A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time, written by Madeleine L'Engle and published by Square Fish in 2007, is a great book that makes me absorbed in reading and rereading it. The main character in this book is Meg, a thirteen-year-old girl, living with her mother and three brothers. In the beginning of the story, Meg was introduced to three "witches" through her baby brother, Charles Wallace. These three old ladies led Meg, Charles Wallace, and their neighbor Calvin into an adventure to save not only Meg's missing father, but also the universe. Their father was trapped on Camazotz, a planet controlled by an embodied brain called IT. During their rescue mission, Charles Wallace, being over-confident of his mental abilities, was also taken under the control by IT. Without him, Meg and Calvin still managed to save their father. Later on, upon receiving more help from the three witches, Meg went back to Camazotz and rescued Charles Wallace. At last, they all returned home to their mother.

From my experience of reading English novels, I can say that one of the most important factors of a great book is the chapter endings. A Wrinkle in Time has chapters that end at the climax of the story. On more than a few occasions, I found myself trapped inside this book, despite having to get some sleep before midnight. But the urge to know what happened to poor little Charles Wallace tempted me to keep on reading. It felt like an itch that HAD to be scratched. Moreover, the author uses many brilliant sentences allowing readers to feel vicarious thrills as well as grasp the main factors as the story unfolds. "Behind the trees clouds scudded frantically across the sky. Every few moments the moon ripped through them, creating wraithlike shadows that raced along the ground." on the first page of this book is a good example. The author displays a vivid description of the storm in the beginning of the story. Scattered throughout the duration of this incredible novel, are brilliant passages that not only tell the story with great perception, but lure the reader deeper and deeper into the story. Thus, A Wrinkle in Time has definitely surpassed my standards of a good book.

Another reason I love this book is that the way in which the characters change in the story is astonishing. Let me take Charles Wallace for example. When he was at the age of learning to speak, he could already talk in complete sentences! In addition, he also had the ability to understand people's thoughts. It looks amazing to me, but the author turned the extraordinary gift into the last straw. On Camazotz, the threesome encountered a mysterious man who had the power to hypnotize them and to gain control over them. However, Charles Wallace was confident that he could look into the mysterious man’s eyes without being "mummified." Unfortunately, the poor little kid was eventually captured under IT's control, despite his unique capabilities. After being rescued by Meg, Charles Wallace started to realize his weaknesses and flaws. He learned that having too much confidence could bring him unnecessary problems as well as take away the faith that others have towards him. So in this turn of events, Charles Wallace came to understand that there were others stronger and more powerful than he. By giving the character fantastic talents at the beginning and having him learned a lesson at the end, the author successfully highlighted the concept that too much of anything is not always good.

Unlike average books whose plots and climaxes are often so predictable that, time and again, I lose the interest to continue reading, A Wrinkle in Time amuses me from start to end. After reading this book, I definitely have learned a lot more about self-confidence. CONFIDENCE IS A TWO-WAY WEAPON; too much or too little of it can undeniably change the outcome of an event. I sincerely enjoy reading this novel and undoubtedly recommend A Wrinkle in Time to all the book lovers out there.