7.5/10
Certainly imaginative, with strong themes of identity and the harmony of creation. ( )

Every time a star goes out, another Echthros has won a battle.

It is November. When Meg comes home from school, Charles Wallace tells her he saw dragons in the twin's vegetable garden. That night Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace go to the vegetable garden to meet the Teacher (Blajeny) who explains that what they are seeing isn't a dragon at all, but a cherubim named Proginoskes. It turns out that Charles Wallace is ill and that Blajeny and Proginoskes are there to make him well - by making him well, they will keep the balance of the universe in check and save it from the evil Echthros.

Meg, Calvin and Mr. Jenkins (grade school principal) must travel inside Charles Wallace to have this battle and save his life - as well as the universe.

In the past I haven't enjoyed this book. I'm not as science minded so I found it a little confusing. But as an adult re-reading I found this book really interesting. I was impressed by the story and the character development. ( )

A surprisingly thought provoking book that encourages the exploration of the greatest philosophical thoughts of the universe. The importance of being everything and nothing at once ( )

What! Two stars for my beloved Madeleing L'Engle?! Well, friends, I'd never read this before so I picked up an audio copy at the library recently and I was 100% excited to get into it. Unfortunately, I was distracted by Ms. L'Engle's narration. I feel a little funny calling out this wonderful writer for something as trivial as saliva, but she has to have the wettest voice in the history of audio books. I could practically see the spit flecking out of her mouth and covering the microphone as she talked. They must have edited out slurping noises! (Ok, now I'm just being harsh.)

Slobbery speech aside, I only felt so-so about the book itself. I love the idea of the villain Mr. Jenkins becoming the crux of Meg's mission. I don't know how many times I've complained about one-dimensional villains (answer: a lot), so it's right up my alley for a writer to ask kids to see that even "bad" people can have good qualities and that we need to look at the whole person, at why they are who they are. Still, this just wasn't my thing. The echthroi weren't as scary as I think they were supposed to be and the climax was not as climax-y as I thought it would be. Maybe a lot of the letdown was in the narration because I really did like the ideas behind the story. ( )

I struggled with this one a lot---I'm so bad with scifi/fantasy! I struggled to keep my attention on the story---nonhuman characters, poorly explained science, Meg does a lot of "stamping". Extreme drama mixed with extreme fantasy was a bit much and I had a hard time following. I did have a little deja vu, now and then, until the second half. Maybe I read this waaaaay back in elementary or middle school?

My favorite quote was this: "It is only when we are fully rooted that we are really able to move." ( )

Every time a star goes out, another Echthros has won a battle.

It is November. When Meg comes home from school, Charles Wallace tells her he saw dragons in the twin's vegetable garden. That night Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace go to the vegetable garden to meet the Teacher (Blajeny) who explains that what they are seeing isn't a dragon at all, but a cherubim named Proginoskes. It turns out that Charles Wallace is ill and that Blajeny and Proginoskes are there to make him well - by making him well, they will keep the balance of the universe in check and save it from the evil Echthros.

Meg, Calvin and Mr. Jenkins (grade school principal) must travel inside Charles Wallace to have this battle and save his life - as well as the universe.

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/top-books-of-1973-3-a-wind-in-the-door-by-madele...

This is the second in the sequence of five novels by Madeleine L’Engle about Meg Murry, of which the first and by far the best known is A Wrinkle in Time. (An odd coincidence: my grandmother’s married name was Margaret Murray.) Here Meg is teamed up with a cherubim and her brother Charles’s struggling head-teacher to learn lessons and fight mystic battles among the mitochondria of Charles’ failing body. To be honest, it’s less humane and less magical than the previous book, and there are several longish chapters of Meg lost in the void, without physical form, communicating through dialogue with unseen allies and enemies, Proust could (just about) get away with taking fifty pages to walk up a flight of stairs, but L’Engle doesn’t quite pull it off. Still, it’s an encouraging, positive, imaginative book, and I think the yung readers of 1973 would have been glad to have a sequel, even if it wasn’t quite up to the mark. ( )

Because I enjoyed A wrinkle in Time and grew to like the characters, this was an easy book to pick up and like. Thinking that a bit of Children's Lit. might afford some relief in the current political climate, I discovered myself mistaken. L'Engle weaves themes of environmental destruction, urban unrest, violence, and evil into this narrative told on a micro-level. ( )

One of my favorite stories as a child. ( )

When a Madeleine L’Engle book opens with a proclamation of the presence of dragons, the experienced L’Engle fan knows there are definitely dragons.

