This time in English I'm going to read “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine l'Engle.
It's quite an old book (published in 1962) and was written for children aged 10–14.
In 2003, there was a television adaption of the novel, and in 2018 a film was produced based on the book. There has also been a play adaption, an opera and even a graphic novel of it.
Although it's an old book, I hope it will be entertaining and not difficult to read.
The protagonist of the book is thirteen-year-old Meg Murry. She lives with her mother, three brothers, a cat and a dog. Her father, a physician, is not with them. Her mother doesn't know why he has disappeared and why he can no longer write letters.
While Meg's two younger twin brothers are normal children, Meg and the youngest brother, Charles Wallace, seem to be kind of different. Meg sometimes has a temper. She finds herself in an outsider position and has a hard time at school, although she seems to be very intelligent.
Little Charles is five and not yet at school. He started talking late (at the age of four), but when he finally started to speak, he could all of a sudden speak in long, precise and elaborate sentences. Charles seems to be very sensitive, it's almost as if he could read the thoughts of Meg and her mother.
A few pages ago, Meg and Charles met a strange neighbour: Mrs. Whatsit.
Well, that's as far as I got and so far I'm pleased with my choice.
I like Meg and her brother, and I'm curious how and where we will find their father.
The book is rather easy to read. There are words I don't know but mostly not in strategic places, and there are no super long sentences.
Not really a challenge, one might say, but at the moment I'm just reading in bed, for half an hour, before I fall asleep, and as at this time of day my understanding of English has slipped a bit, I wanted an easier book for this round of the book club.
Hi Cloudy, that sounds like a perfect bedtime reading! I was surprised reading about the TV series and the film, because I've never heard of them. Do they go by the same title?
I didn't know the film either and actually I am not sure how this book landed on my Kindle, someone must have recommended it to me at some time and maybe I then downloaded it at once because the Kindle version is really cheap (only 1,49 €).
This is what Wiki says:
Das Zeiträtsel (Originaltitel: A Wrinkle in Time) ist ein Abenteuerfilm von Ava DuVernay, der am 9. März 2018 in den US-amerikanischen Kinos und am 5. April 2018 in den deutschen Kinos startete. Der Film basiert auf dem Roman Die Zeitfalte (Neuausgabe: Das Zeiträtsel) von Madeleine L’Engle und wurde von Walt Disney Pictures produziert.
I loved the "A Wrinkle In Time" book series. I believe there are five in total. I read them in elementary school. I specifically remember learning the word "mitochondria" from reading these books, haha! I must say that I was not a fan of the film adaptation in 2018, unfortunately. I feel like the director dumbed down the plot. The writing in the books is much better. I hope you enjoy reading! You picked an excellent novel! :)
I was sure that I've also commented on this post 😲
Anyway, I'll do it now:
Good choice, Cloudy! I don't know the novel, but from what you wrote, it sounds very interesting! I'm curious to read your further posts :)
Thank you all for for corrections and comments. :)) @LanguageIsArt: ah, book series, sounds as if there is more of it, if I like it. Good to know.
Nice post! I read this book as a child and really enjoyed it. I think Madeleine L'Engel is a great writer. I can highly recommend her book A Ring of Endless Light as well.
I would note, that if you are going to change most of the things to contractions that you did, then I would also start with "I'm going to", not "I am going to", because starting off that way was more formal, which may be why I found many of the contractions a bit jarring and unnatural sounding. In general, I would recommend contracting things or not contracting things. I say this just because I noticed that there was a mixture both before and after editing.
@Natalie: thanks for corrections and recommendation of the (maybe next) book.