Anyone?

[mrs617]

Because singersdd and moredetails thought I should post again, I'll humor them.

The four books listed are ones that I picked up randomly at the library because mairesue said I should read Madeleine L'Engle...so which one should I take to read on the plane?

[Poll #618345]

I need to pack! :D

Comments

[jmcphers.livejournal.com]

You might know this already, but A Wind in the Door is the sequel to A Wrinkle in Time. Incidentally, A Wrinkle in Time is the one you should read first, IMHO. It's one of her most imaginative (and most popular) works.

[davrtayl.livejournal.com]

i was going to type all that, but instead i'll just agree. well put.

[http://users.livejournal.com/patrick___/]

I was going to say that too. :-) "Wrinkle" is awesome.

[ruthette.livejournal.com]

You should read A Wrinkle in Time first... then A Wind in the Door. THEN, if you liked the books as much as I did, you'll read Many Waters.

A good starting place for M. L'engle is A Ring of Endless Light. But I'm sure singersdd already mentioned that one to you... :)

[mrs617.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I may have to make a quick stop at the library on my way out of town tomorrow then. I checked, and they do have A Wrinkle, but not A Ring.

Thanks!

[ruthette.livejournal.com]

Whoops... I came across sort of know-it-all-ish there. But I just want for you to enjoy yourself! :)

[mrs617.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Being a fellow book lover, I appreciated it. ;)

[ruthette.livejournal.com]

Book lovers of the world, unite!

[mrs617.livejournal.com]

*high five*

[mrs617.livejournal.com]

Even though the icon was a *thumbs up*

[617.livejournal.com]

they do have A Wrinkle, but not A Ring

That sounded really funny!

[mrs617.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an old maid librarian. ;)

[617.livejournal.com]

Be about right!

[mairesue.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with ruthette. Listen to her!

But just don't read her fiction go read her non fiction as well. The Bright Evening Star is good. But so is Penguins and Golden Calves.

[stbrigidsnovice.livejournal.com]

Yes! Go pack!

[singersdd.livejournal.com]

Good grief... I haven't read A Live Coal in the Sea or The Small Rain (obviously, I need to spend more time in the library!)

Start with A Wrinkle in Time, then A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, The Arm of the Starfish, The Young Unicorns, A Ring of Endless Light, Troubling a Star.

that's sort of the order they go in. Wrinkle, Wind and Planet are definitley one series. Many Waters is a spin-off of that one. Arm of the Starfish has 2 of the characters from the first series in it as grown-up parents and scientists and then characters from that book are in the Young Unicorns and Ring, then Troubling.

Confused yet?

And THEN you can read Certain Women, which is a "grown-up" book, using the story of David as a starting point to tell the story of an actor and all his many wives and children.

[mrs617.livejournal.com]

Well, A Live Coal and The Small Rain are adult fiction...

Looks like the consensus is A Wrinkle first! :)

[singersdd.livejournal.com]

Yep. It's a good place to start.

HEY, LOOK! ljmom posted!!!!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[melyndie.livejournal.com]

Check with someone who has read Coal and Rain before you read them. L'Engle puts some *ahem* stuff in her adult fiction sometimes, and it's best to stay away from those books. For example, House Like a Lotus has a lesbian couple, I believe, and it gets graphic. :-P Same with another book, I think. And I wouldn't recommend Camilla. There is another one I ran across with a not-good scene. I think it was Rain, now that I think of it. I get the titles mixed up. Anyway, if that is the one, there is a children's version (same story, but shorter and without the junk) called Prelude that is just fine.

L'Engle also writes some nonfiction. I LOVE her Crosswicks Journals. The first is called A Circle of Quiet. There are four total. They are SO good! She's Anglican and has different beliefs than I do, but much of what she says is insightful and relavant.

[mrs617.livejournal.com]

eep! Thanks for the heads up!

[melyndie.livejournal.com]

Thankfully, her children's books are clean. :-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/patrick___/]

For example, House Like a Lotus has a lesbian couple, I believe, and it gets
graphic. :-P

Woah. I had no idea. Ironically, she's supposed to be a christian author, isn't she?

[melyndie.livejournal.com]

She is a Christian author. She's Episocopal, I believe. If you read her non-fiction writings, it seems pretty clear (at least to me) that she is a Christian. But Christians don't always do the right thing.

Maybe she redeems herself in Lotus later on or maybe my young-teen sensibilities imagined that scene worse than it was. I didn't read further in the book, and that was years ago, so my account may be exaggerated...I don't know. But still.

[http://users.livejournal.com/patrick___/]

I know some christians are more comfortable with certain things than I am. I've known some who highly recommended movies that I really am shocked any christian would appreciate. But I have to remind myself that not everyone always sees things quite in the same way I am. Some people things like that are appropriate to tell the story. (I'm personally like you and that I'd rather not see/read it, but I guess some christians feel otherwise).

[melyndie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm with you on that. I think a lot depends on life experiences. But I've always said life is rated R, so why would I want to expose myself to more trash in my chosen entertainment?

On another tangent, I have different standards for educational purposes. I'll read/watch something for education that I wouldn't for entertainment. It's a different approach (the first is active, the second passive), and I get different things out of both.

In L'Engle's case, it did surprise me that she's put some garbage in her books because most of her books are quite clean. For some reason she felt the need to add certain content to only some of her book, though.

[http://users.livejournal.com/patrick___/]

Looks like the consensus is A Wrinkle first! :)

Yes! =) Read "Wrinkle", it's great. :-) You'll even learn about Einstein's theory of relativity. :-D

[mairesue.livejournal.com]

And you call yourself a fan Susan! (Just kidding)

[melyndie.livejournal.com]

Whoops. I didn't mean to select any of her books. Ignore my vote.

I looooooooooooove Madeline L'Engle, but I don't recommend reading any of those four first. As others have send, Wind is book two in a quartet. And Troubling comes at the end of a long series of books, and it's one of L'Engle's worst books. I don't believe I've read the other two, but I know they're not among her bests.

I recommend starting with A Wrinkle in Time or one of the Austen family books. I can't remember which is the first among those. Meet the Austens maybe? I didn't read the Austen books in order because I didn't have access to all of them at once. My favorite among the Austen books is A Ring of Endless Light, and you can read it as stand-alone. I LOVE that book!