On... Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

I don't think that I could have chosen two more different books to read in the same day.

I started with Where the Red Fern Grows. It's chilly here where I live. Perfect weather for curling up on the couch with a feel-good book. This book fit the description. I've read many books like this before. There's something simply American feeling about a boy that loves his coon dogs. Something I noticed throughout teh book is that there was no driving plot line through the book. Different sections of the book have different driving motivations. The first part centers around Billy's drive to buy his coon dogs. Of course, thoughout the book I knew that the dogs would end up dead. How else could a book liek this end? I enjoyed the book but almost wonder why Rawls named the book for something that doesn't appear until the last chapter of the book.

Then, after brewing some coffee, I sat down with A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I'm acquainted with Madeleine L'Engle but I don't think that I've ever read any of her books before. The series that I jumped into with this book begins (I believe) with A Wrinkle in Time. One thing that I enjoy about L'Engle's style is her lack of recapping of previous stories. Yes, it does take a little longer to become oriented to the characters and their situation but I enjoy having to pay attention to subtle clues in order to gain my information. This book though messed with my mind. I had to reread sections in order to understand what was going on. In the end Meg and Charles Wallace saved the earth from nuclear destruction but some of the things they did in the mean time I don't understand.

One other thing I noticed is L'Engle's worldview. I enjoy fantasy and exploring the realms of possibilities but there is something somewhat depressing about fantasy that comes from a secular worldview. These writers have to design ultimate purposes and powers in order for their worlds but of course whatever man's creates is ultimately so much less than God's original design.