Book Review: A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle

A Ring of Endless Light has long been one of my favorite books.  As a teenager, I resonated with Vickie.  As an adult, I find that the writing in the book is spectacular.  This book challenges my views, which are significantly further on the conservative spectrum as that of L’Engle’s. 

This book’s theme is all about life and death.  How do we live when we know death looms? What is death? If death is un-natural, how do we confront it?  Ought we seek it? How do we handle it when we’re there? Can we cheat death is some way? Do the poet and the scientist look at death from different perspectives? 

This is teen-aged angst written with a beam of light.

(I always feel the need to apologize for my love of L’Engle’s writing, and perhaps I oughtn’t.  She does not write from a historically-orthodox Christian perspective.  Theistic evolution is freely discussed in this book as a given.  Only adults seem to have any settled sort of Christian faith.   However, I believe the quality of her writing and the challenge to consider another perspective and solidify one’s own perspective … for the adult or older teen … make these books to be read, enjoyed, and discussed.)