What a fantastic read, truly fantastic. This is a classic I will reread over and over and over again. The more of L’Enlge I read, the more I adore her. Though Sci-Fi isn’t my favorite genre, I am not opposed to it, and in fact am mostly fascinated with it. These novels are so much more than exploring other planets-they deal with real questions in life we tend to ask ourselves and then just forget about, as she touches on in her introduction. A Wind in the Door deals with themes such as creation, loving the unlovable or your enemy as yourself, whichever is more difficult for the reader. This book was a little heavy on science/ biology for my comprehensive ability, but as a writer I have a duty to be interested in many things and that includes trying to understand Farandole and Mitochondrion.
It’s always hard to think of everything you want to say about a book immediately after you finish it, but when you are constantly moving from book to book, you move on, and don’t necessarily make time to reflect on the principles that the author has spent so much time creating for you. What kind of ungrateful un-empathetic self-absorbed literature-lover would I be, if I didn’t take time to marvel at new ideas presented by fellow authors? ( Not that I title myself as such, I have yet to even FINISH an entire fiction work). After all, isn’t that why we read? To learn and be challenged with new ideas?
This was a beautifully written story, with amazing character development, and impressive display of imagery as well as evidence of an extremely creative and imaginative mind. For example on pg. 133 when she describes the sporos for the first time, as well as on pg. 171 when she describes Calvin’s smile. L’Engle deals with such abstract ideas in this novel, like being with someone when distance isn’t an obstacle-where has no place. She also cracks open the hard exterior of a grown up who refuses to open his mind to new ideas- something we have all experienced, if not ourselves, then watching someone else go through this, or desperately need to.
I am determined to read more about L’ Engle. I have heard she was a Christian, and just recently found out that she died in 2007. How incredible that she lived so recently!!! Possibly, if I was lucky enough, I could have met with her and talked with her about life, and a shared love for story telling and writing children’s novels, though I think her work can most assuredly be appreciated by all ages. I don’t really consider her novels children’s novels. I don’t know any second graders willing to deal with such advanced language and scientific terms. Then again, she wrote them in a different era.
To wrap it up, Madeline L’ Engle has done it again. In A Wind in the Door, she emphasizes the selfless kind of love, in which “a man lay down his life for his friends” of which there is no greater kind; of love, that is. Through a captivating battle of good and evil and an unpredictable ending, the sequel to A Wrinkle in Time, may almost exceed the timeless classic before it. Don’t have a heart attack, I said almost, maybe not quite.
Cheers, L’Engle, cheers. J
