Posts Tagged ‘postaday2011’
Author of the Austin books
Posted on: December 30, 2011
In my teens, there were two authors whom I wanted to write like when I grew up. One of them was Madeleine L’Engle.
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This holiday season, I had high hopes to reread ALL of her books. That was a little overambitious, because I also wish for time to write my own stories, hang out with family, reconnect with friends, and catch up on household chores. Yup, that’s a LOT for one week. So, I’ve settled on rereading the three Austin family books of hers that I own.
I still love them! They extol values of family, moral integrity, and faith. At the same time, the characters are so flawed that I always readily identify with them. There is also a recognition that evil exists although, by the end, we feel that it can be faced.
Of course, now I’m getting ahead of myself. My teasers are supposed to be about the author. Well, a second reason I wanted to grow up to write like Madeleine L’Engle is because of who she is as a person. Growing up, she struggled with acceptance. And, as an adult, she faced rejection many times over as an author. Yet she persevered to become write over sixty books and to establish herself as a beloved author. Because she tackled issues of faith, she also faced controversy from both inside and outside of Christian circles. Yet I like many others count her among the authors who positively influenced my growth as a Christian.
During the rest of the week, I’ll share info about this amazing author. Then on Sunday, to usher in the new year, I’ll post a round-up of her Austin books. Save the date: January 1!
Daily Teaser Archives
Madeleine L’Engle As A Child
One reason I love Madeleine L’Engle’s fiction is that she perfectly captures the emotional angst I felt in my formative years. Although as a child she wrote stories about the kind of person she wanted to be, as an adult L’Engle instead filled her pages with young people who were often confused and rejected. In doing so, her fiction provided me with solace in a way that few books did during my teens.
Like me, L’Engle struggled for acceptance during her youth from peers. She was slightly lame, which did not make her popular. For example, when teams were chosen, she was always the last chosen. I was merely shy and clumsy, yet those traits tend to make one a misfit too. And, like L’Engle, I was an only child–and so we both a lot of time to read, write, and draw. Eventually, L’Engle found that she would much rather be writing stories, poems and journals for herself instead of doing school work, which was reflected in her not so great grades.
Unlike me, L’Engle also sadly struggled for acceptance during her youth from teachers. One teacher refused L’Engle’s desperate requests to use the bathroom and later denied there had ever been a request. Another teacher accused her of plagiarism when she won honors for a piece of writing. L’Engle had to show a mountain of work to prove her ability to write it. With the exception of an arithmetic teacher, who expected her to excel, her middle-school teachers made her feel as if she were stupid.
For the first time, L’Engle found herself accepted and popular in high school. She became editor of the school’s literary magazine and played lead roles in a number of the school plays. Both in high school and college, she also had encouraging teachers.
Because Madeline L’Engle has long been one of my favorite authors, I grew up reading a lot of biographical information about her. Ironically, through her, I first discovered the Emily of New Moon trilogy by Lucy Maud Montgomery, which were L’Engle’s favorite childhood books. Like L’Engle, I immediately related to Emily in many ways: Emily’s peers typically rejected her; Her father had died (although in my case, my mother had died); She lived on an island; And, last, Emily wanted to be a writer.
Madeleine L’Engle As A Writer
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Besides providing encouragement to me as a teen through her books, Madeleine L’Engle also inspires me as a writer because of her dry years. Even though she had already published five books, and so one would expect her books to receive immediate acceptance, Meet the Austins was rejected for two years because it begins with a death. Through the Austins, L’Engle shared her beliefs about living and dying, mankind’s responsibility to one other, and the Christian family. With its rejections came the feeling that her beliefs were being denied. Yet she persevered and wrote another regular novel, which was published.
