I tried to listen to this once before, but it was read by the author, and there was something about her voice that just really didn’t do it for me.
I found a physical copy at a library sale, though, and it’s such a classic, and it’s supposed to be about quantum physics besides (which I love–and for kids, no less) so I thought I’d give it another try.
I am honestly a bit baffled still why it’s such a classic. My favorite part was the character of Charles Wallace in the first part of the book, before the adventures even began, though… there’s something about a precociously brilliant small child that is just the most endearing thing ever. I adored him too, so I could absolutely identify with why his big sister Meg is so motivated to protect and later to rescue him.
The story itself, about jumping through space-time via a tesseract, is definitely ahead of its time (maybe that’s why it was award-winning), though I did wonder what motivated all of it. I understood they were going to find Meg and Charles Wallace’s father, but why did he go in the first place? I suppose just, “science” (and maybe that’s fair enough, for a children’s book). What followed was a combination of science fiction and fantasy. The fantastical creatures they encountered seemed to perhaps represent spiritual principles, as they kept quoting scripture without attributing it to the Bible, but I wasn’t clear on exactly what the author was trying to say.
I don’t think I’ll continue the series, but I’m glad I finally read this one.
My rating: ***
Language: none
Violence: none
Sexual content: none
Political content: none
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