound and inspiring - not depressing at all, despite the sad subject matter. I appreciated that she talked about her craft - and the struggle between being a good wife and mother and being a writer. I'm far from a "writer" but I understand her plight - finding a balance between her vocation as a mother and wife and her avocation as a writer while still doing it all. I think anyone who has a passion for art or writing or any sort of creation and has struggled with that creative urge in the face of their other responsibilities will understand. Wonderful.

The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle

Average customer rating:

Vivid and compelling insight into the language of the heart

The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Shaw
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0877880867
Release Date: 2005-03-15

Book Description

Praise for The Ordering of Love
By Madeleine L’Engle

“In a brilliant marriage of myth and manner, histories sacred and profane, prayers of petition and of praise, these poems both articulate and illumine the trouble in the gap in which we live–the gap between human affections and Divine Love. L’Engle is unfailing in her willingness to see through–not around–human suffering, and in so doing announces no final severing of spirit and flesh but an enduring vision of resurrection in that crux, in the cross, in the One in Whom all things meet, continuing.”
–Scott Cairns, author of Slow Pilgrim and Philokalia: New and Selected Poems

“I love L’Engle’s poetry for the way it incarnates not only the great Truths of the faith, but all the little truths of our ordinary existence–our working and playing and loving and fighting and dreaming and idling and all the rest of it–and for the way it shows us that those big and little truths should not, cannot, be separated.”
–Carolyn Arends, recording artist and author

“Why is L’Engle one of the defining poets of our time? Because when life hurts, she does not shrink from the wounds. She clarifies the murk with hope as we feel the lift of grace.”
–Calvin Miller, Beeson Divinity School
Birmingham, Alabama

“We are, all of us, the richer for this carefully crafted and prayerfully rendered collection.”
–Phyllis Tickle, Author, The Divine Hours

“Poetry, at least the kind I write, is written out of immediate need; it is written out of pain, joy, and experience too great to be borne until it is ordered into words. And then it is written to be shared.”
–Madeleine L’Engle

Madeleine L’Engle’s writing has always translated the invisible and intricate qualities of love into the patterns and rhythms of visible life. Now, with compelling language and open-hearted vulnerability, The Ordering of Love brings together the exhaustive collection of L’Engle’s poetry for the first time.

This volume collects nearly 200 of L’Engle’s original poems, including eighteen that have never before been published. Reflecting on themes of love, loss, faith, and beauty, The Ordering of Love gives vivid and compelling insight into the language of the heart.

Customer Reviews:

Vivid and compelling insight into the language of the heart.......2005-04-03

When my best friend, Jenn, moved to Manhattan she commenced with church shopping. She searched the island looking for the congregation that seemed best suited to her theological leanings and preference for worship style. Nice people were also a big plus. She landed at All Angels Episcopal Church on the Upper West Side, despite the fact that she hadn't fancied herself Anglican in the past. It's a great parish, and I'd like to think that the fact that I'd become involved in the Anglican church not long before she departed for Manhattan might have nudged her to check this one out. I would like to think that, but it would be wrong. Because I know the real reason Jenn is at All Angels --- Madeleine L'Engle.

Out on the church shopping circuit, rumor had it that the famed author was a long-time parishioner at All Angels and that fellow congregants often visited her since she didn't get out as much as in her younger days. The thought of whiling away hours chatting with L'Engle was more excitement than Jenn, book lover that she is, could bear. She took up residence in an All Angels pew (well, chair, they don't really have pews) post haste. In the years that followed she became an active member of the congregation, made friends, got confirmed, met her future husband, taught Sunday School, and got married --- all at All Angels. And she has Madeleine L'Engle to thank for all of that, despite the fact that she still has yet to meet the woman.

Such is the power of L'Engle. Trust me, if you'd read her work and had the potential opportunity to spend lazy afternoons in her company, you'd make your decisions on church membership accordingly as well.

Thankfully, the truth of the matter is that you don't have to trust me. L'Engle is nothing if not prolific with over fifty books --- fiction, nonfiction, and poetry --- to her credit. Her latest release is a collection of almost 200 poems, including 18 that have never been published before, and is an excellent starting place to acquaint or re-acquaint oneself with this potent literary force.

THE ORDERING OF LOVE is a magnum opus of sorts, spanning more than 30 years, from the mid '60s to the late '90s, and it includes everything from unbridled free verse to disciplined sonnets --- all of which tread the well-worn ground of love, faith, and suffering. In her introduction to the book, friend and fellow writer Luci Shaw notes "a good poem is layered, does not reveal itself all at once, in one reading." And, indeed, the understanding of these poems develops so much on subsequent readings that the words themselves seem to be ever-changing. One of my favorites is "The Birth of Love":

To learn to love
is to be stripped of all love
until you are wholly without love
because
until you have gone
naked and afraid
into this cold dark place
where all love is taken from you
you will not know
that you are wholly within love.

In poems like "Fire by Fire" one gets the distinct sense for L'Engle as an "everywoman" who writes about life as it happens and has a gift for seeing the whole spectrum of human experience in the seemingly mundane.