Charles Wallace Murry announces the dragons in the very first sentence of this second book in the Time Quintet – and it’s the start of a wild ride. I’ve written before that the first book, A Wrinkle in Time, is my favorite book ever – and it is, in terms of the author’s creation of mood and a world (worlds) I still visit frequently. Wrinkle is otherwise well-crafted, but Wind beats Wrinkle hands-down in terms of dramatic tension; this book is a page-turner. It’s billed as young adult fantasy, but this not-so-young adult still loves the story.

Maybe the thoughtful character development in Wrinkle laid the groundwork for a riveting sequel; a couple of minor, even unpleasant, characters in Wrinkle take center-stage in Wind, revealing surprising gifts, and we meet some new beings as well. All work together to save the life of a beloved little boy, and you won’t be able to put the book down until you know if that boy survives.

As with Wrinkle, I re-read this book often, and with every reading I feel that I’m in the presence of something magical that is just out of my grasp. When you read Wind for the first time, after you’ve finished Wrinkle, you might start trying to figure out L’Engle’s timeline. It won’t work.

Something to know about Madeleine L’Engle is that she (or her publisher, I suppose) sorted her young adult books into two categories. The books that follow chronological time are in the chronos category – there are a lot of them and they’re good. The books that are free of chronological time are kairos – and the entire Time Quintet is kairos. This is part of the magic. So for the Murrys living in kairos time, maybe it’s best not to fit events into a chronos mold. I encourage you to learn more about the two types of time in which L’Engle travels; she talks about this in her 1980 memoir / reflection Walking on Water. ( Kairos aside, I like to imagine that the Murrys live in an alternate universe in which world events are similar to ours but might not happen in the same order or at the same time. There’s nothing in the book that would refute this.)

Also – there are no dragons. In their place there is something much more wonderful and slightly cranky. I’ll leave the rest up to you; if you enjoy intelligent fantasy within a framework of good vs evil, you should read this book. You won’t have trouble following the plot if you don’t read A Wrinkle in Time first, but you wouldn’t be as invested in the main characters. ( )

I'm rereading the quintet this summer for the first time in about 20 years. While this sequel doesn't flow quite as well as Wrinkle in Time, it allowed readers to spend a good chunk of time with Meg. Meg spends the entire book worried, stressed out, and stubborn. It's a relief to come across her character each time. I still find Charles Wallace a bit too precious, but, meh... what can you do? Funnily I remember a lot of my childhood reactions to the science in this book. Well, "science". I think skimming along may actually be best for the plot. Don't get too bogged down in the pseudo-biology. ( )

"There are dragons in the twins' vegetable garden." Meg Murry took her head out of the refrigerator where she had been foraging for an after-school snack and looked at her six-year-old brother. "What?"

"There are dragons in the twins' vegetable garden. Or there were. They've moved to the north pasture now."

very good - Katrina

For my full, non-spoiler review: https://christianlovingbooks.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-wind-in-door-review.html ( )

Finding that I liked the first book in the series, I decided to pick up the second. A Wind in the Door picks up some time after the completion of the first book and starts with the precocious young Charles Wallace reporting to his older sister that there are dragons in their twin brother's vegetable garden.

This second book is filled with the same mix of fantasy and science, fable, and religious references as the first. But it is a darker tale than the first book, and as such, is not really as suitable for a younger audience as its predecessor. Charles Wallace is ill, and in fact as the story develops it becomes clearer that his life is in real danger. It falls to Meg, Calvin, and the unlikeable principal of their grade school Mr Jenkins, to work through another adventurous battle between good and evil so that they can not only save poor Charles Wallace but also right the balance of the universe.

This adventure is structured as a series of lessons as laid out in an education from an unlikely creature who it turns out isn't a dragon but rather a cherubim. Yes, there are lessons to be learned and they can only be learned through journeying deep into Charles Wallace's cells to turn back the evil Echthros that threaten his life.

If the world and the epic journey of A Wrinkle in Time seem timeless and the main parable of the story broadly applicable, the same can't be said for A Wind in the Door. The references to the work of the Murry children's father seem to tie the story to the 1970s, and in fact the book was published in 1973. And the theme of the book - the cosmic struggle between good and evil - is tied to the acts of naming and counting, to allow things to be, just as God is said to have numbered every hair on our heads, and to be aware of the fate of even the lowly sparrows. Thus the book is more closely tied to a Christian understanding, and L'Engle's own religious beliefs, than was the first book.

