Midnight Garden Review: A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle

I read this for The Midnight Garden's MG read for April - a fantastic way to be exposed to middle grade reads that I have missed in the past. Go and check it out here. A huge thank you to the girls there - Wendy, Kim and Layla - for their fantastic blog, and particularly to Wendy who sent me a lovely package a while ago.

It’s taken me a little while to actually process this book. It certainly wasn’t what I expected. When I read the back, I was pretty disappointed with the selection; it sounded as though it was going to be a very shallow love triangle (square?) type of novel, aimed at mid teens. Why is this a classic? I wondered. Also was disappointed that it was number four in a series – why not set the first one? I wondered whether it was such a classic, that I was assumed to have read the others or something. I’ll admit, I wasn’t originally happy with the selection!

Well. It was unexpected. I’ve never read anything like it, that’s for sure. It was a very curious mix of seemingly shallow teenage things (boys etc), dolphins, and very, very deep and philosophical thought processes. When I finished, I needed a while to just sit quietly. For an MG read, it is saturated in death. The book seems to be about the line between life and death, and the very many forms of death around us – Vicky’s grandfather, Leo’s father, Jed’s family, the baby dolphin, the swallows, Zachary’s attitude, Binnie. It is SO heavy. I didn’t read this as a teenager, but I imagine teens might find it just too hard.

I found the characters’ ages in general very difficult. I know Vicky was supposed to be a mature fifteen year old, but it didn’t feel real to me: she was so much older. Her thought processes, beliefs, feelings of responsibility – these are not those of a fifteen year old. Then, the age gap with Adam was creepy; I thinkVicky should have just been seventeen or eighteen and it would have made everything so much better! I related to her, but actually on a mostly adult level. Her confidence in her sexual self with the three boys was incredibly impressive.

More on the romances. They didn’t seem to be all that important to me, actually. There was so much else packed into this novel, that they seemed sort of superfluous. Does anyone else experience that? Leo barely got a look in, so why bother including him? We already had a connection to his family through his mother nursing Grandfather. Adam and Vicky’s relationship would have worked better on a platonic level, and Zacahary… well. I didn’t ‘get’ him. (Nor did I like him very much). I wouldn’t have minded if he’d been axed. The level of maturity in all of them just didn’t feel real; having so much independence, going

swimming, to posh meals, out in boats, in planes, on bikes. Very different to my own childhood, but that might be circumstantial. Anyway, I think I would have preferred this book without the romances (although Adam is so lovely!), hope this isn't too unpopular to say!

So. Dolphins. I have heard this aspect referred to as sci-fi; that made it sit easier for me. But, apart from the communication, it was purely wonderful! Who can complain about lovely descriptions of beautiful and intelligent creatures in their home environment? Sighs. Very nice. Wish I could swim with dolphins/be a marine biologist/live on an island/live my life again to have these things. Ah well.

I didn’t find the religious aspect at all preach-y and I’m a devout atheist, usually quite sensitive to that sort of thing. I just loved the Austin family. Reading en masse: Shakespeare and the metaphysical poets, singing, meals together. What a wonderful family! And I loved Grandfather’s ‘sermon’ (if you want to call it that) about only bearing one’s own crosses. It’s true. Take out the religious connotation and it is universally applicable.

Still not sure what I make of it as a whole. (Don’t hate me!) The mix of romance, growing up, death, and sci-fi dolphins was so unexpected and strange, and I’m not 100% sure it worked. However, a very very thought provoking read. As I said, I couldn’t move after the ending. It was deeply affecting for me, whether I thought it was an overall ‘good’ book or not.

Tuck Everlasting: MG Readalong

I read this for the 'Midnight Garden classic MG/children's read along' - go and check it out!

This is called a "timeless classic" but is not one I have ever heard of, let alone read. That's what I like about these readalongs - classic children's books over the pond are not the same in the UK, so for me I get introduced to a lot of new things. And, boy was this a good one!

I think everyone thinks about what it would be like to live for ever as a child. For most children, it is a dream, something wonderful, but even as a child, I didn't like the idea. And in this book, children are asked to question their beliefs that immortality is a blessing.

Winnie, a plucky young girl, stumbles across a stream and discovers that the water grants the drinker immortality. She is found by the Tuck family, who have drunk from the stream - and, as such, will never die. The stream has always been kept secret, but secrets get discovered, and Winnie finds herself caught up in trying to save the Tuck family and protect the world...

It is exquisitely written, it really is. I love it when children's books have real thoughtfulness and care into the craft of the writing, as well as the (arguably more important in children's literature) narrative. The descriptions of the natural world are particularly enthralling. Listen to these:

"The sky was a ragged blaze of red and pink and orange, and its double trembled on the surface of the pond like colour spilled from a paintbox. The sun was dropping fast now, a soft red sliding egg yolk..."