My son goes down in the orchard to incinerate
Burning the day's trash, the accumulation
Of old letters, empty toilet-paper rolls, a paper plate,
Marketing lists, discarded manuscript, on occasion
Used cartons of bird seed, dog biscuit. The fire
Rises and sinks; he stirs the ashes till the flames expire.

Burn, too, old sins, bedraggled virtues, tarnished
Dreams, remembered unrealities, the gross
Should-haves, would-haves, the unvarnished
Errors of the day, burn, burn the loss
Of intentions, recurring failures, turn
Them all to ash. Incinerate the dross. Burn. Burn.

L'Engle also has a very specific talent for turning the stories of Christianity on their heads and making us look at them in new ways. Her poem "Mrs. Noah Speaking" presents a perspective on the flood that we don't often hear but that sounds quite familiar. "The Ram: Caught in the Bush" tells the story of Abraham's almost sacrifice of Isaac from the point of view of the one who would actually go under the knife, conjuring up the image of Christ in the process.

If they ever do meet, I think Jenn and Madeleine L'Engle will get along quite well. Jenn has a knack for endearing herself to somewhat ornery souls and I suspect L'Engle is one, based on her work and the interviews I've read with her. Regardless, she has done her work in Jenn's life merely by living in the space of the written page. Even though Jenn hasn't stopped by at L'Engle's with fresh bagels from Zabar's, she has learned from L'Engle much about life --- the sometimes painful conundrum of faith, the ache of loss, the bliss of love, the assumption of small truths into the Big Truth of redemption --- on afternoons spent with her printed pages. And from a life as a member of All Angels, which she can thank L'Engle for as well.

--- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel

Average customer rating:

Cherished Conversations
A Book of Life
A book that draws you closer and closer into truth...
Comforting and wandering
Even the best start somewhere

A Circle of Quiet
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (Wheaton Literary Series)

ASIN: 0062545035

Book Description

This journal shares fruitful reflections on life and career prompted by the author's visit to her personal place of retreat near her country home.

Customer Reviews:

Cherished Conversations.......2005-01-23

A long time fan of Madeleine L'Engle, I have only recently taken to reading her autobiographical works. "A Circle of Quiet" may have been written in the 1970s, but it is every bit as relevant today as it was when L'Engle first recorded her thoughts and questions. Reading her reminiscenses and insights is almost just as good as having a one-on-one conversation with the author.

In "A Circle of Quiet", L'Engle traverses vast territory including the inspiration and necessity of writing, to questions that have plagued her about faith and God. She is intelligent in her answers and able to recognize her own failings. For such a talented writer, it is amazing that L'Engle endured years of rejection. No one wanted to take a chance on stories that couldn't be categorized. While some may see L'Engle as only a children's author, she is dead-on in her insistence that there is no separation between what makes a book a good children's or adult's book. The fictional stories of imagination should appeal to all ages if they are open to discover the truths that they seek.

L'Engle smartly covers so-called taboo issues and the effect that the changing nature of education and language has played on America's youth. "A Circle of Quiet" is truly a wonderful conversation with a cherished friend. Peppered with analogies of her own life and those of her friends and community, she tries to find a light in the darkness that surrounds all of us. In the end, she succeeds.

A Book of Life.......2004-08-01

I bought A Circle of Quiet for $2 AUD at a local library and it's blessed me beyond all thinking. I agree with the reviewer below; what makes this book so tremblingly wonderful is what Madeleine L'Engle doesn't say as much as what she does. Written only a few years after the 'summer of love' COQ is both counter-cultural and counter-counter-cultural, which is to say old-fashioned. ML was about 50 when she wrote the book and the text sparkles with hard won wisdom and subversive insights but again, its what ML refuses to say that makes this work so powerful and ever-ripe. I can't believe COQ came into my hands so... providentially but it did. Beautifully written it's a work that covers a whole lot of territory: Domestic (un)bliss, raising children, being an agnostic Christian, food, sex, the counter-culture, art, education vs propaganda, creativity, friendship, the self, God, death, writing, solitude, listening, talking, reading, music, love (there's no mention of cricket, but that's OK), small town life, nature, big city life, when not to answer someone elses Big Question (always refuse) - you get the picture. Even if you have to steal a copy, get a hold of this tome and eat it!

A book that draws you closer and closer into truth..........2003-12-27

After the first 1/4 of the book, I was unsure of where it was going. Then, after entering into "kairos" (as Madeleine refers to it as..the Greek work for time which means time not being confined) with the book, I found myself getting deeper and deeper into it.

The first time Madeleine really goes off and tells a story of her small town and the new couple that came in and "changed" things up a bit, I started to smile. I could relate...ever so much and this made me play out my own story as I read hers. I became so involved that I forgot the time, forget what page I was on and almost forgot that I was reading. That is where I first experienced kairos with "A Circle of Quiet" and thankfully, it was a transcendent moment at that.

