Washington Post, Saturday, 9/8/07:
Madeleine L'Engle, 88, a prolific author whose best-known novel, 'A Wrinkle in Time,' won the top prize for children's literature and was considered among the most enigmatic works of fiction ever created, died Sept 6.
The novel weaved together aspects of theology and quantum physics and featured a female protagonist, which was unusual at the time.
The plot concerned three New England youngsters ~ (who) use time travel and extrasensory perception to free the siblings' scientist father, who had vanished from the family after discovering a mysterious source of evil. They find him on a planet where absolute conformity rules.
The novel consistently encouraged debate, with some literary observers speculating that Ms. L'Engle's strong Anglican faith was a major influence.
Writing in the New Yorker in 2004, poet Cynthia Zarin said the book can be read as "science fiction, a warm tale of family life, a response to the Cold War, a book about a search for a father, a feminist tract, a religious fable, a coming-of-age-
novel, a work of Satanism" -- Ms. L'Engle said that Christian fundamentalists continually tried to ban it -- "or a prescient meditation on the future of the United States after the Kennedy assassination."
The author did not claim to have any special knowledge of science while writing the book. She once told National Public Radio that she was in a phase of searching for a better understanding of theology when "I just came across a phrase of Einstein's which completely excited me. He said, 'Anyone who is not lost in rapturous awe at the power and glory of the mind behind the universe is as good as a burned-out candle.' "And I thought, 'Oh! There's my theologian.' "
Libby
(I read and enjoyed the book as an adult with two children - found it while wandering in a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Richmond.)
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Topic: 'A Wrinkle in Time' author Madeleine L'Engle, dies (Read 490 times)