Review: 'A Wrinkle in Time' by Madeleine L'Engle

This is a strange book, full of brilliant ideas but with a seriously clunky writing style, not quite believable characters and a somewhat perfunctory plot (I'm being kind here). The heavy-handed exposition and sudden transition from adult intervention to we-can't-help-you-now self-reliance felt jarringly uneven. There is also a great deal of overt moralising, which was a bit tedious, and unnecessary, even in a children's story (or perhaps especially in a children's story).

This is a ...moreThis is a strange book, full of brilliant ideas but with a seriously clunky writing style, not quite believable characters and a somewhat perfunctory plot (I'm being kind here). The heavy-handed exposition and sudden transition from adult intervention to we-can't-help-you-now self-reliance felt jarringly uneven. There is also a great deal of overt moralising, which was a bit tedious, and unnecessary, even in a children's story (or perhaps especially in a children's story).

This is a classic book, so obviously a lot of people think highly of it, and perhaps when it was first written it shone more brightly, but to my mind it is just too unsubtle. Two stars. [First written May 2011]