I still am thinking of the title and wondering if that is wholly appropriate for a book like this. I'm not sure. I think it means something a little different to me....but again, this is subjective stuff and extremely personal. Anyone with an imagination alive enough will experience something deep and profound and beautiful and wonderful from this book. Anyone who lacks this, I would suggest rediscovering your imaginiation before entering into this book: truth is overflowing here, but when you don't believe in imagination, mystery and myth, it will be very hard to read this book and get anything out of it. :)

Thanks again Madeleine for a wonderful read; although it took me for a loop, I'm glad where I ended up by the last page.

Comforting and wandering.......2003-07-03

This book is hard to pigeonhole. It's partly a journal of random thoughts, partly a retelling of some of the author's life experience. Much of the philosophy of life, ecology, relationships, and beliefs in God struck a chord with me. At times it dragged a bit, but overall it moved along at a comfortable pace. As previously described by others, it was like having a nice conversation with a friend (where you didn't have to talk, or interject a question or disagreement). One section in the end was annoying. She brought up a subject then decided to avoid letting the reader know what she was talking about (too painful to reveal). She hinted at an unpleasant life experience. Except for this, I'd give it 5 stars.

Even the best start somewhere.......2001-12-10

Perhaps because I'm a writer myself I particularly enjoyed this book. It came at a moment when I too, was struggling with manuscript rejection. It was a comfort to find that the grande dame of literature also struggled for the publishing world to accept her work. L'Engle's lucid language, her honesty, faith-doubts, glimpses into a fully-lived life I found refreshing. As far as Crosswicks, I felt like each time I sat down to read this book as though I was being invited into the L'Engle fold for a cup of tea, a walk alongside the property's creek or to sit down next to the nib of her fountain pen as Ms. L'Engle birthed her memoirs. For the writing community, this is a must-read book, for comfort, for encouragement, for the pure essence of seeing how the writing gets done around real-time life. For others, sit back and be swept into a lovely autobiographical account of a matriarch model for women.

Average customer rating:

Good but Not for Younger Readers
What HAPPENED to L'Engle after the first 3 books?
The best book in the series
Lit Circle Book w Nice Discussions
Wow...

Many Waters
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440405483
Release Date: 1987-08-01

Amazon.com

We've all done it. In the frigid depths of winter we've wished we could be magically transported to someplace warm and sunny. But most people don't have genius parents who just happen to be working on a scientific experiment with time travel at the moment of our wish. Sandy and Dennys Murry, the "normal" boys in a family of geniuses, suddenly find themselves trudging through a blazing-hot desert, seeking a far-off oasis for shade. Their desperate wandering brings them face-to-face with history--biblical history. Soon they're feeling right at home with Noah and his family. Even so, the urgent question is, how will Sandy and Dennys get back to their own place and time before the floods--the many waters--come? As they begin to cross the invisible border into adulthood, the twins must confront their ability to resist temptation and embrace integrity.

In Many Waters, Madeleine L'Engle continues the Murry family saga, which includes A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in the Door; and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which won the American Book Award. L'Engle's mystical mix of science fiction and fantasy, time and space travel, history, morals, religion, and culture once again urges her many adoring readers to stretch their minds and hearts to understand why the world is the way it is. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

A touch of computer keys, a blast of heat, and suddenly the Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, are gasping in a shimmering desert land.  If only the brothers had normal parents, not a scientist mother and a father who experiments with space and time travel.  If only the Murry twins had noticed the note on the door of their mother's lab: Experiment In

Progress.  Please Keep Out

But it's too late for regrets.  There's a strange-and very small-person approaching, with a miniature mammoth in tow. . . .

At last it's Sandy and Dennys's turn for an adventure-an adventure that turns serious when they discover that "many waters" are coming to flood the desert.  The twins must find a way back home soon, or they will drown.  But how will they get back to their own time?  Can they?

Customer Reviews:

Good but Not for Younger Readers.......2007-01-11

I loved the L'Engle's books as a child, but didn't read the fourth until now, when my daughter is old enough to read the other three. However, my fifth grader is *not* going to read this one for many years. The religious ideas are quite interesting to contemplate, that is not the issue. But these teenage boys (Meg's older brothers) are are on the cusp of becoming men and I'm not talking about the hair on their upper lip. I cannot believe that the amazon review says "Grade 6 and up" and later in the same paragraph talks about "sexual tension". This book is not appropriate for middle schoolers. And I don't think it is even appropriate for young high schoolers.

However, if you are the right age for the book, it is a good read. Parts of it really make you think. And it is always fun to revisit old characters in a new setting.

