(no subject)

[slammerkinbabe]

Oh goodness, Madeleine L'Engle has died. How sad. I went out to dinner with λ's sister and her husband tonight, and the sister's husband said he had almost had the chance to take a class with L'Engle last summer but that her failing health had caused her to bow out. I believe my intelligent response to that was "She's old." She was old, in fact, 88, and she was probably dead when I was having that conversation. What a shame. She was a lovely writer. The Wrinkle in Time series was obviously landmark, but then I've read just one of her adult novels - A Live Coal in the Sea - read it when I was in high school, and I'm really glad that I did, because I loved it and I think her gentle perspective on grace and mercy was an important thing for me to absorb in a period when I was primarily marinating in C.S. Lewis's more cut-and-dried philosophy.

That will leave a hole in the literary landscape, for me anyway. Rest in peace, Madeleine.

Comments

[lovefromgirl.livejournal.com]

I rather preferred her adult novels; then again, I was never much of a child.

May she slip into the fabric of time. Whenever her words come back to life, so she shall.

[fanboy-of-zeus.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's sad. I only ever read the Wrinkle in Time books - tried reading some of her other stuff and never finished, for some reason - but they were among my favorites, growing up.

[amyura.livejournal.com]

My favorite was A House Like a Lotus. Dealt with a lot of mature issues, overtly Christian, but as you said, heavy on the mercy and grace. The book pissed off a lot of more conservative Christians because two of the main characters were an openly lesbian couple (portrayed, for the most part, sympathetically) and the protagonist loses her virginity (at age 16) and it's portrayed as a beautiful and loving moment.

[ganimede]

My boy only just introduced me to her books a few months ago as well. I'd never heard of her before. She doesn't seem to have been a big seller in the UK as far as I can tell which is a shame.