Reviews

Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L'Engle in Many Voices by Leonard S. Marcus

nssutton's review

3.0

Marcus is a wonderful interviewer. His discussions included an interesting mix of folk, with stories that repeated and conflicted and crossed over between different tiers of L'Engle's loved ones. The way in which they are arranged allows the story to unfold, almost always in juxtaposition or reaction to Cythnia Zarin's 2004 controversial profile of the author. In hindsight, I wish I had re-read this prior to reading these stories, so I could fully appreciate the bold and wise choice Marcus made in ending his collection with an interview with Zarin.

akingston5's review

I adore Madeleine L'Engle and was very excited about this book, believing it to be a biography. Instead, the editor has interviewed several people in L'Engle's life and placed them in categories like "matriarch" "writer" etc. While a few interviews were interesting, I really wish he would have gone the next step and written a biography using these voices. And many reference a 2004 New Yorker article on L'Engle without the book including anything extensive on that prior so readers know what it's about.

Again, I love Madeleine and believe there's great material here, but was just very disappointed in the formatting and organization of this book.

lory_enterenchanted's review

Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

This was an interesting but ultimately unsatisfying approach to understanding a complex woman. Many of the writers spoke little about L'Engle or were only very tangentially involved with her. Large chunks of important experiences/allegations were gingerly glanced at, while trivialities and repetitive padding got plenty of space. I hope she will get a proper biography at some point, by a writer who can be both sympathetic and objective, and can assemble confusing and conflicting material in a coherent way.

karibaumann's review

4.0

I thought the last section was by far the weakest. Some of those stories in that section did not need to be included. And it seemed a shame that many of the people who knew her best have passed away. I imagine the picture of her will continue to evolve over time. Good reminder that people are complicated.

ralovesbooks's review

4.0

Would recommend: Yes, but I think it's only for the Crazy Fans out there

I snatched this book off the New Nonfiction shelf at my library, having never even heard of it before I saw it there. Then, as I opened it, I had a moment of apprehension: did I really want to read other people's interviews about Madeleine, when it was her writing that I loved? But then I realized that the first section was basically the opinions of her fan club in the publishing world. I tore through 150 pages in one go. It was really interesting to read why others loved or didn't love Madeleine, and it makes me question how I view authors I have particular affinity to. Reading unflattering things about her made me distinctly uncomfortable, as though I couldn't bring myself to view Madeleine in any other way than on a pedestal. I'm still pondering that. I might have to get this book when it comes out in paperback, though, just to round out my collection.

annebogel's review

4.0

For those intrigued/appalled/bewildered by the devastating New Yorker piece ("The Storyteller"), this collection provides the ultimate (inconclusive) 360 review.

pturnbull's review

3.0

Listening for Madeleine is a collection of interviews with persons who knew Madeleine L'Engle thematically arranged: Madeleine In the Making, Writer, Matriarch, Mentor, Friend, Icon. L'Engle emerges as an enormously self-confident, privileged woman. She was deeply engaged in Christian spiritual exploration, an excellent speaker with a demanding book tour schedule, strongly opinionated, and eager to befriend and mentor the young. Towards the end of the book we also hear from those less inclined to adulate her. I found these interviews particularly insightful. L'Engle was such a powerful presence that you can feel her through the pages of the book--she practically leaps out from them. Any fan of L'Engle's will appreciate the breadth of these points of view.

fmclellan's review

3.0

I enjoyed this book, though it was not always heart-warming to read about an admired author's quirks and imperiousness. She was a complicated person, with a rich artistic and spiritual life, and it's clearly not easy to keep all that together with family life/public persona/etc. Glad I read it, though, and it's pointed me to another memoir by her friends that I think I shall also have to read. And to go look through my library to see if I still have my Madeleine L'Engle collection.

satyridae's review

2.0

This book was so strange. It's a collection of interviews of people who knew Madeleine L'Engle at various points in her life. I came away from it discomfited- feeling like I'd been to a party where everyone was talking behind her back. It just felt unclean somehow- and not because the gossip is bad or damning, because on the whole it's quite positive.