Next, L’Engle wrote A Wrinkle in Time, a book that is notable for two reasons. First, it was rejected twenty-six times. (For examples of other famous books rejected multiple times, check out Daily Writing Tips) In an interview with Christianity Today before her death, L’Engle expressed these feelings about the experience: “It was rejected and rejected. I would put the kids to bed, walk down the dirt road in front of the house, weep, and yell at God. I’d say, ‘God, why are you letting me have all of these rejection slips? You know it’s a good book. I wrote it for you.'” This part of the Wrinkle in Time story I have known about most of my life. However, Wrinkle in Time, is also notable because it won the Newbery Medal. I didn’t know that in hindsight L’Engle came to believe that if her prayers for publication had initially been answered, Wrinkle in Time might have dropped into a dark pool of oblivion. Instead, Wrinkle became famous due to its many rejections and many awards. It has also endured the test of time. This upcoming year (2012), a fiftieth anniversary editionwill even be released.
As an author who faced so many rejections, Madeleine L’Engle serves as an inspiration. I like the answer which she gave Christianity Today about how to handle failure: “As Christians we follow a man who in terms of the world failed. He listened to his mission, to where the Father told him to go. We seem to have lost sight of that. We live in a world that insists we be successes. If you’re not free to fail, you’ll never be anything but mediocre. You must try to do more than you can really do. Sometimes, you do more than you can really do. That’s the marvel of it.”
Besides helping me through my teens and inspiring me as a writer, Madeleine L’Engle also impacted me as a Christian. Unlike me, she grew up without a formal religious background. Yet like me, she always felt a deep sense of the nearness of a personal God to whom she could talk.
L’Engle credited her faith to an old English Roman Catholic woman, Mary O’Connell, who took care of her. Wherever O’Connell was, L’Engle felt there was laughter and joy. Yet, O’Connell had a terrible life. Her husband was an alcoholic. O’Connell had to take her children’s Sunday coats with her to work, so that her husband wouldn’t sell them for drink. She often didn’t know where the money for the rent would come from. In her later years, she suffered with painful arthritis. Despite all of her hardships, O’Connell always brought joy with her. In an interview with Christianity Today, L’Engle said: “A close friend of mine says that a Christian is someone who’s met one. I met one, early.”
Cover of A Wrinkle in Time
The reason L’Engle impacted me as a Christian is that her faith always comes through so strongly in her books. That said, not all of the Christian community embraces L’Engle. Some Christians dismiss her, because of her decision not to create overtly Christian characters and to use themes in her novels that are not explicitly Christian. Others rejected her because of her controversial belief in universal salvation. (Everyone eventually will be redeemed in God’s fullness of time.) Over that belief, many Christian bookstores, schools, and libraries refused to carry her books. A Wrinkle in Time, specifically, has drawn criticism for an inaccurate portrayal of God and a nurturing of a belief in fantasy. Ironically, many outside of the Christian circle, attack her work for being too religious.
From what I have read about L’Engle, she seemed to hold to the same philosophy as C.S. Lewis with regards to writing. Both believed that if authors wrote the best story they could, their faith would shine through in their work. LâEngle also apparently had a goal to to create fiction that was Christian, while also writing to an audience that included all kinds of believers and unbelievers. That way she felt the Gospel would be shared and spread. What do you think? Can one write a good story, but also share their beliefs in a way that anyone can hear them?
Related Posts
Related Articles
- Words Beyond Feeling (bindingthemain.wordpress.com)
- Explorations of Family: Meet the Austins (tor.com)
- There is Such a Thing as a Tesseract: A Wrinkle in Time (tor.com)
- Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (return2writing.com)
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Posted on: December 24, 2011
Do some literary classics become dated? Should such books ever be rewritten in modern English? Should such books ever be abridged? These are questions that my husband and I discussed after I finished reading Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
There is no doubt that Robinson Crusoe is important to literary history. First published in 1719, it is among one of the first novels ever written. It also marked the beginning of realistic fiction, with its success leading to the popularity of castaway novels. I doubt however that the style and content of the original version of Robinson Crusoe will appeal to todayâs young readers.
