Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This thread is for background information and general discussion of our April 2017 New School Group Read selection, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

Please DO NOT post spoilers in this thread.

I remember this book being very popular when I was a kid. I think everyone in my class read it but me! But science fiction & fantasy never appealed much to me, so I never read this one. I may give it a try this month, since it is short and I've been trying to catch up on some of those children's classics that I missed growing up.

Sarah wrote: " I may give it a try this month, since it is short and I've been trying to catch up on some of those children's classics that I missed growing up ..."

Children's classics are also relatively quick reads for adults. But sometimes what appeals to a kid might not appeal nearly so much to an adult. I've found kids classics to be hit or miss, myself.



I read this a couple of times and liked it as a kid, but it wasn't one of my favorites. I might have been out of the target age group by the time I got it, though.

I know this showed up on a list of the most frequently challenged books in the US for the 1990s, but I can't recall anything remotely controversial in it - though that's not too surprising since I barely remember anything about it.


I still have my childhood copy, so I started re-reading it this morning.

Melanti wrote: "Sarah wrote: " I may give it a try this month, since it is short and I've been trying to catch up on some of those children's classics that I missed growing up ..."

Children's classics are also re..."

I've also noticed that about children's classics (that they are hit or miss). More often than not, I come away dissatisfied but thinking that my younger self would have really enjoyed that book.

Looking forward to discussing this one with the group :)

Sarah wrote: "I remember this book being very popular when I was a kid. I think everyone in my class read it but me! But science fiction & fantasy never appealed much to me, so I never read this one. I may give ..."

There are so many classic children's books that I never read as a kid, and I don't know why. I guess some of them didn't peak my interest at the time, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

This one sounded interesting, so I might hop over to the library and see if they have it. Nice to be able to do that now that they aren't on strike :)

This is going to be my first time reading this book. I wonder if it's going to be like The Little Prince. Although that one is written for children, there are ideas for adults between the lines.

Hi, this is my 1st time reading it also. I was 9 or 10 years old when it was published in the 60's, but didn't hear of it in my youth. Perhaps it took time for its "fame" to grow. I saw that several of my GR friends (including my daughter) have read it and rated it 3 to 5 stars, also that it won the Newberry medal and was voted #5 best time travel book in the Goodreads lists. I generally avoid YA books like the plague in the last 20 yrs, but it's short, and with all that going for it I decided to give it a go. I've been listening to the audiobook read by the excellent actress Hope Davis, and she did a very good performance overall. I'm near the end now but will postpone commenting further so as not to insert any spoilers, but may respond to others' comments.

I've never read this, but I'm really not a fan of children's books, so I'll probably give it a miss. I hope everyone else enjoys it :)

Pink wrote: "I've never read this, but I'm really not a fan of children's books, so I'll probably give it a miss. I hope everyone else enjoys it :)"

It has a dystopia in it. You might like it :)

Michele wrote: "It has a dystopia in it. You might like it :)"

So it does! I'd completely forgotten that.

George wrote: "...was voted #5 best time travel book in the Goodreads lists...."

Interesting that it's on a time travel list. I never thought of it as a time travel book, despite the fact that (view spoiler)[they return only a few minutes after they left (hide spoiler)]. The third book in the sequence, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, is a lot more time-travel-y.

Michele, I could give it a try, as I often like dystopian fiction, but every time I read a children's classic I'm disappointed. Even with great books, they just don't seem to work for me.

I loved this as a child, was extremely disappointed as an adult.

I'm in, I like children's books... sometimes.

I'm also in since I've never heard of the author Madeleine L'Engle. It's going for my Bingo square "new author to you" ;)

Like The Little Prince and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I love this one uncritically. I read it at the right time, and it formatted my brain.

I believe it gets challenged for its religious viewpoint, which is thinly veiled liberal Christianity. It gets challenged from both sides- people who think it's too religious and people who think it's not conservative enough.

I decided to go ahead and give this one a try...I'm a little more than halfway through. While I don't exactly dislike it, I'm not really enjoying it. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have liked this book much as a child either. The story just isn't clicking for me, but I've never been a science fiction/fantasy fan.

Phil wrote: "...it formatted my brain..."

Ha! Great way of putting it. I have certain books that formatted my brain too :)

Phil wrote: "I believe it gets challenged for its religious viewpoint, which is thinly veiled liberal Christianity. It gets challenged from both sides- people who think it's too religious and people who think it's not conservative enough."

I have heard this, that there are Christian thematic elements to the book, but I gotta say, I just don't see it :/ Never did.

