The time fold

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The time fold (original title: A Wrinkle in Time ) is a children's book by the American writer Madeleine L'Engle . It was published in 1962. In German-speaking countries it is also known under the titles Spiralnebel 101 and Das Zeiträtsel . The story combines elements of fantasy and science fiction . The book has won several literary awards and filmed twice, most recently as the time riddle of Ava DuVernay .

action

Thirteen-year-old Margaret Murry, called Meg, is an outsider at school. Her only allies are her three younger brothers: her daring twin brothers Sandy and Dennis, who she defends against bullying , and her youngest brother, the highly intelligent Charles Wallace, with whom Meg has a particularly close connection. Charles Wallace has the gift of empathizing with others in a telepathic manner and is also marginalized because of his strange and age-atypical behavior. Meg's father, Alexander Murry, is a physicist who mysteriously disappeared five years ago while working on a secret scientific project. At the core of the experiment was the concept of a so-called Tesserung (in the original and in the first German edition: Tesseract ), a method of traveling over long distances through space and time, which he developed together with Meg's mother, who is also a scientist. Only his family still believe in his return.

During a thunderstorm, a strange old woman appears at the Murrys' house, who lives nearby under the name Frau Wasdenn (original and German first edition: Mrs Whatsit ). When they want to visit Mrs. Wasdenn the next day, they meet Calvin O'Keefe, who goes to Meg's school and has skills similar to Charles Wallace's. It turns out that Mrs. Wasdenn and her companions, who call themselves Mrs. Diedas and Mrs. Dergestalt (original and German first edition: Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which ), are extraterrestrial beings. They tell the children that their father is in danger. With the help of a Tesserung they take Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin on a trip to come to their father's help. On the planet Uriel they learn that a tangible darkness is spreading in the universe and encompassing more and more planets. The earth is already threatened by it. Ms. Wasdenn, Ms. Diedas and Ms. Dergestalt continue to accompany the children to the planet Camazotz. There they leave them alone and tell them to look for Alexander Murry, who is being held there. On Camasotz, people live in a uniform rhythm in which everyone is doing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin look for the central point from which the actions of everyone are controlled. There they discover that the planet is under the influence of an abstract, evil force known only as IT. IT subjects all living beings to its will. The children manage to resist him for a while. Charles Wallace surrenders to his power voluntarily with the intention of scouting it out from within, but succumbs to it and becomes its willless servant, who now tries to get Meg and Calvin to give up too.

You can find Alexander Murry in his prison and free him. However, IT begins to cast a spell over him, Meg and Calvin too. Through an improvement they manage to leave Camazotz before IT takes possession of them. They have to leave Charles Wallace behind. Since they are only imperfectly able to travel by Tesserung, they surprisingly land on an unknown gray planet, which is inhabited by large figures with fur and tentacles. At first they seem scary, but they turn out to be caring and helpful and keep the travelers healthy. There they meet again with Mrs. Wasdenn, Mrs. Diedas and Mrs. Dergestalt. Under her guidance, Meg realizes that only she can free her brother. Ms. Wasdenn explains to her that she has something that IT doesn't know and that IT is not up to. When she gets back to Camazotz and meets Charles Wallace again, she understands this instruction: it is her love for her brother that finally makes him come to again. Now that the whole family is free again, they manage to return home. The Murry family is reunited, and Calvin, neglected by his own family, has finally found a loving environment.

subjects

The search for scientific knowledge is at the center of history. Meg and her brothers grow up in a scientific environment; their parents work together on new research methods and encourage their children to think scientifically. Even after her father's disappearance, her mother continues her experiments and spends a lot of time in the laboratory attached to her home. Meg is interested in math , especially Euclidean geometry , and is often better at expressing herself in mathematical concepts than in words. Her friend Calvin, on the other hand, is interested in language and communication. They achieve their goal through the combination of their talents. When Madeleine L'Engle wrote the book, she was interested in quantum physics . Inspired by the findings of Max Planck and Albert Einstein , she invented her own, freely interpreted concept of travel through space and time.