What HAPPENED to L'Engle after the first 3 books?.......2006-07-30

I am in a unique position to provide two firsthand views of this book, unfortunately both negative criticism. One from my 5th-grade self, one from me now, 26 years old. I was in, oh, second grade or so when I read 'A Wrinkle in Time'. Suffice it to say, I was enthused, and followed it up with 'A Wind in the Door' and 'A Swiftly Tilting Planet'. But I detested 'Many Waters'. I just couldn't stand it. It bored me for some reason. That's really all I can say about my earlier self's opinion of the book. It just went on and on without anything interesting happening and reading it was a chore, not a pleasure. But I was not a big reader back then. Most of the books I read at that age I read because I had to read something for a book report, and I would pester my mom to read the real nuisance books to me that I really couldn't stand, which was most of them. She sure had high tolerance. It's only in the last few years I've been able to read novels for enjoyment, not so much because I'm so much more mature now, but because I'm able to polish them off in a day or two now. So I came across it again and decided to read it because I figured before I just wasn't ready for it. Well, more mature or not, I can provide a more thoughtful critique, if a not much more positive one. Indeed, it is profoundly lacking in action, I agree with my 5th grade self, though not enough to get me to procrastinate weeks to finish it off and then beg someone to read it to me. But now I have other problems with it too.

This is, I am sad to say, what happens when someone who has a layman's understanding of science in general tries to incorporate it in a large way into a book. I'm sorry, but it is. It expresses foremost of all a very, VERY narrowminded and antiquated view of the cosmos and Earth's and especially man's place in it. I somehow couldn't see it in 5th grade because I knew jack squat about diddly, but reading it now I was floored. I have to wonder, what century did L'Engle come from? The twentieth, which is what makes it so amazing. So now I am virtually a walking database of every concept all the big, famous, award-winning science fiction authors thoroughly and ludicrously butcher to anyone with the knowledge and intellect to see it (especially special relativity) and am very cynical about it when they try to pass on their self-inconsistent nonsense to me, the reader. L'Engle tried to tie up this mythical land and these mythical races and make it consistent with natural as well as biblical history, evidently thinking this was possible, but of course it wasn't and she ended up with something ill-informed to the extreme on every count I can think of. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against purple cows and unicorns flying through space and magic and sorcerors and whatnot for the sake of art, but when you try to tie it in with actual history and other things that are not in the artistic realm, or to try to explain it in established scientific terms that don't fit with it, to me, it just indicates ignorance, not artistic liberty. If you want to make a universe like that, it had better be set long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, and another universe altogether if you want to butcher basic scientific concepts. I don't think L'Engle had a clue what a virtual particle was beyond a simple one-sentence definition you might see in an abridged dictionary, for instance, and ineptly mixed it in with a bunch of other scientific concepts she didn't understand and a lot of religious gooble-dy-gook that sadly so many people believe unquestioningly. For example, making a reference to the evolutionary history of horses (weird that she apparently went for evolution with all the other stuff that's in here), how in the ancient past they were very small, as evidence for the claim that it shouldn't seem so strange for mammoths to have been little bitty too. Yeah, sure, so horses were once the size of dogs.... but we're talking 40 million years ago! L'Engle doesn't seem to recognize the distinction between the time when mammoths and sabertoothed tigers roamed around and one to ten thousand times longer ago than that. I guess it's all just a long time ago to her, so she didn't even know the fallacy of what she did, or worse, she really believed the universe all started up six thousand years ago and that the scientific community is mistaken about time even existing before that, but has no problem with referring to what the scientific community says existed 40 million years ago as long as she merely changes the number to 6 thousand. And of course, let's take the little bitty suits of armor from the middle ages, assume everyone in the middle ages was that short, and extrapolate it to even more ancient times and figure that people must have all been 3 or 4 feet tall back then. It gets even worse when she has the Seraphim Adnarel make the claim that the sun is younger and so brighter in the time the twins have found themselves in, and that is why Sandy and Dennys can't tolerate it. Oh yeah, the solar system was SO much younger 6000 years ago (She also doesn't realize THIS is the Solar system as our star is called 'Sol', and several times refers to all star systems as 'solar systems'). Six thousand years is to the sun as roughly half an hour is to a human lifespan today. The sun was NOT significantly different in brightness in old testament days, and in fact it would have been slightly dimmer - it has in its 5 billion year history, whether you choose to accept all of them or just the last 6 thousand - and will, for billions of years hense, in fact, GROW in brightness over time, making Earth too hot for life in two billion years or so. L'Engle apparently figured the sun to be akin to a big candle slowly dying out in a candlish sort of way over a lifespan of at most a few tens of thousands of years. And of course she abandons any semblance of the stars being natural phenomena with all that stuff about the stars getting brighter for the death of the grandfather and sending messages. A very geocentric point of view, to think all the stars out there are varying their brightness in order to express messages to little old Earth, all timed very well I might add since they're all not only many light years away and different distances away. Several times she goes on about equivalence of mass and energy as if knowing it explains the whole universe, and uses it to explain how the two Seraphim can travel through time at the end - that they turn into energy and back into matter. Well, she's a victim of a common misconception that mass can be converted to energy and vice versa but that they are not the same thing, while in fact mass is a form of energy - just a particularly concentrated one, so the Seraphim ought not to have undergone any transformation at all. And that's hardly half of the things I could gripe about. The rest are just a bit more subtle. She just repeatedly came back to things she didn't understand as if the reader's supposed to be so limited in knowledge of those topics and to conclude the connections are brilliant. Suffice it to say, however, that to a scientist, the multitudes of naive claims and naive comparisons in this book in a vain attempt to be scientific and connect it in with the mythologies invented by people who thought the world was flat are really tiresome because of the invalid assumptions they require, which an informed reader doesn't make and an uninformed reader shouldn't make. (It began to remind me of this insane man who once sat down next to me while I was eating when I was in college and started lecturing me about how neutrinos spoke to him and told him they were messengers from Jesus. I was just like -oooohhhhh kaayyyyy....) I have seen that sort of blundering around a lot, though not to such an amazing extent, and it just really gets to me. I was amused when Dennys realizes the ancient people weren't living for hundreds of years but only hundreds of days, thus having a lifespan of 2 or 3 actual terrestrial years. Anyway, instead of this book, I would recommend you read 'World Without End' by Warren Murphy and his wife. That is, if you're looking for a more rationalist take on history and you're not one of those nuts who think dinosaurs pranced around the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve six thousand years ago instead of pre-dating man by 65 million as radioisotope dating of the bones suggests, because you think the universe is only six thousand years old as apparently L'Engle did - it's nice and ironically satirical about virtually every old legend out there from every region of the world and every sufficiently ancient religion. It is a similar story (guy accidently gets sent back in time to days just before the big flood from the Torah/Old Testament), and very similar premise (although Noah is a very minor character, and just a crazy old kook) but it's much more intelligent (the setting for instance is Atlantis, not some mythical fairyland, which as everyone knows, went out with a big flood, so why not make them one and the same - a nice touch I think), more thoughtful (it has a few morals too - I like the context it put slavery in for instance), better written, funnier, far, far more consistent with natural history (no lap-cat sized mammoths, manticores, unicorns, winged angels or any sort of stubborn and extreme adherence to the most outrageous components of creationist dogma, for starters) and human history (you really think the human lifespan was so very different back then, and that people were typically 4 feet tall?), and if you're a 5th grader, most importantly, there's never a dull moment.

