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chuckroAdam thought he was going to a normal summer internship with the famous biologist Dr. O’Keefe. As most summer internships do not turn into international spy thrillers before you’ve even gotten on an airplane, it’s clear this one will be anything but normal.
This is actually much less sci-fi than her other books I’ve read; it’s a thriller with a mild sci-fi premise that basically is just a macguffin.
The early parts of the book have a LotR-like issue, in that there’s heavy emphasis on travel logistics and what Adam is eating and less on things actually happening. Also, many of the sensibilities are heavily 1960s and haven’t aged terribly well—the idea that Adam would be stopped by airport security and questioned is an indication of a massive conspiracy; as opposed to now, when it would simply be shorthand for “Adam is of middle-eastern descent.” (Honestly, I was getting Hardy Boys flashes for much of the book, as that’s my baseline for 50s/60s mystery-thrillers starring teenage boys.)
It could not be clearer from his introduction that Typhon Cutter is not a good person or one with good intent: The manipulative bullshit he pulls on sleep-deprived Adam in their first meeting is clearly intended as such. Similarly, the dangers of Kali’s feminine wiles and the idea that she’s constantly lying to Adam (especially when contrasted against Poly, who’s a child but also clearly the “good girl”, Madonna/WhoreComplexsayswhat?) is pretty blatant.
Then again, it shouldn’t be hard to pick sides when one has Arcangelo and Joshua (the arch-angel and Jesus) and the other has Kali and Typhon, and least if you knew you were in a Christianity-inspired book. (And realizing that Joshua was Jesus meant that I put together at least parts of the ending LONG before I got there. I’m shocked he stays dead, given the circumstances, and wonder if he returns in a sequel book. It really feels like there should be at least another chapter to resolve what O’Keefe’s techniques do to Joshua and to Kali.)
The talking around things and “you need to make up your own mind” bullshit started to drive me batty fairly early in the book. You know what’s useful for making up your mind about something? Information. Maybe, if somebody involved in this whole back-and-forth gave Adam a straight answer about who they’re working for and what their goals are (or even what the conflict is over), he might be able to make a useful, informed decision.
Which, in turn, makes it an interesting commentary on L’Engle’s Christianity. Apparently you’re being judged in the great moral scheme by how you act when you know nothing.* People are either good or bad in their hearts, and their actions reveal those things, but don’t determine them. (It’s a very Calvinist view, that God has actively chosen some people for damnation as well as for salvation, and your actions aren’t determining which camp you fall into, just revealing it.)
I actually met L’Engle, circa 1995, on a class trip. I remember relatively little of it at this point, as I was less interested in her and more in my newly-acquired copy of Many Waters.
* Jon Snow.
Overall: While I haven’t read the Wrinkle quadrilogy in years, I suspect it has aged better than this. This is a bit too loaded down with tropes I recognize and religious ideas I have issues with. More opinions to come as I read the rest of this series.
This is actually much less sci-fi than her other books I’ve read; it’s a thriller with a mild sci-fi premise that basically is just a macguffin.
The early parts of the book have a LotR-like issue, in that there’s heavy emphasis on travel logistics and what Adam is eating and less on things actually happening. Also, many of the sensibilities are heavily 1960s and haven’t aged terribly well—the idea that Adam would be stopped by airport security and questioned is an indication of a massive conspiracy; as opposed to now, when it would simply be shorthand for “Adam is of middle-eastern descent.” (Honestly, I was getting Hardy Boys flashes for much of the book, as that’s my baseline for 50s/60s mystery-thrillers starring teenage boys.)
It could not be clearer from his introduction that Typhon Cutter is not a good person or one with good intent: The manipulative bullshit he pulls on sleep-deprived Adam in their first meeting is clearly intended as such. Similarly, the dangers of Kali’s feminine wiles and the idea that she’s constantly lying to Adam (especially when contrasted against Poly, who’s a child but also clearly the “good girl”, Madonna/WhoreComplexsayswhat?) is pretty blatant.
Then again, it shouldn’t be hard to pick sides when one has Arcangelo and Joshua (the arch-angel and Jesus) and the other has Kali and Typhon, and least if you knew you were in a Christianity-inspired book. (And realizing that Joshua was Jesus meant that I put together at least parts of the ending LONG before I got there. I’m shocked he stays dead, given the circumstances, and wonder if he returns in a sequel book. It really feels like there should be at least another chapter to resolve what O’Keefe’s techniques do to Joshua and to Kali.)
The talking around things and “you need to make up your own mind” bullshit started to drive me batty fairly early in the book. You know what’s useful for making up your mind about something? Information. Maybe, if somebody involved in this whole back-and-forth gave Adam a straight answer about who they’re working for and what their goals are (or even what the conflict is over), he might be able to make a useful, informed decision.
Which, in turn, makes it an interesting commentary on L’Engle’s Christianity. Apparently you’re being judged in the great moral scheme by how you act when you know nothing.* People are either good or bad in their hearts, and their actions reveal those things, but don’t determine them. (It’s a very Calvinist view, that God has actively chosen some people for damnation as well as for salvation, and your actions aren’t determining which camp you fall into, just revealing it.)
I actually met L’Engle, circa 1995, on a class trip. I remember relatively little of it at this point, as I was less interested in her and more in my newly-acquired copy of Many Waters.
* Jon Snow.
Overall: While I haven’t read the Wrinkle quadrilogy in years, I suspect it has aged better than this. This is a bit too loaded down with tropes I recognize and religious ideas I have issues with. More opinions to come as I read the rest of this series.