It sure didnât when I first read it as a high school student. Then again, that might have been because I was too busy falling for my literature teacher to care about the rebellious main character, who against his familyâs wishes decided to take to the sea. Or so I told myself recently when our family decided to read it for our monthly discussion group. And thus I decided to give this literary classic another chance. Perhaps inspired by real-life Alexander Selkirk who lived for four years on a Pacific island, Robinson Crusoe tells the fictional story of a castaway who spends twenty-seven years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad. While on this island, Crusoe builds shelter and tools, hunts animals, and plants crops. He also witnesses cannibalism and rescues their prisoners/food. Sounds as if Robinson Crusoe has huge potential for a great adventure story, right? Too bad itâs such a bore.
First, letâs consider the style. It is so rambling and repetitious that it made my head hurt to read it in large chunks: âMy father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as a house-education and a country free school generally goes, and designed me for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to the sea; and my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, nay, the commands, of my father, and against all the entreatiesâŠ.â Besides writing novels, Daniel Defoe apparently also wrote manuals. I believe it! A second problem I have with Defoeâs style is how analytical and impassive his descriptions are: âBefore I set up my tent, I drew a half circle before the hollow place, which took in about ten yards in its semi-diameter from the rock, and twenty yards in its diameter from its beginning and ending.â I canât remember the last time I checked my email so often during one page.
Next, letâs consider the content. It irritated me on two levels. First, Defoe was badly in need of an editor. There is an old adage amongst writers that one should cut the first chapter. With any other novel, this would probably eliminate the bulk of the background text. With Robinson Crusoe, one would have to keep hacking away to cut out the multiple stories about the times Crusoe went to sea, encountered storms or other dangers including captivity at the hands of the Moors, and subsequently repented (and then rescinded) of his foolishness.  Iâm all for skipping ahead to that fatal seafaring journey where he is marooned, because from that point until his rescue I somewhat enjoyed the story. There is also an old adage that when a story has been told, one should STOP. Someone should have given Defoe this advice. In my version (a slightly shortened form of part one published in The Children’s Illustrated Classics by E.P. Dutton & Co.), after Crusoe is rescued, Defoe tortured me for twenty-five additional pages with accounts of Crusoeâs life back in England. The content irritated me on a second level, in that there is material which begs for footnotes so that readers understand the context of the times wherein Defoe wrote. For example, slavery was an acceptable part of life in Defoeâs time. Readers who have heard how Robinson Crusoe is a beloved story of friendship between Crusoe and his man Friday might be surprised and shocked to realize that Friday referred to Crusoe as âmasterâ. Even if Crusoe taught Friday to speak English and later converted him to Christianity, todayâs readers would struggle to understand how their relationship is an example of friendship.
At this point, I would be amiss if I didn’t point out what I did enjoy about Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe created an extremely realistic character. Crusoe reacts initially with fear to storms and natives, but eventually calms down enough to react logically to dangers. When a storm leaves him shipwrecked, he methodically salvages supplies. When a footprint appears on the other side of his island, he figures out when natives are most likely to visit and so when he should stay hidden. Crusoe is very human. I also enjoyed reading about all the tools that Crusoe created during his sojourn on the island, along with his ponderings on moral dilemmas such as when is it right to kill another man and what role God should have in his life. At first, Crusoe turns to God only in times of trouble. As God continues to provide for him on the island, Crusoe develops a sense of thankfulness and contentment for what God blesses man with in his daily life.
As you can see, there are gems in Robinson Crusoe. Unfortunately, theyâre so grimed in repetition and unnecessary content that they become drudgery to mine. For that reason, I found myself wondering:Â Do some literary classics become dated? Should a book ever be rewritten in modern English? Should a book ever be abridged? What do you think?
For more discussion of this question, check out Adaptions for Children at the Rebecca Reads review blog.
My rating? Leave it: Donât even take it off the shelves. Not recommended.
How would you rate this book?
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