Madeleine L'Engle and Connectedness

I've had this blog idea for quite some time now, and I'm finally taking the time to write it down.

"'We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.' That's how it is with human beings and mitochondria and farandolae--and our planet, too, I guess, and the whole solar system. We have to live together in---in harmony, or we won't live at all." - Meg Murry in A Wind in the Door


"'So if we blow up our planet it would certainly have some small effect on our solar system, and that could affect our galaxy, and that could....'

"'The whole chain-reaction theory?' Sandy asked.

"'More than that. Interdependence. Not just one thing leading to another in a straight line, but everything and everyone everywhere interreacting.'"  
                 
                    - Conversation between Meg and her brother Sandy in A Swiftly Tilting Planet

L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet is easily my favorite of her Time Trilogy (or Pentogy? Quintogy? Series?) STP is also similar in theme to the second book in the series, A Wind in the Door. This theme has been following me around lately, and I've been working towards connecting the dots. In both STP and WD, a small person or event has astronomical impacts. The novels emphasize the importance of caring for ourselves and others, not just for our own sake's but for the sake of the universe.  

A few weeks ago in church, our pastor referenced a book in which a social researcher explored what made societies unhealthy (in the areas of physical illness, mental illness, crime rates, poverty rates, and more). The researcher concluded that the countries that were MOST unhealthy (the USA was the 2nd runner up for the Unhealthiest Nation Award - big shocker) were the countries that had the greatest disparity between the rich and the poor. And it wasn't just entire countries; states, cities, regions showed similar tendencies. The places in the US with the least economic disparity were healthier than those with the most. And it wasn't just the poor that demonstrated the symptoms of an unhealthy culture. The wealthier classes had higher rates of depression, mental illness, anxiety, heart disease, cancer...

The researcher determined that the best way to create a healthy nation is to close the socioeconomic gap. It seems like an impossible task. Maybe the first step is to see the problem, rather than bury our heads in our same-class neighborhoods and schools and jobs. Now, I don't think this is intentional for most of us, but our culture has pushed us here. It may be time to push back.

On all sides, I'm seeing the power of interconnectedness...and the responsibility of it. Now what to do?

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Veronica Roth's debut novel is fluid and engaging. The plot moved swiftly and effortlessly through each climactic moment. I read this book because I heard that it was better than Hunger Games, and although I can praise Roth for her story-telling abilities, I did not find its themes as personally relevant as the themes in Hunger Games. I was also slightly annoyed at the use of commas before subordinating conjunctions in the middle of sentences (maybe grammar is changing again?); however, as I entered the storyline, I no longer read them as disjointed parts of the sentence and simply enjoyed the plot. 

By the way, Veronica Roth is only 23 years old! I'm hoping that some of my promising creative writing students are published by that age!

Rebel Angels by Gemma Doyle

I thoroughly enjoyed this second book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy and can't wait to read the third over the next trimester. At 2am last night, while I was sitting rigid in bed reading particularly intense scene, the toilet decided to gurgle to life. I jumped six inches and had to turn to face the bathroom door, but I couldn't stop reading! Outstanding suspense, plot twists, and character development.

Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle

         After The Swiftly Tilting Planet, I had high expectations for this next book in the L'Engle Space and Time series. Unfortunately, I found this book rather tedious to get through. The premise is that Meg Murry's twin brothers accidentally walk into their father's science experiment and find themselves in Biblical times...like pre-history Biblical times. I didn't love the plot, although how she explains those mysterious Nephtilum of the Bible is quite interesting. It also felt like she reverted back to a 4th grade reading level with simple sentences and common word choice, something I felt TSTP had moved away from, much to my pleasure. Also, L'Engle seemed to be trying something new with fragments, and it just didn't work for me. I found myself just trying to get to the end to see if my effort would be payed off with an excellent thematic twist or revelation. No. Sad.