Welcome to another edition of our new semi-regular series: Blast from the Past.
A refresher: We will occasionally read (or listen) to a book we had loved as children but have not re-visited as adult writers. And then we’ll tell you about it.
How did the story hold up? Is the magic still there? What differences do we notice, both cultural and in storytelling techniques and how we respond as adult writers? Would our childhood faves appeal to kids today?
This week, I’m revisiting another book that I read over and over obsessively: Madeleine L’Engle’s A Swiftly Tilting Planet.
This is the third book in L’Engle’s time quintet, a series that starts with A Wrinkle in Time. This one again features Meg Murry and her brother Charles Wallace. Meg is now grown, married to Calvin O’Keefe, and expecting her own child, and Charles Wallace is 15. The family has gathered for Thanksgiving when an unexpected phone call reveals that the world is in a precarious spot. Charles Wallace is charged with traveling back in time to right the wrong that led to this perilous moment.
I started this book a day or two before the violent insurrection at the Capitol Building. Reading about a mad and destructive dictator and the forces of good and evil at war in the universe felt a little on the nose.
The Good
I read this the first time when I was in fourth grade. I have a vivid memory of pulling it out of my desk after I finished a test early and getting so lost in it that the next time I looked up, my entire class had gone! I was new to the school, so I guess nobody noticed that I wasn’t coming with them? Trauma!
Even as an adult, though, I found this story very absorbing. The narrative rambles from the novel’s present day through various eras in American history and includes poetry, Bible verses, and songs that add richness to the language. The human connections feel very real and powerful, and the presence and importance of love and forgiveness is a primary theme throughout.
There are some really cute dog and kitten interactions, and the twins Sandy and Dennys offer their usual funny and down-to-earth takes on things.
But perhaps most important? This book has a talking, flying, time traveling unicorn! I mean…!
The Less Good
As Charles Wallace travels far back in America’s history, he spends a lot of time with Native Americans. Most of the native characters are shown as noble, kind, wise and almost psychically connected with the Earth, although one adventure features the war-like “people from across the water” who foolishly adopt a Welsh explorer as their god. While the white characters are allowed to be complex, with contradictory traits and depth, the native characters are disturbingly one-note – either preternaturally good, or craven and wicked.
The Bottom Line
A Swiftly Tilting Planet is a fitting companion to A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door. It’s absorbing, features rich historical settings, and its themes of love and kindness vs. hate and evil are resonant today.
Today’s kids might find the portrayal of native characters simplistic, and they might not feel as viscerally the looming threat of nuclear war (thank goodness). But those who loved Meg, Charles Wallace and the rest of the Murrys will enjoy following them on this adventure, too.
We’d love to hear about your Blast from the Past reads, too. Have you revisited an old favorite? What did you think? Tell us in the comments or shoot us an email!