At the same time, Christian themes shape the novel. The universe described was created by a god and the three helpers of the children can be understood as angels . The book also contains references to Jesus and quotations from the Bible . L'Engle did not see this as contradicting the scientific ideas on which the book is based. She repeatedly emphasized her Christian faith, but refused to take the Bible literally, instead viewing many biblical stories as fantastic literature as well. At the center of the book are universal values ​​such as peace, friendship, love, responsibility and understanding between different cultures.

Various concepts of equality play a central role: Meg, who has always suffered from being different from others, learns in the course of history to appreciate the differences between people and cultures. On Camazotz she realizes that the equality of all people is not something worth striving for, but equality and mutual respect. The fight against ES is also to be understood as resistance against authoritarian regimes .

The time fold shows many references to well-known works of world literature, especially to the plays by William Shakespeare . Fortinbras, the Murry family's dog, is named for Prince Fortinbras of Hamlet , and Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which refer to the three Macbeth witches when they first appear together . Mrs. Which, who has difficulty with human language, often expresses herself through quotations.

Publication history

L'Engle had to search a long time for a publisher who wanted to bring out Die Zeitfalte , although by this time they had already published six novels, most recently the award-winning novel Meet the Austins . She received numerous rejections on the grounds that the target group of the book (children or adults) and its genre (fantasy or science fiction) were unclear and a book with a girl as the protagonist would not sell. 26 publishers rejected their manuscript until Farrar, Straus & Giroux finally included the book in their program. L'Engle reported that many publishers later told her that they regretted her refusals. According to the author, most adults - unlike children - lacked understanding of the book:

"It is still amazing to me that A Wrinkle in Time was considered too difficult for children. My children were seven, ten, and twelve while I was writing it, and they understood it. The problem is not that it's too difficult for children, but that it's too difficult for grown ups. "

“It still amazes me that Die Zeitfalte was seen as too difficult for children. My children were seven, ten, and twelve when I wrote this, and they understood. The problem is not that it is too difficult for children, but that it is too difficult for adults. "

- Madeleine L'Engle, 1998

The book has now appeared in over 50 editions, has been sold more than 10 million times and has been translated into several languages.

In 2012, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the book, an anniversary edition was published, the cover design of which is based on the cover of the first edition designed by Ellen Raskin . In 2017 a Movie Tie-In Edition was released with images from the film The Time Puzzle and a foreword by Ava DuVernay .

An English audio book edition, read by Hope Davis , was published in 2012.

The first German translation by Martha Johanna Hofmann was published in 1968 under the title Spiralnebel 101 - a more than adventurous story by Claudius Verlag, from 1974 as a paperback by Ravensburger Verlag . In 1984 a new translation by Wolf Harranth was published under the title Die Zeitfalte by Thienemann Verlag . This version was reprinted many times, between 1988 and 1993 by dtv junior , from 2008 by the children's book publisher cbj . In March 2018, a new edition was published by Piper Verlag , which, in keeping with the cinema film that was published at the same time, is entitled The Puzzle of Time .

Reception and awards

The time fold was a success from the start and received good reviews. Madeleine L'Engle was honored with the Newbery Medal in 1963 . In 1964 the book was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Prize . In 1965 it received the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award .

According to the American Library Association , The Time Fold is one of the most criticized books in libraries in the United States. Despite the clear references to Christianity, it was mainly conservative Christian groups who tried to have the book removed from public and school libraries. They criticized the positive portrayal of magic as well as L'Engles' unconventional interpretation of God and the mention of Jesus as a human being in the same breath as personalities from art, philosophy and science, which denies his divinity. In response to this criticism of the religious right , the liberal Christian publisher Zondervan includes Die Zeitfalte in its list of recommendations for Christian youth and in its list of the ten best Christian stories.

Adaptations

Movie

The first film adaptation of the book was the 2003 Canadian two-part television film directed by John Kent Harrison, starring Katie Stuart . It was produced by Walt Disney Television and broadcast in Germany under the title Prisoners of Time . Madeleine L'Engle was dissatisfied with the filming. In an interview with Newsweek magazine, she answered yes to the question of whether the film had met her expectations: it did, because it was as bad as expected.