The best book in the series.......2006-06-09

I agree with the other reviewers who said that this book is not like the rest. I disagree when they say that the rest were the good ones and this is the bad one. I far preferred this book to the others in the series. It is nearly a straight up fantasy book, with a releiving lack of L'Engle's new age throw-ins which abound in the rest of the series.

This book chronicles Dennys and Sandy's adventure where they travel back to the area Noah lived in shortly before the flood. It presents a very unique portrayal of the seraphim and nephilim, one that is more mythical than most. L'Engle does a better job of character development in this book than in any of the others, and portrays the battle between good and evil on earth in an extraordinary way.

Overall grade: A

Lit Circle Book w Nice Discussions.......2006-05-07

Our Lit/Comp 9 teacher gave Many Waters to us as a choice for literature circles. This book was perfect for discussions and our group had a great time wondering about the plot.

I never read the Time Quartet books by L'engle before, but knowing the author, I expected a good read. I heard that this installment was different from its predecessors however, but L'engle was still a pretty good writer.

From the aspect of a high school freshman, I found this book was between a children's book and a young adult novel, not quite fitting in just one. I guess middleschoolers would like to read this, if they could understand the confusing muddle on seraphims/nephilims in the beginning.
Of how the twins got to the desert was pretty pathetic (type it in a computer?) and the ending was a simple getting-home happy ending for the twins that everyone expected. The characters were 2D, and not much depth, though the author obviously tried to differentiate between the similiar twins and Yalith. I hated how it was all black and white for good and bad characters. Pretty boring character wise, except the nephilims were the most interesting.

Despite all this, the book was apporiate for lit circles. L'engle is awesome in bringing out questions throughout the book. This is probaly, I think the main reason she wrote this, besides adding in her twins in their own adventure.
Why did the Flood happen: was it a Nuke or an Inevitable Diaster? Are there beginnings after Diasters?
Teachers out there, consider putting this book on your lit circle list. It'll be a great addition, despite its literary flaws, to bring out discussions from your students!

Wow..........2005-05-22

I'm barely under 13, but I loved this book! As many other people said, it was more religious than the other books and it was much different, but I think that anyone can like it. It seemed like she decided to go with a different idea here, and I like it. The whole of the book seems much more earth-based and not so far out like in "A Wrinkle in Time" where an entire planet is controlled by a giant brain. I think this book is also good because no matter how many times you read it, you notice new details every time. I should know, I've read it four times.

