By now most of you have probably heard that author Madeleine L'Engle has died, at the age of 88. The author of many children's books, including the innovative A Wrinkle in Time, her death was recognized by a wide variety of bloggers such as, Rod at Crunchy Con, Ed at Dispatches from the Culture Wars, Tom at Stones Cry Out, Win at NPR, Christopher at Planet Wisdom, and John at The Corner.
Although many of the tributes referenced a variety of interviews she gave, I didn't see any reference a talk she gave at the Veritas Forum, in 1998. You can watch or listen to the talk, titled Searching for Truth Through Fantasy, at this link. She had a novel approach towards truth and fantasy and, while I don't agree with her completely (e.g., she too easily brushes off a "hard saying" in the Bible as something that was "probably added" hundreds of years later), I do admire her ability to present glimpses of the mythically abstract realities of our existence through her writing. Towards the end of this talk there are some humorous snippets regarding the difficulty she had in getting Wrinkle published. One publisher, thinking there was some merit to the book, sought out the opinion of a librarian acquaintance. The librarian summarily dismissed the book as "the worst book I've read. It reminds me of The Wizard of Oz."
A Wrinkle in Time ended up winning the American Library Association's 1963 Newbery Medal for best American children's book, has sold eight million copies, and is in its 69th printing.
Stumble It!
Comments