A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Englefantasy adventure middle grade
Reviewed on: 17th August 2024.
“A Wrinkle in Time” is a beloved classic, apparently. Unfortunately, I found it to be bland and outdated.
Meg is our young 12 year old protagonist. Eldest daughter to scientists Mrs. and Mr. Murry, she became troubled with unrest by the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Murry some time before the start of the plot. Charles Wallace, her youngest sibling, is a child prodigy more mature than most adults, who also has unspecified psychic/empathic powers. With the help of a new friend, Calvin O’Keefe, and three mysterious supernatural beings, they will journey through time and space, discover an evil that threatens worlds and galaxies, and find out what happened to Mr. Murry.
I was mislead into believing this was a young adult novel, and was expecting some narrative or thematic maturity. Instead, what I found was not just a children’s book (which would be no fault of the book on its own), but a narrative based on (a) inconsequential locations and characters, (b) questions that are left unanswered and some that are even left unasked, (c) unsettling religious undertones paired with explicit Christian promulgation that creep up halfway through and intensify as the novel progresses, and (d) the most rushed, bland, and unoriginal ending one could possibly imagine.
“A Wrinkle in Time” is at best a product of its time, where simply having a rebellious young female protagonist was enough to make an impression. However, even if true, that does not make it any better to a modern audience.