"The sun was a ponderous circle without edges, a roar without sound, a blazing glare so thorough and remorseless that... it seemed an actual presence."

"The big glass windows here were lidded eyes that didn't care - that barely saw them, barely gave back reflections."

Natalie Babbitt is a real wordsmith; I'd be glad to read more of her work. Her characterisation is also brilliant: subtle descriptions give us all we need to know the depth of their worries, dreams and habits. I loved Winnie, and I loved her toad. I loved the Tucks, particularly Mae and Jesse. And the air of menace represented by the man in yellow haunts the pages. Although a children's book, it deals with a very thought provoking dilemma, and hasn't necessarily the ending that you would expect.

The Midnight Garden: MG Discussion

So, I've been being more active in the online world of book blogs and stuff this year, and I've been signed up for a read-a-long! For those that don't know, it's kind of like an online book group, where you read the same book (s) and then there's a discussion about them. It's a nice idea - talking books with people is fantastic in any way, shape or form.

I came across The Midnight Garden via GoodReads and following Wendy's (excellent) reviews. This year, the girls at The Midnight Garden are doing a Middle Grade read-a-long of all the classics that you may have read (or missed) as a child. For those, like I was, who are unfamiliar with the term Middle Grade, it's not quite Young Adult, but one step up from Children's. This means about 10-14 (I think!!?!).

I joined the bandwagon a bit late, so I missed the first book which was The Northern Lights - real shame as I love Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials so much that it would have been lovely to read it with people. I've also missed one because I wasn't organised enough... So, at this halfway point I have managed three out of five books (it started in February). Not too bad... Hopefully I'll manage all of the next lot. The moderators at The Midnight Garden have been amazingly welcoming, and receptive to my comments (which haven't all been that positive at times!) and I really appreciate the sense of community. The fact that they take the time to answer comments makes me feel very included.

So, let's look at the books.

The first I read was 'The Luckiest Girl' by Beverly Clearly - I'd never heard of it, but it's apparently a classic wrong with this book, but it didn't really captivate me.
in America. There wasn't anything remarkably wrong with this, but I felt rather left out from the nostalgia trip it offered to all the American readers. It is a very light read about a girl called Shelley who spends one year (or two semesters, I think?) in orange county, staying with her cousins, at the age of sixteen. Basically, that is the premise and the plot of this book.

I think that the appealing thing about this sort of very dated book is the nostalgia element and, since the situation and the high school culture are not familar to me, I couldn't really take part in this. As such, it was... well, sort of boring. I hesitate to write this because (if it truly is a classic) then people might be offended, but I would expect it to work the other way round as well, ie. some British classics would not appeal to our neighbours over the pond. The writing isn't noteworthy, very little of substance happens, and I couldn't relate to her experiences.



Next was Anne of Green Gables, which (shockingly I know) I hadn't actually read before. Anne is such a silly young girl at the beginning, but it's very nice seeing her grow and mature. I wish I had read this as a child actually, as I think I'd appreciate it more then. I think it was one of my late grandmother's favourite books; she spent some of the war in Canada.

I liked Anne, despite her silliness, and although the plot is fairly banal, it was enjoyable to read.

Then, I missed out on A Wrinkle In Time, which was a shame - it looked good fun.

Most recently has been The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: another book I'd never heard of (oh dear.) It's a mystery story, a murder mystery in fact: a genre that I have literally zero experience with, let alone of an American young adult/middle grade one. So, I was quite excited for something so completely novel.

Again, what lacked for me was the lack of nostalgia. I can imagine rereading this with pleasure, but since I have first been introduced to it as an adult, it doesn't feel the same.

Like Kim, one of the moderators at The Midnight Garden, I can embarrasedly confess that I didn’t “get” the ending until it was all spelled out! Am I just a very undiscerning reader? For me, I didn’t enjoy the plot line that much, but I did enjoy the characters. They were mostly a little larger than life, but it is an MG read, so that’s understandable.

Unlike many others, I wasn’t enamoured with Turtle, probably the main character. Maybe if I had read this as a child I would have been, but as an adult, her kicking of everyone’s shins and her obsession with making money on the stocks just didn’t make her appeal to me. On the other hand, I loved her older sister Angela and that story arc – agree totally that one of the most powerful moments in the book was when Angela changed her status from “none” to “person."

It’s Raskin’s little touches like that that made me continue with this book, despite being a bit lost by the plot (still embarrassed by how stupid I am!). I enjoyed the Epilogue, even though I was horrified that Angela ended up with Denton (a very boring man)… How can that be her ending??


So, there we have it. Halfway point of the year. I've already read the next one and will do a wrap up post in December I suppose! It's intriguing reading these classics with fresh eyes. What makes a classic? In my opinion it's something that lasts the test of time and doesn't feel dated; and for children's books, it's where the story can appeal to adult readers at the same time. Do not be deceived that children's books are easier to write! 

What do you think makes a classic?