#17 A Wind at the Door
by Madeleine L’Engle
Rating: 3/5
Pages: 245 (with “Go Fish: Questions for the Author)
Publisher: Squarefish (an imprint of Macmillian)
While the first novel in the series was a breeze to read (it took me about a month), the second novel was more like an updraft that took me about two years to get through (not counting life events). I finally finished it June 2021 by scheduling reading time. I don’t know if many people know that this is a series that follows the lives of the Murrays. The journey so far has been moderately pleasant but also a bit confusing. This is A Wind at the Door by Madeleine L’Engle.
This story begins as abruptly as the previous book ended. I don’t know if L’Engle’s new idea will stretch across the remaining three books, but I see something developing. While the concept was interesting in the first book, this first sequel, at least for me, lacked some of the charm of the first novel. On the other hand, I don’t know what I was expecting would happen to the trio this time around. I thought there would be some sort of connection between the two books but there didn’t seem to be anything, except the smallest hint of the mention of the tesseract as a passive thought but no mention of Mrs. Whatsit, Who, or Which. We are instead taken on a journey to one of the most rooted places in the universe. Along with new characters that help Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace on this journey.
We find out during the first few chapters of the novel that about a year has passed since the last adventure and both Charles Wallace and Meg, as well as the rest of the family, have either forgotten that adventure or it’s as if nothing ever happened. And if they do remember it, it seems more like it was either inconsequential or that something like this always happens to them, which being the second novel in the series, it does. We start with Charles Wallace telling Meg that he believes that there is a “drove of dragons” in their backyard. Meg believing that Charles Wallace is exaggerating find that this, along with his high intelligence, is what gets him bullied at school. I find that the village just doesn’t like Charles Wallace. They didn’t like him before because they felt he wasn’t interacting at a “normal” level, and they don’t like him now because he is smarter than everyone else. This town just finds things to be prejudiced about when it doesn’t meet their “approval.” We then find out that Charles Wallace is sick, and help is sent to figure out why and possibly save his life because it is hinted that his life serves a bigger purpose.
In this adventure we come across some new faces. Some good, whose help becomes imperative to have, while others are deadly opponents.
We meet Proginoskes, nicknamed “Progo” by Meg, a cherubim that is partnered up with her to pass a series of tests for both the good of the universe and the greater good.
Sporos, an inhabitant connected to Charles Wallace.
Blajeny, the teacher that guides both Charles Wallace and “Progos” through this journey.
And although he isn’t exactly a new character, we become further acquainted with Meg’s former principal, Mr. Jenkins.
The Ecthori are the villains who are going around the universe destroying and “X-ing” anything and everything.
And yes, like last time, the focus is again on Meg’s struggle with leadership of sorts. But it falls a bit flat this time around. Meg is constantly whining and rejecting the call of her mission before the first test ever happens—which by the by happens halfway through the book. While it’s understandable that she is only a child with an enormous task, constant complaining doesn’t help anyone. We hardly see Charles Wallace after the first quarter of the book and Calvin barely registers in the story. It reads more like a brainstorming idea that is all over the place. It somewhat reminds me of “1001 Nights” where there is a collection of stories framed into the main plot of the bigger story. Unfortunately, at this point, I don’t know what the main story is. But then again this is only the second book in the series. I know that there are a few other series connected to the Time Quintet but as a reader, I personally don’t want to read every other book in the bibliography, so I hope that the questions related to these three characters are answered in the following books of this series.
There are a few things I found interesting in this book. We learn that the communication style Calvin and Charles share is called “kything.” It’s not named in A Wrinkle in Time (AWT). But in A Wind in the Door (AWD) it is described as having the ability to read a person’s mind or feelings as if the person is either “one” with the person or communicating as if they were face-to-face. There is a running theme of “non-physical sight” at every turn from “not everything is as it appears to be” and “there is more to what one sees,” but also seeing by “sensing,” either through “kything” or rhythm of being. This had been implemented in AWT but is picked up again in this story and making it a strong point so that Meg is able to save her brother and the day.
At the beginning of the story, before the adventure is well underway, Meg is worried about Charles Wallace being bullied by the kids in his elementary school. Meg is frustrated that even though her parents are scientists, they don’t seem “smart” enough to realize how constantly he is bullied at school. She mentions this to Calvin, who responds that he might be better off in a “city school where there’re lots of different kinds of kids … [and] [m]aybe he wouldn’t stand out as being so different if there were other different people too.” And that the only reason the twins and Calvin have fared better in their respective schools is because they “play by the law of the jungle.” Something Meg and her youngest brother don’t do at all. It almost feels that L’Engle is commenting on how things could be or should be in society, apart from all the “world saving from dark forces” aside. The two Murry children that refuse to be other than wholeheartedly themselves are outcasts and the twins and Calvin blend to survive. This is survival is on a different scale than that of the “Ecthori.” It is still the same battle where Meg will always name herself before letting anyone “X” her or who she is. In that respect, I believe that Meg is admirable. It does offset her whining a bit.