This is a children’s book that I’d forgotten completely about until I heard it mentioned in the T.V. series Stranger Things. I thought it would bring back some nostalgia rereading it as well as other children’s classics. Now that I’ve finished, I’m questioning myself if I’ve ever read this book since there isn’t even a flicker of a memory of the story like there are with “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” or “The Bridge to Terabithia.”
It is interesting to read these books again now that I’m an adult. I have my own thoughts and know much more about the world, whereas before, everything I knew was taught to me by adults. My beliefs, my view of the world, were given to me by adults as they understood things and were taught themselves. Now, 38 years later, I’ve traveled and read much. My thoughts, beliefs, and opinions often no longer align with those of my teachers. And rereading this book, I’ve noticed one aspect where the divergence is substantial.
Since this is a children’s book, the story isn’t very complex. There are some children and some mysterious women, and all of a sudden we find ourselves on a space adventure about to do battle with a dark, evil thing called “IT.” Whilst on this fantastic voyage, all of a sudden, we receive somewhat of a jolt, like someone spontaneously playing an accordion in the middle of a symphonic rendition of “Flight of the Bumblebee.” The children are on another planet in the vast universe talking to somewhat angelic-like beings when all of a sudden JESUS is mentioned.
What?
It is then we know that the writer is a Christian. We’re in the middle of a seemingly infinite and terrifying void of a universe, and it is all going to tie back to Jesus/God and a religion only 2,000 years old from a small blue dot of a planet that not even half of the population follows.
I asked ChatGPT about this because I started to recall that in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the savior lion was literally Jesus. So I wanted to see what connections there may be and how many popular old children’s books JESUS is suddenly going to appear in. It reminds me of when I’d met this very nice couple at Fisherman’s Wharf who were very interested in knowing where my Vietnamese friends were from. They were very friendly and quite interested in international things—something uncommon with many here in the USA. Then all of a sudden, BOOM, I’m handed a pamphlet of The Watchtower, the Jehovah’s Witness publication. Of course, it’s always going to be something here, as very nice people suddenly striking up a conversation out of nowhere always seem to have ulterior motives. Maybe less so in the countryside.
So I was disappointed, as I felt like I was just accosted by a wonderful storyteller who suddenly taking off their mask was really a TV preacher.
Overall, it was a fun little story but ended quite abruptly and disappointingly. OK, Meg, the annoyingly stubborn girl who got on my nerves through most of the story, faces IT alone and tells her little brother, who is under the control of IT, how much she loves him over and over, saving him. The angels swoop in, and BANG, they’re all back on Earth. The ‘angels,’ Ms. Whatsit, etc., then say they have to go and fade away, END SCENE!
Wait, what happened to IT? Is Camazotz still under IT’s control? What about all the poor people there? I was so surprised I asked ChatGPT if any others had complained, and yes, yes they have.
Well, although this experience was somewhat of a letdown, I think I’ll still read “The Bridge to Terabithia.” I remember the girl neighbor who drowned in the creek and how sad I was about that at nine years old. As an adult I’m thinking, “How the hell did she drown in a creek?” We had a creek in our neighborhood that we often played in and around. When it flooded, we were smart enough not to go near it, but even if you did and got caught up in it, it is highly unlikely one would drown unless they made no effort to get out.
Well, I made a couple of highlights, and here they are.
“Thee onnlly wway ttoo ccope withh ssometthingg ddeadly sseriouss iss ttoo ttry ttoo trreatt itt a llittlle lligghtly.”
- Decent advice, I suppose.
“She keeps thinking she can explain things in words,” Mrs Who said. “Qui plus sait, plus se tait. French, you know. The more a man knows, the less he talks.”
Oui, je suis d’accord!
“Angels!” Calvin shouted suddenly from across the table. “Guardian angels!” There was a moment’s silence, and he shouted again, his face tense with concentration, “Messengers! Messengers of God!”
Of course Ms. Whatsit, Ms. Who, and Ms. Witch are going to be referenced as angels. I’m not opposed to this.
The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.”
This quote, however, is exactly like a sudden accordion during a symphony. It is advice for Meg before she goes to do battle with IT. So the angel Ms. Whatsit, this interstellar being decides to quote from the Bible and use a quote that references ‘men.’ Not women, not the other alien beings they encounter, no. A quote from a small spot in the Middle East where everything in the Bible occurred. It even has my favorite random rhetorical intensifier, ‘yea.’ In fact, I just learned what a ‘rhetorical intensifier’ is. Business people have started using the word ‘right!?’ after saying things, and this has sprung up mostly in the past 10 years or so. Right! Yea!
But really, we’re in the middle of a nice little story, on another planet, in who knows what galaxy, and suddenly we get a Bible quote. It is like Mormons showing up in the middle of my outdoor barbeque. Unwanted and unnecessary.
Anyway, I wasn’t disappointed, but I did not experience any sort of fun or childhood nostalgia with this book. I’ll give Bridge to Terabithia a try, but I still have lingering childhood dread about this book after learning about the death of the girl neighbor. It was just as upsetting as Atreyu’s horse Artax dying in “The Neverending Story.”