In March 2018, a remake with the German title The Time Puzzle came to the cinema. Directed by Ava DuVernay , the leading role is played by Storm Reid , additional roles are played by Oprah Winfrey , Reese Witherspoon , Mindy Kaling , Chris Pine , Gugu Mbatha-Raw , Rowan Blanchard , and Zach Galifianakis .

theatre

The fold of time has been adapted as a play on several occasions, including by James Sie (first performed in 1990 under the direction of Meryl Friedman at the Lifeline Theater in Chicago ), by John Glore (first performed in 2010 in Costa Mesa ) and by Tracy Young (first performed in 2014 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival ).

Opera

Libby Larsen composed an opera based on the book. The libretto wrote Walter Green . The opera was produced by OperaDelaware and premiered in 1992.

Graphic novel

An adaptation as a graphic novel by Hope Larson was published in 2012 ( ISBN 978-0-3743-8615-3 ). Like the novel, Wolf Harranth translated this version into German. It was published in 2013 as Die Zeitfalte by Atrium Verlag ( ISBN 978-3-8553-5441-2 ).

Sequels

Madeleine L'Engle wrote three more novels about the adventures of the Murry family: A Wind in the Door ( The crack in the space , 1973), A Swiftly Tilting Planet ( Through time and space , 1978) that a National Book Award was awarded , and Many Waters ( The Great Flood , 1986). At the same time, L'Engle wrote another book series that begins after Meg and Calvin have started a family and is about their children and grandchildren. At the center is her eldest daughter, Polly O'Keefe. This series included The Arm of the Starfish (1965), Dragons in the Waters (1976), A House Like a Lotus (1984) and An Acceptable Time (1989).

The four books on the Murry family and An Acceptable Time are collectively known as the Time Quintet and are also sold as collective editions. At the same time, The Arm of the Starfish , Dragons in the Waters , A House Like a Lotus and An Acceptable Time as the Polly O'Keefe Quartet are on the market.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Madeleine L'Engle Interview Transcript from Scholastic , accessed January 28, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b Melinda Henneberger: 'I Dare You': Madeleine L'Engle on God, 'The Da Vinci Code' and aging well. In: Newsweek. May 7, 2003, accessed January 27, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b Kaitlyn Teer: What Time is it When You Pass Through A Wrinkle in Time? In: JSTOR Daily. July 12, 2017, accessed January 28, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Madeleine L'Engles' Margaret Edwards Award ceremony speech from the American Library Association on June 27, 1998, accessed January 27, 2018.
  5. ^ A b Afterword to the new edition of Madeleine L'Engles' autobiography A Circle of Quiet. Open Road Integrated Media, New York 2016.
  6. ^ A b c R. Wolf Baldassarro: Banned Books Awareness: “A Wrinkle in Time”. In: world.edu. December 5, 2011, accessed January 27, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Awards on Madeleine L'Engles Official Website, accessed January 28, 2018.
  8. ↑ 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999. , American Library Association , accessed January 27, 2018.
  9. ↑ Top 100 Banned / Challenged Books: 2000–2009. , American Library Association, accessed January 27, 2018.
  10. ↑ Herbert N. Foerstel: Banned in the USA. A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Greenwood Press, Westport / Connecticut 1994, ISBN 0-3132-8517-9 , pp. 160-161.
  11. ↑ Bommer Lawrence: A Wrinkle in Time. In: Chicago Reader. October 15, 1998, accessed January 28, 2018 .
  12. ^ Susan Carpenter: 'Wrinkle in Time' takes leap to South Coast Rep stage. In: Los Angeles Times . February 28, 2010, accessed January 28, 2018 .
  13. ↑ A Wrinkle in Time, from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival pages, accessed January 28, 2018.
  14. ^ Opera A Wrinkle in Time on the composer Libby Larsen's website, accessed on January 28, 2018.