Perhaps it's because of that that this story comes across as a bit too preachy to me. Also, structuring the story as a set of lessons didn't really seem to spring out of the story itself but rather seemed a writerly crutch. Altogether I wasn't as taken with this book as I was with A Wrinkle in Time. So for that reason I give A Wind in the Door Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐. ( )

A wind in the door could be renamed Saving Charles Wallace. Charles the younger and eccentric brother of Meg is ill. Like all things in this series the illness has deeper implications on a spiritual level. Meg, Calvin O'Keefe a friend of Meg's and Mr Jenkins are transported into Charles Wallace's body by aliens being who could also be angels. The angels inform the trio they are on a quest to cure Charles Wallace's disease on a biological and spiritual level. Charles an individual is the locus of a greater spiritual war being engaged on the Earth. In the process of fighting evil, the team learns about themselves and the power of love and acceptance over the forces of evil.This is a continuation of L'Engle's attempt to mix science fiction and Christianity. In books of this type their effective ness relies on the clarity of the language. I felt that L'Engle was was not effective in her attempt to communicate Christian concepts. The message of good versus evil is clear. But effect made me think of Eastern philosphy and concepts. The scientific terms she interspeces in the dialog does not add clarity to the story. Beyond these weaknesses the L"Engle's story is entertaining . Her characters are compelling. I cared what happened to Charles Wallace. L'Engle makes a good case for the victory of good over evil and the need to be willing to sacrifice one's existence in this never-ending struggle.. ( )

This is one of those books I loved as a kid, but now as an adult, I get it a lot more, and consequently love it more. With ideas like seeking something to love about a person you’ve hated for years, choosing to accept a challenge that frightens you and you haven’t the least idea of how to even begin, and voluntarily opening yourself up to pain and anguish for the sake of one that you love, this might not be a story for the faint of heart. But it’s one of those books that speaks of bigger things than just what’s happening on the pages, and I’m admittedly a sucker for that type of book. ( )

Meg Murray back once again draws us into her wonderful trilogy. Fascinating sci-fi concepts with great characters to carry on the great story line. ( )

Retains a lot of that A Wrinkle in Time charm, but its style of weirdness has turned a bit more towards confusing than exciting. ( )

Full review in my wrap up vlog. https://youtu.be/6_EFasi4gAE ( )

What a phenomenal book that still holds up, even decades later. This was the first Madeline L'Engle book I read and it is still my favorite. Written in the mid-70's with a teenage woman as the protagonist, and a scientist as a mother, and the family doctor as a woman, it was as revolutionary in its characters as it was in its concepts. Cellular biology was getting a boost, and along comes the idea that the powerhouses of our cells, mitochondria, have something that powers THEM, called farandolae.

And then there's the kything with a cherubim! What a cool concept and something that fit right in with the ventures into the paranormal that were also so prevalent in the 1970s. A lot of the thinking got transformed into the New Age movement, but the idea of mind-speaking at a level beyond mental telepathy was fascinating to my 11 year old brain. And I loved Progo as much as Meg does and liked how the two of them have to work to find their connection to one another. Me, I just thought he was cool.

There were a surprising amount of adult-level conversations that Meg has to have with the adults around her: Mr. Jenkins, Progo, and Blajeny. I probably skimmed over them when I was younger, but now I am suitably impressed that no one talks down to Meg or to her brother, Charles Wallace, or even to the twins.

Glad I re-read this classic after all this time. ( )

Mostly same characters--along with the same silly questions and attitudes. There doesn't seem to be any growth. But the story does include a lot of good metaphysics. Time and size are irrelevant, it's only necessary to "name" something for that something to become meaningful; and they fight a battle of emotions, shrunk down inside Charles Wallace. ( )

A little disappointing after discovering A Wrinkle in Time; not as inventive, a little weird, and drags in the middle. Meg and company spend WAY too long in the mitochondria with the farandolae. ( )

A wrinkle in time was so good that I just do not understand how this book was so bad. After reading the first book, I decided to read the whole quintet. Not anymore. I am done after this one.

It was so painful to get through. There’s almost no action. It’s all exposition. The whole book is Meg going “But Progo I can’t!” And then Progo going, “listen Meg (insert ham-fisted morality lesson) now kithe to Calvin/Mr.Jenkins/Charles Wallace.”

Progo just spends the whole book telling Meg to kithe to different characters, while Meg whines and cries. It was so repetitive, so painful. I gave up only one chapter from the end bc I realized I just didn’t give a shit what happened anymore. ( )