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (Wheaton Literary Series)

Average customer rating:

Fantastic!
Exactly what I was looking for
redeeming writing, celebrating art
Breathing New Life
the best book I've ever read

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (Wheaton Literary Series)
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Shaw
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 087788918X
Release Date: 2001-04-17

Amazon.com

Walking on Water collects 12 brief meditations by Madeleine L'Engle on the nature of art and its relation to faith. L'Engle, the beloved author of A Wrinkle In Time among others, has written and spoken widely and wisely about the connection between religion and art. The gist of her understanding is as follows: <blockquote>To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory. It is what makes me respond to the death of an apple tree, the birth of a puppy, northern lights shaking the sky, by writing stories.</blockquote> She believes that "[b]asically there can be no categories such as 'religious' art and 'secular' art because all true art is incarnational, and therefore 'religious.'" And "incarnation," in L'Engle's view, means "God's revelation of himself through particularity." In this book there is some slippage between L'Engle's autobiographical and critical voices. As a result, she often claims Christian significance for works whose meaning is not intentionally Christian. She admits this freely: <blockquote>[B]ecause I am a struggling Christian, it's inevitable that I superimpose my awareness of all that happened in the life of Jesus upon what I'm reading, upon Buber, upon Plato, upon the Book of Daniel. But I'm not sure that's a bad thing. To be truly Christian means to see Christ everywhere, to know him as all in all.</blockquote> -- Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

In this classic book, Madeleine L'Engle addresses the questions, What makes art Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian artist? What is the relationship between faith and art? Through L'Engle's beautiful and insightful essay, readers will find themselves called to what the author views as the prime tasks of an artist: to listen, to remain aware, and to respond to creation through one's own art.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!.......2007-05-12

Madeline L'Engle is one of my most favorite authors. After reading this book, I wanted to meet her--that's not usual for me.

She deals with the big questions of faith and art and creation beautifully.

If you are an artist of any variety struggling with your art--read this. If you are a Christian struggling with your faith--read this.

Exactly what I was looking for.......2006-08-22

"Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art" by Madeleine L'Engle is exactly what I was hoping for in a book reflecting on the creative process and what it means to be a Christian Artist. She skillfully mixes musings on Christ, art, faith, service, and imagination. She says, "I learn that my feelings about art and my feelings about the Creator of the Universe are inseparable. To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory." Ahh. And then she shares Leonard Bernstein's observation that art is "cosmos in chaos." Order in disorder. Isn't that what God is trying to do in our lives all the time? When we make art, we can appreciate what He is trying to do on a beyond-imagining, grander scale. This is just a taste of the wonderful insights from the writer of "The Wrinkle in Time" and "Arm of the Starfish." I strongly recommend it! Enjoy!

redeeming writing, celebrating art .......2006-08-06

"It is not easy for me to be a Christian," writes Madeleine L'Engle in Walking on the Water, "to believe twenty-four hours a day all that I want to believe. I stray, and then my stories pull me back if I listen to them carefully. I have often been asked if my Christianity affects my stories, and surely it is the other around..."

I can identify with her. I too struggle with my beliefs and have to return to the books that I have written, the stories that I have told to remind myself of what I already know. In this way all writers and all artists find the truths that they base their lives on by searching for them, discover their faith by exploring it, and grow closer to God only when they realize that they are straying once again.

Within her heartfelt musings on art, faith, and life, all those who feel that imagination and mystery are just as important as explanations and definitions will find a welcome companion. Christian fiction is not a sermon in disguise, it is truth wrapped in story--story wrapped in truth. I recommend this book to artists, dreamers, writers, readers, and believers. L'Engle claims that when we finish a book we want to be given illumination. And in this book she offers precisely that.

Breathing New Life.......2006-06-27

Only Flannery O'Conner has written a book on writing with this much spiritual insight and creative freedom. I picked up "Walking on Water" after numerous recommendations from fellow writers. Of course, I was already aware of L'Engle through her novels--I think "A Wrinkle in Time" and "A Wind in the Door" are brilliant--but I was less familiar with her nonfiction.

If you're a creative person on any level, and if you wrestle with life's big questions unflinchingly, then you must meet L'Engle in the world of words. This lady is such a unique individual, full of down-to-earth wisdom and to-the-limits-of-the-galaxy philosphical ponderings. With candor and anecdotes, with quotable lines and great grace, this book has the ability to breathe new life into tired, artistic souls. I know. Because it's done so for me.

the best book I've ever read.......2005-08-03

My mother-in-law gave this book to me on vacation this year. As an artist, and just a questioning human being in general, I found this book to be like reading my own thoughts poured onto paper. I couldn't seem to get though the words fast enough, but was a little sad as each page passed by, because it meant I would be closer to the end. This book is must read for everyone. I'm grateful that she took the time to write it, bcecause for me, it is a touchstone.

Average customer rating:

Loved It!!
another favorite
A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light

A Ring of Endless Light (Austin Family)
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0440972329
Release Date: 1981-07-15

Book Description

Vicky Austin is filled with strong feelings as she stands near Commander Rodney's grave while her grandfather, who himself is dying of cancer, recites the funeral service. Watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes on beautiful Seven Bay Island is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate things, she finds herself the center of attention for three very different boys: Leo is an old friend wanting comfort and longing for romance; Zachary, whose attempted suicide inadvertently caused the Commander's death, is attractive and sophisticated but desperately troubled; and Adam, her older brother's friend, offers her a wonderful chance to assist in his experiments with dophins but treats her as a young girl just when she's ready to feel most grown-up.

