not much to say, lately

[ursamajor]

but i've been rereading A Swiftly Tilting Planet tonight, and the first chapter is awfully poignant and timely:



"One madman in Vespugia," Dennys said bitterly, "can push a button and it will destroy civilization, and everything Mother and Father have worked for will go up in a mushroom cloud. Why couldn't the President make [Branzillo] see reason?

"El Rabioso sees this as an act of punishment, of just retribution. The Western world has used up more than our share of the world's energy, the world's resources, and we must be punished," Mr. Murry said. "We are responsible for the acutely serious oil and coal shortage, the defoliation of trees, the grave damage to the atmosphere, and he is going to make us pay."

"We stand accused," Sandy said, "but if he makes us pay, Vespugia will pay just as high a price."

Charles Wallace moved out of his withdrawn silence to say, "It hasn't happened yet, nuclear war. No missiles have been sent. As long as it hasn't happened, there's a chance that it may not happen."

Dennys said, "I do think we've got our priorities wrong, we human beings. We've forgotten what's worth saving and what's not, or we wouldn't be in this mess."

Her father said, "You know, my dears, the world has been abnormal for so long that we've forgotten what it's like to live in a peaceful and reasonable climate. If there is to be any peace or reason, we have to create it in our own hearts and homes."



"And the fire with all the strength it hath," Charles Wallace said softly.

"But what kind of strength?" Meg asked. She looked at the logs crackling merrily in the fireplace. "It can keep you warm, but if it gets out of hand it can burn your house down. It can destroy forests. It can burn whole cities."

"Strength can always be used to destroy as well as create," Charles Wallace said. "This fire is to help and heal."

"I hope," Meg said. "Oh, I hope."

Comments

[blu.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a good book - I should pick it up next time I'm looking for something to read. :)

[rustnroses.livejournal.com]

It's the third in Madeline L'Engle's Tesserac series. So if you never read it as a kid (or even if you did)...start with A Wrinkle in Time then A Wind in the Door before tilting the planet. It's fun to watch Charles Wallace grow up. I need to reread all of them. :)

[ladysisyphus.livejournal.com]

I loved Charles Wallace. And I always vaugely suspected, as a child, that he was gay.

I'm trying to remember the book that was about Meg's daughter, and the title is failing me. But that's okay, because as I recall, it wasn't very good, anyway.

[ursamajor]

There were several about Poly, but the most likely one I can think of would be An Acceptable Time, where she travels back in time 3000 years to live with the natives.

According to madeleinelengle.com, these are the other books involving Poly; I've not read either of these:

Dragons in the Water
A House Like a Lotus

I had more fun with the Austins, but the O'Keefes and Murrys made me think more. :)

[kirylin.livejournal.com]

OMG, I love the Time Trilogy!!

I actually have the entire trilogy autographed by her.

I should pull those out and read them again...soon..

[pthalo]

I love that book. And I love that part:

"But what kind of strength?" Meg asked. She looked at the logs crackling merrily in the fireplace. "It can keep you warm, but if it gets out of hand it can burn your house down. It can destroy forests. It can burn whole cities."

"Strength can always be used to destroy as well as create," Charles Wallace said. "This fire is to help and heal."

I read this book for the first time 11 years ago and I'm still trying to grok this wisdom.