many waters cannot quench love

[electricalgwen]

...neither can the floods drown it.

One time, my supervisor at work took a small group of us out at lunchtime. Only we didn't have lunch. He gave us a choice: "We can have a feast for the body - or a feast for the mind." (Imagine it in an Inigo Montoya accent.) So we went to the nearest bookstore instead and he bought us each a book.

I got The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L'Engle. It's a very moving, simple, beautiful description of an approaching death and how the family dealt with it. L'Engle herself died this past week, age 88.

Her "children's" books tackled difficult subjects like death, religion, sexuality, hatred, and love, in a straightforward way and without being preachy, although her faith is evident throughout. When I was 15 or so, I kept giving "A Ring of Endless Light" to friends for birthdays etc., and I've continued to give away various of her books, including the wonderful poetry collection "A Cry Like a Bell". (The poem from the point of view of the mother of baby Judas is amazing.) Of her adult novels, I particularly recommend "A Live Coal in the Sea."

Lloyd Alexander is dead, too. Where's my childhood gone? *sigh*

Comments

[laisserais]

You've explained why she was so great much better than i could have. i think i might go out and get a new copy of "A Ring of Endless Light." I think checking it out again would be a good thing.

[electricalgwen.livejournal.com]

Hey, no, I think you did a lovely job.
I haven't read it in... good grief, over a decade at least, maybe I should check it out again too. There are a few things that would probably seem cliched or annoying to me now (actually, teen Vicky sometimes annoyed me then, too, though probably more for reasons of uncomfortable truth!) like the dolphins - but that was the first time I'd encountered the concept of dolphin intelligence and empathy, the first time I read the book, and it was wonderful to me at the time. Especially when tied in with the deaths going on around her and stuff. Nowadays swimming with dolphins is one of those things you can do on holiday in Cuba or whatever but then it was new. Kind of like the regeneration biology in The Arm of the Starfish - it drove the plot, but it was also really cool and science-fictiony in its own right; now it'd be almost commonplace compared to the transgenic and cloning stuff that's in the news.
I loved Meg's mother, too. I think you're right about her books drawing girls into science fiction, but also, although I never realized it until you said that about her mad scientist parents, her mother was probably the first woman scientist and mother that I encountered in fiction. There still aren't very many, and I can't think of another healthy example. Mrs. Murray vs. Susan Calvin: compare and contrast. Ouch.

[laisserais]

but that was the first time I'd encountered the concept of dolphin intelligence and empathy

Yeah, I think that's a huge part of it: there were so many firsts there. Both as a reader and in the work itself. Maybe it was a case of being in the right place at the right time. I am curious, now to see how the books hold up to a reading for me now. I think a lot of us were lucky to have encountered the works at the time in our own lives and reading that we did.

And yeah, strong maternal figures who were also intelligent. I remember that having a huge impact on me, as well. I wonder if that's a prevalent thing in children's lit now?

[electricalgwen.livejournal.com]

I wonder if that's a prevalent thing in children's lit now?
Not that I've noticed, although admittedly a lot of Elder Son's reading to date has been stuff I read as a kid - or else stuff that doesn't really have mothers figuring in the books at all. Most of the stuff aimed at girls at the moment, at least here, seems to have very ineffectual, vain, or stupid mother figures. (Or absent, though of course the orphan hero/ine will always be popular - I adored Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword, for instance.)

[electricalgwen.livejournal.com]

Btw, it was made into a movie, released 2002. I taped it but never watched it after reading about it, because apparently it was "dumbed down" tremendously from the book, and turned into a teen romance with dolphins. (In the words of one reviewer: "Going back to the book as an adult, I am amazed that a novel aimed at young readers explored the topic of death with both directness and sensitivity. This film explores how cool it would be to have a boyfriend with a speedboat.")

However...

Zachary Grey was played by Jared Padalecki. ;)

[laisserais]

well, you know, speedboats and boyfriends are pretty cool. ;)

eee! we should tell erin. she's got a secret little thing for baby!jared. *g*