{"id":810,"date":"2004-05-10T14:09:16","date_gmt":"2004-05-10T18:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=810"},"modified":"2015-05-13T19:27:54","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T23:27:54","slug":"madeleine-lengle-demonstrates-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=810","title":{"rendered":"Madeleine L’Engle: “I expected it to be bad, and it is.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The movie of Wrinkle in Time<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Madeleine is asked in the interview: Have you seen the movie? Madeleine answers, “Yes.”<\/p>\n

She is asked: And did it meet expectations?<\/b><\/p>\n

Madeleine answers, “Oh, yes. I expected it to be bad, and it is.”<\/p>\n

I wrote her a letter once, when I was in my early 20s, and life was feeling pretty tough, pretty hard. I basically asked her, “How do you keep going? How do you read Anne Frank’s diary and not just hate everybody in the world?” (Something along those lines. I was in despair, and she seemed like she might have some answers. And I sent the letter to her publisher.)<\/p>\n

Months later, I got a reply.<\/p>\n

It was on a pale pale grey stationery, and across the top was emblazoned in a simple font: “MADELEINE”. I loved that. The informality of that.<\/p>\n

And she wrote me just the most wonderful and encouraging and beautiful letter, it was only a paragraph long. All she said was:<\/p>\n

“As long as there have been and continue to be people like …. (and <\/i>she listed about 20 names, half of whom I had never heard of<\/i> – but I remember Bach was on there<\/i>) … on this earth, I find the strength to go on, and I am able to believe that people are good inside.”<\/p>\n

She’s 85 years old. She’s a radical. She reminds me of my Great-Aunt Joan, in some respects. A courageous mind, a fearless intellect, excited to ask the tough questions, and face the mysteries of existence. The only thing there is to fear is rock-hard certainty, and, like Madeleine says about the ignorant fundamentalist Christians who want to ban all her books, they “want a closed system, and I want an open system.”<\/p>\n

I own every one of her books. So good to “hear” from her, on occasion. So good to know she’s still out there.<\/p>\n

(via Book Slut<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Update<\/i>: Anne has some very interesting thoughts on L’Engle<\/a>, and working out certain hostilities through your fiction. Good stuff.<\/p>\n