In pace requiescat...

[celandineb]

Madeleine L'Engle. Always one of my favorite authors. I'd quote, but I'm not at home to dig through the many books of hers on my shelf, so instead shall link you to what cruisedirector found, and what vulgarweed posted too. *sighs*

Comments

[jelazakazone]

So sad:( One of my favorite authors for a long long time. She lived a long good life. RIP ML.

[celandineb]

She did indeed have a good long life, or so it would seem. And she will be remembered...

[celandineb]

I still reread her books regularly; always liked the Murry family ones more than the Austins, but I've read nearly all of them over the years.

[celandineb]

Oh yes -- own it. *g* Probably last reread it within the past two years...

[new_kid16]

Oh, no! How sad. I've seen some interesting criticisms of the way she portrayed some of the women in her books, and it made me think, but I do still love her books. I haven't read them for ages - I should get (nlLD)H to get some out of the library for me.

[celandineb]

I've always felt ML'E was quite realistic in her portrayals of female characters, particularly if one takes into account when she wrote. I mean, I always found it a little disturbing that Meg's mother apparently gave up her paid professional work to have kids, but otoh she continued researching at home, that's made clear.

[new_kid16]

yeah, it's the giving up the professional work when one has kids that got brought up. And not just Meg's mom, but in the series about the family who lived in NYC? the very musical family, I think? (the name of which is completely escaping me.) In that one, too, the mother disapproves of women wearing pants (and the mother is portrayed as wonderful.) There were some other arguments I don't remember. They just got me kind of rethinking the books, is all.

That being said, I think the message that women can be good at science is pretty damn awesome! I don't mean to say she was somehow anti-feminist, it's just an interesting mixture. (Like you say, probably based on the time she wrote.)

(And again, it's not like I don't love her books!)

[parseltonguepen]

It's sad to hear, but she had a very full life. I was reading her books in 2nd grade - they opened up a whole new world to me. I still have the dog-eared copies of A Wrinkle in Time/Wind in the Door/Swiftly Tilting Planet that I bought, used, for a nickle each.

[celandineb]

Oh sure, it's not as if she died young! It's just always sad to see the passing of such an icon, someone who obviously really influenced several generations of children.

Gosh, most of my favorite authors from my childhood are dead now, I think. Which isn't entirely a reflection of my age, as I tended to read older works even then.

[parseltonguepen]

Oh, me too. I seemed to love the older works - having a decent vocabulary and sentences with more than 5 words in them was a powerful draw :)

[westernredcedar]

Oh no oh no oh no. This makes me very sad.
Well, I might just have to change my plans and read my students one of her books to start the year, in memorium.

[celandineb]

That strikes me as an excellent thing to do. The neat thing about her books is that most of them can't be labeled as "girls' books" or "boys' books," either.