A Wrinkle in Time

Sometimes I'm a little perplexed by what some people consider a “classic”. I never actually heard of this as a younger reader, though its 1962 publication date should have put it squarely under my radar. Not until the Disney adaptation came out and the patrons in my library began requesting it did I learn of it.

It's not that it's a bad book, it touches upon the redeeming qualities that its young audience should certainly treasure. It's just that the method for touching upon these is flailing around in the manner of someone trying to find the light switch in a darkened room. On the way it brushes past some rather interesting ideas about navigating time and space, but doesn't really do much with them.

Character development is clumsy as well, it seems to me. It's a given that the heroine must mature before she can save the day, but there's no need to make her that annoying. The powerful and mysterious aliens (or angels, or whatever they are) are more patient with her than her own father, whom she is trying to save.

In the future I plan to check out the other books in the series, just to see if those interesting ideas ever took root. In the meantime...it's okay for a quick weekend read, but C.S. Lewis has nothing to worry about.