Called upon to be dependable, stable, and wise, Vicky is exhilarated but often overwhemed. Forces of darkness and light, tragedy and joy, hover about her, and at times she doesn't know whcih will prevail.

Customer Reviews:

Loved It!!.......2006-11-29

I loved this book and I would recommend it to girls from the ages 10 and up. This was a good story to connect to your life or the lives of the people around you. The things that happen to Vicky in A Ring of Endless Light might happen or may have happened to the reader. Therefore the plot of the story is believable. I would like to read another story by this author because I loved how thorough she was when describing Vicky's thoughts and feelings. When she was explaining how Vicky was seeing only darkness after a friend died in her arms, she painted a very vivid picture in my head. I thought that a Ring of Endless Light was truly a great book.

another favorite.......2006-11-13

Once again, Madeleine L'Engle has constructed a masterpiece. All her books are superb, but this one stands out to me as my absolute favorite. I understand its a Disney Channel movie now as well. I remember reading this book when I was about middle school aged and thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I took notes. There are several wonderful quotes that are worth remembering, and I think by the end I was left with some 10 pages of notes. I was a bit of a nerd as a kid, I guess. Still have all the papers filed away somewhere. Also memorized one of the poems to recite in my english class in about 7th grade. Fantastic book. I need to read it again.

A Ring of Endless Light.......2006-05-31

As always, Madeleine L'Engle delivers a stunning piece of fiction with `A Ring of Endless Light.' Although the main character, Vicky Austin, gives off a distinctive mary-sue air, the book (especially the guys!) are very enjoyable. Pieces of poetry found in this book are beautiful and elegant; they alone would be cause enough to read the book. `A Ring of Endless Light' also offers the reader an insight into the emotions and thoughts of a teenage girl in a fantastical setting. I would recommend this book for ages 13 and up. If you enjoyed this book, I would recommend Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume, Father Figure by Richard Peck and With You and Without You by Ann Martin as well as the rest of L'Engle's books.

A Ring of Endless Light.......2006-03-20

In Madeline L'Enlgle's A Ring of Endless Light, 15-year old Vicky goes out to visit her sick grandfather to spend some time with him. During her stay, an old family friend, Commander Rodney, dies because he was trying to save another person from dying. On top of this, three young men are trying to get her adornment. Leo, Commander Rodney' son, is the nervous and puppy like young man who needs Vicky's attention. Although he may be nice, Vicky just wants to be his friend. Adam, a young man working at the marine biology center, confuses Vicky because he likes her, but pushes her away at the same time. Zachary, the rich, young man Commander Rodney died saving, wants Vicky back and claims that he needs her. Even though she has to deal with her love life, she has to help her grandfather, and other family members. During this vacation, she learns a lot about herself, death, life, her friends and family.

I really liked this book because it is very insightful. It gives me a lot of insight about living life. I want to live my lifelike Vicky and think like her because she lives her life to her fullest poetical and is moral, unlike me. She put phrases and lessons to heart and has a way of putting things into the right words. I liked how the author also wrote about death because I know that everyone is confused about tins subject. Some people firmly believe in one thing while other people are confused and wobbling. I remember what the Madeline L'engle writes about death whenever I come across one because her words sooth and help the soul.

I dislike the fact that the characters are a bit to perfect. The Austins are a bit like robots. There is the housewife mom that loves her husband and doesn't seem to have any arguments are all with him. The father is a strong man that supports his whole family. The oldest brother, like his father, is strong and smart. The youngest sister is beautiful and smart. The youngest brother is cute and innocent. Although Vicky seems more human than her family, she is still robotic. She always tries her hardest and it seems that everyone is drawn to her. Everyone trusts her with his or her secrets and everyone in the story has a longing to be with her. She is the person that people always want to be.

My favorite part of the book is hard to decide, but I think that my favorite part is when Vicky goes and visits the dolphins. I think that this is really interesting because Vicky learns that she can communicate with dolphins. In the beginning, she is really scared, but then she realizes that there is nothing to be afraid of. Soon, she feels comfortable with Basil. She can play with the dolphin and communicate freely. Even though people can't communicate with dolphins, Vicky can because her mind is somewhat childish, open, and free. I think that this is my favorite part because Vicky's relationship with Basil is much like my relationship with my friends. When I first made my friends, we were scared and shy, but once we knew each other, we had a lot of fun. When I am with my friends, I become childish, open and free, just like Vicky.

A Ring of Endless Light.......2006-01-05

"A Ring of Endless Light" by Madeleine L'Engle is a fictional, poetic story about an almost 16-year-old girl who is spending the summer with her family and Grandfather on Seven Bay Island. Her Grandfather is battling leukeumia and a lot of this book is about handling death and questioning life.
Vicky is trying to decide between three different guys: one, Leo, who Vicky wants to just be a friend, Zachary, who drives too fast and scares Vicky most of the time, and Adam, who Vicky feels the closest too, but Adam treats her like a child just when Vicky feels like finally growing up. Confused and curious, Vicky has philosophical discussions with her family and meets Basil, Noberta, and Njord, three dolphins that she can communicate almost telepathically with.
I thought this book was very deep and meaningful because it gives a different perspective on life and death. Teenagers 12-16 would probably enjoy this book the most out of any age group.

