"Love. That was what she had that IT did not have"


"You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you"-A Wrinkle in TimeTwo posts again in one day? I wish I didn't have to but it's because, I'm just absolutely heartbroken. I just found out that one of my favorite people, one of my favorite writers died last month. The world lost one of it's greats, Madeleine L'Engle. I was just looking at her books last night sitting next to my bed. I can't tell you how many times I have read her books over and over again, especially A Wrinkle in Time. I remember devouring her books at the library after school starting with Wrinkle and learning about Charles Wallace, Meg and Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which. I thought I was Meg. I imagined so many new worlds, universes and loving 3 loving New Aunts... That book set me on the journey and I read as many of her books that I could get my hands on-every book that the libraries in Quincy, Milton and Weymouth, MA had of Madeleine L'Engle was checked out by me at one time or another. I still pick up cheap copies of her Time Quartet books (and other books) whenever I see them. I can't tell you how many copies I must have of A Wrinkle in Time. I laid in bed a couple of months ago recently and read it all again in one sitting. It is one of my top most favorite books *ever*. And, I'm almost 33.

Thank you, Madeleine, for what you gave me those many years ago, for what you will continue to give to us in your work. You opened a whole universe to me. I hope that you'll do the same for my son when we read the books.
"Our truest responsibility to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find the truth."

"Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it."

" Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel of destruction and a bright angel of creativity wrestling."

"That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they've been all along."

"We tend to think things are new because we've just discovered them."

-all quotes above Madeleine L'Engle.

Comments

Richard Cooper said…
I was fortunate enough to meet Madeleine L'Engle back in '89 at a children's book festival in Iowa City. She was wonderful, and told a cocktail story about finding a pentagram complete with burning candles on the floor of the cathedral where she kept an office. I remember she signed hundreds of books at that festival without any complaints. She adored her fans.
Angie in AZ said…
Kelly,
I did not know she died either. I just discovered her work this year and I'm 10 years older than you! I had often heard quotes from her over the past year in a women's Bible Study class and one of her books was chosen in my book club...but then, I checked out the movie "A Wrinkle in Time" knowing nothing about it and watched it with my boys. I was completely engrossed in it. It is the first movie I have ever rented that upon it's ending, I grabbed the disc cover to see who wrote the store. I have since purchased a couple of her books. She's a phenomenol writer and I now want to read the book "A Wrinkle in Time". I loved the movie so much and books are ALWAYS better than the movies! How wonderful for you that you discovered her work as a child. I can only imagine the thrill of reading it as a little girl.
Anonymous said…
sigh. so sad. first kurt and now the fabulous madeleine. i loved that book and think of it often. i haven't re-read it in a million years. i sure wish i had it here right now because i am bored and i don't want to paint.
Anne said…
I'm certainly familiar with the name, Madeleine L'Engle, but I must confess I've never read a word she's written. (Wrinkle was written in 1962, the year I graduated high school so I was more into Ayn Rand.)
From your review of L'Engle I just had to read A Wrinkle in Time so I rushed off to B&N - couldn't decide whether to get a paperpack for $6.95, a gorgeous hardcover for $17, or the Time Quintet set for $34. I opted for the paperback (what if I didn't like it?)
Silly me. I LOVED it. I gobbled it right up. It's way better than Harry Potter. How could I not have trusted you, Kelly? I was so ready for a story like this - I've been reading too much 'heavy' stuff. Thanks for turning me on to a most wonderful author. I loved her from the first sentence -"It ws a dark and stormy night." That just totally cracked me up.
Anonymous said…
I loved A Wrinkle in Time when I was a kid. Madeleine made me want to read and not stop! I will be flying to Tennessee next week and I think I will read it again on the flight! Hope you are doing well Kelly!!!
emhowl said…
Going back through your blog looking at your wonderful journal pages in Edinburgh I've stopped at this post because I too loved A Wrinkle in Time, as a child in Lincolnshire in the 60s. I still do a lot of my thinking in terms of The Austin Family trilogy and love the poems of Henry Vaughan as a consequence. I only heard recently in 2008 that Madeleine L'Engle had died.

Popular Posts