I’m late coming to Madeleine L’Engle’s The Time Quartet. I’ve heard about since college, but never was interested in reading the series. This year, the book club decided to do a Science Fiction read and needed some help selecting a title. This was one proposed by several of the members and ultimately won as the choice for November. This pushed me to jump and see what A Wrinkle in Time was all about.
I had a mixed read of the novel. On one hand it was entertaining and a quick read. On the other hand it felt that it was too quick without developing characters or plot. I was particularly disappointed in Meg, one of the protagonists. To me she started out with a complex foundation upon which to build an intriguing character. The oldest child of two scientists, she’s struggling with growing up and processing the disappearance of her father. Yet, as I progressed through the book, she quickly became quite flat. It seemed she was constantly screaming and crying.Every time there was a new challenge or plot twist she seemed to be always stamping her foot, shouting, and bursting into tears. I understand frustration and I understand as an adolescent there’s a lot of emotion, but when a character is only described as such, it becomes a superficial depiction of a character. Halfway through the book I lost patience with Meg and wanted her to move into the background of the plot.
I liked the underlying message of the story and I think this is an important entry in the Sci Fi realm of YA, especially to middle school and Jr. high.