Pilgrim Souls: A Collection of Spiritual Autobiography

Average customer rating:

A seeker's one stop shop.
The Unseen Hand
A Wonderful Collection of Spiritual Writings
most fulfilling book

Pilgrim Souls: A Collection of Spiritual Autobiography
Elizabeth Powers
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684843110

Amazon.com

This anthology is broken down into the four basic categories of spiritual journeys, according to the editors. 1) Wanderers and seekers--those who pursue "all available experiences under the sun." 2) Pilgrims and missionaries--"individuals whose life goal has been the unwavering pursuit of God." 3) Mystics and visionaries--"who focus on supernatural experiences and epiphanies." 4) Philosophers and scholars--those who "demonstrate a lifelong commitment to the discernment of the truth through the exercise of the intellect."

By organizing spiritual quests into these themes, the authors create an effect that is more liberating than confining, offering a clear context for the sometimes ethereal and wrenching stories of real-life saints, rabbis, writers, and pilgrims from all walks of life. Literary heroes add their impassioned and tender stories of spiritual transformation, whether it be Leo Tolstoy's excerpt from The Confession, Madeleine L'Engle's self-revealing story of forgiveness and the sensuality of the human body, or Annie Dillard's tug of war with a loving God who allows terrible things to happen to good people. Spiritual seekers will no doubt find their own stories in this stimulating and expansive dedication to the soul's eternal pilgrimage. --Gail Hudson

Book Description

What is the source of personal writing? When do we begin to consider our own lives worthy of a story? These powerful and passionate selections of spiritual autobiography do not merely represent a vital literary tradition; they bring together fifty-eight writers whose search for truth and understanding has spanned over two millennia and several continents.

From Saint Augustine and Rabi'a to T. S. Eliot and Kathleen Norris, each of these autobiographers tells the story of the inner life as a spiritual quest. Although separated culturally, historically, and linguistically, they are united by their efforts to respond to Socrates' challenge to "know thyself." In four parts this insightful collection includes works by:

* Wanderers and seekers, like Leo Tolstoy and Thomas Merton, who feverishly explore many experiences and world views<BR> * Pilgrims and missionaries, like Anne Bradstreet and David Livingstone, who unwaveringly pursue God and holiness in lives of self-sacrifice<BR> * Mystics and visionaries, like Julian of Norwich and Annie Dillard, who discover the ecstasy of epiphany in a life of contemplation and seclusion<BR> * Scholars and philosophers, like Simone Weil and Blaise Pascal, who seek to ground spiritual conviction in a rational certitude.

Strong, deep, and enduring, the selections in this illuminating anthology remind us that "the unexamined life is not worth living" and speak to us with an immediacy that transcends time and space.

Customer Reviews:

A seeker's one stop shop........2006-04-25

An excellent collection of Christian ideas with a broad stroke of mysticism and practical theology that extends beyond orthodoxy and Christianity itself. Approachable and beautifully organized... something to keep within reach for quick spiritual jogs... poetic, deep or just plain curious times with a minimum of effort. Perfect for the short-attention-span seeker.

The Unseen Hand.......2006-03-04

I met Ms. Powers on a walk I take for spiritual purposes and art exercize down the Hudson, or, as its known in 'Tugboats of New York', the North River. We had an interesting talk and we introduced ourselves. Afterwards, I googled her up and found this title which I bought and am currently reading. Its not a book to breeze through and I'm only on page 90 of the Spiritual Journey section. Pretty good stuff, but like that 80% Cocoa don't have too much at one time. Tolstoy gets religion and like that.

A Wonderful Collection of Spiritual Writings.......2004-02-02

Any book that is a collection is only as good as the people represented in the book. If your book is about spirituality and contains writings by St. Augustine, Thomas Merton, Julian of Norwich, and Simone Weill, to name a few, your probably on excellent ground, and PILGRIM SOULS is certainly a volume filled with great spiritual insight. Most of the people included in the book are from the Christian tradition, but not all are "spiritual giants" or even religious so to speak. Yet each can help a person in his/her quest for God. PILGRIM SOULS is an excellent resource for those who are interested in great spiritual thinkers but may not have time to read all the longer works. It is also a great resource for those who would like an introduction to the wide variety of classic spiritual writing available.

most fulfilling book.......2000-04-18

Pilgrim Souls was one of the most fulfilling books, spiritually and intelectually, that I have read in a long, long time. In is an immense collection of writers who have so much to offer. I personally enjoyed St. Teresa of Avila, Victor Frankel, and Flannery O'Conner. Actually, I loved and learned from all of them. I've already recommended this book to all of my friends. END

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