I just finished the second half of the book this morning. I can't say I was a fan of the book. The surface level story didn't do much for me, and the larger ideas and themes explored weren't done so with enough depth and nuance and complexity to satisfy the adult reader in me.

I am trying to convince my 10-year old that we should read this, but she insists that we need to read another Harry Potter book (at least one) before she'll consider anything else. And there's also a re-read of the Hobbit that we've been talking about since she can barely remember the book. So I'm not sure we'll get around to this in April. :-/ But I'll lurk here and see what you all think of it.

Phil wrote: "Like The Little Prince and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I love this one uncritically. I read it at the right time, and it formatted my brain.

I believe it gets challenged fo..."

Interesting combination. The only one of these three I loved as an adult was an audiobook of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I think I might have loved The Little Prince if I'd read it as a young child, but by the time I read it (high school) I didn't care much for it. As a child, I loved A Wrinkle in Time, but not as an adult.

The Little Prince always makes me cry, so I have mixed feelings about it :)

I am reading A Wrinkle in Time to my nine year old son as his bedtime story although he is enjoying it he is not nearly as enthusiastic as he was over Who Let the Gods Out? which we read together recently.

I didn't read A Wrinkle in Time as a child myself.

This was one of my favorite books as I child. I read the whole series back then and loved it. I've never been able to get my own kids to read it though! I'm really hoping I'll find time to read it again with the group this month, but we'll see.

I'm pretty sure I had to read this in school but I have no recollection of anything in it.

I finished this in early March and absolutely loved it. Seemed pretty adult for a YA book. I rank it up there with Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy or the Hunger Games trilogy as pretty intelligent and well written YA lit.

I may read the other books in the series but I'm not sure yet when.

I never heard about this book, but I'll give it a try.

Rafael wrote: "I never heard about this book, but I'll give it a try."

It's a children's book Rafael and it's really a quick read! Enjoy! :)

This is one of my all time favorite books.
I've read it three times - once in middle school, once in high school and once again in my early twenties. I hope to squeeze it in again this month.

Every time I read it different aspects of it seemed to "speak" to me based on what I needed at the time.

Phil wrote: "Like The Little Prince and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I love this one uncritically. I read it at the right time, and it formatted my brain.

I believe it gets challenged fo..."
I didn't enjoy The Little Prince, but I love Hitchhiker's Guide. But I agree, I think I read this book for the first time at "the right time" and that's why it means so much to me.

Sarah wrote: "I decided to go ahead and give this one a try...I'm a little more than halfway through. While I don't exactly dislike it, I'm not really enjoying it. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have liked t..."

I've started it for the first time and feel a bit the same

Started out reading this to my two boys. No luck/interest from them. Glad I kept going and finished last year. Still trying to get them to give it another go.

Im just starting it too, having a hard time, I though it would go more smoothly

I read this when I was 10 years old and loved it. Although I remember the overall story, I have forgotten most of the details, so I am really rediscovering the story and picking up on themes I probably missed back then.

I wish I had read this book in middle school, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. There would have been a lot of flaws with the characters and the plot that I wouldn't have cared for so much at a younger age.

Overall, I'm like Sarah, while I didn't exactly dislike this book, I didn't fall in love with it either.

Yuan wrote: "I wish I had read this book in middle school, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. There would have been a lot of flaws with the characters and the plot that I wouldn't have cared for so muc..."

I agree wholeheartedly Yuan! Well said! :)

that make sense, Yuan.

There's quite a bit of MG and YA lit that doesn't work as well for adults as it does kids.

I loved this book so much when I was a kid, and reread it and A Wind in the Door many times. I was so excited when I saw that the group would be reading it. I picked it up several times, but I couldn't bring myself to start reading, because I was afraid that it wouldn't stand the test of time and I would be disappointed. I finally finished it, and I still enjoyed it very much. Obviously, as an adult I am much more aware of the religious and political themes, but overall it was much as I remembered it. It was sort of a comfort food for the mind. :)

When I read it as a kid I may have missed the main point of it, because what it made me want to do is space travel :) I loved the different planets they landed on (esp the 2-dimensional one).

Michele wrote: "When I read it as a kid I may have missed the main point of it, because what it made me want to do is space travel :) I loved the different planets they landed on (esp the 2-dimensional one)."

I think that the book we read as children was a very different one than the one we read as adults. I remember an engrossing adventure story, and I wanted to travel to all the different planets, too (especially the brown-gray beasts' planet and the garden of the angels/stars. Not Camazotz, though. :) ).