A Live Coal In The Sea

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking read...
Review: After reading Madeleine L'Engle's Camilla, I just had to find out what had become of her. A Live Coal in the Sea introduces new characters and reunites us with old friends. Written in the style of A House Like a Lotus, with flashbacks every few pages, the reader will never be confused about the time. The main character is Camilla Dickinson, who is happy until her granddaughter, Raffi, comes to her home asking "Are you or aren't you my grandmother?" Camilla is forced to deal with something that happened long ago. So she tells the story of her life, beginning at her senior year of college, when she met her husband which all lead up to the discovery of Raffi's father Taxi's parentage. There is a surprise twist at the end of the book. Ms. L'Engle deals with complicated issues in a subtle way. This book should be read by more mature readers, but everyone will learn something from it.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Novel
Review: Everyone knows Madeleine L'Engle, right? Admit it. You've all read A Wrinkle in Time, and you all thought it was cool. Most of you probably went on to read the other three books in the series. (Some of you probably sought out the other books in the two series that crossed over with the Time books, and you don't need to read this review, because you've probably already read this book.)

For the rest of you, who wondered what L'Engle had been doing since then... A Live Coal in the Sea is her forty-second book, at least the forty-second listed in the "Books by Madelieine L'Engle" page. A well-stocked bookstore will have books by L'Engle in fiction, young adult, drama, poetry, religion, and at least two or three other categories. I know this because while a bookstore manager I actually attempted to order a couple of everything she'd written. It was impossible. I exceeded the weekly budget. Nowadays, or at least in 1996 when this book came out, L'Engle is/was the writer in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I'm not sure how one gets such a job, but I'll bet a good part of it has to do with writing a book that's been translated into every major (and many minor) language on Earth and has probably sold almost as many copies as the Bible.

So, the main question should probably be, has she lost any of that power in the last thirty-odd years since A Wrinkle in Time made its unassuming debut? And if not, why aren't her books still selling like hotcakes? The answer to the second question has to do with the changing priorities in the publishing business far more than it has to do with L'Engle, and the answer ot the first question is "not really." _A Live Coal in the Sea_ is a simple, warmhearted, moving family-type novel that has about as much in common with most books that fit that description as The Day the Earth Stood Still has in common with Plan Nine from Outer Space.

The book centers on Camilla Xanthakos, an astronomy professor at a small university in New York, and her granddaughter Raffi, a freshman at the same institution. One evening Raffi comes to Camilla's house and asks, "are you or are you not my grandmother?," thanks to a comment from her glamorous, overstressed, childish father. The book slides between Camilla's reminiscences of the past, and how they affect Camilla, Raffi, and their family and friends in the present. In other words, it's another heritage mystery. But it's handled in such a different way than The Quincunx (for one point, all the prevarication about whether to tell who about what is handled offstage, which is why this book is only slightly over three hundred pages) that, despite the fact that I was reading the two in tandem, I could draw no connections between them other than the most basic plot point.

Another thing that sets L'Engle apart from her contemporaries, and this is far more true now than it used to be, is her use of Christianity in her work. Contemporary Christian novels are far more likely to deal with God-as-concept rather than the human side of the religion; that's why it's so refreshing to go back and read Mauriac, or L'Engle's stuff, instead of trying to choke down these "War in Heaven" style novels that have little, if anything, to do with the human struggle to reconcile the existence of some kind of supreme being with what humanity faces on a day-to-day basis. And the Xanthakos family is faced with a whole bunch of it, from every direction, including inside (you don't have a scientist in the family without having the family faith questioned), and yet still everyone is able to reconcile the faith to the fallacy, and in a logical manner to boot. Questioning faithful types will probably find some affirmation in here; nonbelievers who have always wondered how thiking Christians reconcile things (especially those nonbelievers who have never been able to get good answers to some questions) may find answers in here. I did.

So the plot's good, the characterizations are fine, the theme is downright excellent, it's gonna get five stars, right? Nope. It doesn't quite hit lifechanger level, and the ending is something I'm still trying to figure out; to say more would consitute spoilage. Still, it's certainly a worthwhile book to pick up, as is anything by Madeleine L'Engle; the lady's still turning out better material than most of what's out there.

Rating:
Summary: i loved it
Review: i read this book long after i read the wrinkle in time series, and i really didn't know what to expect. but i thought that this book was so wonderful. the story of the xanthakos family, from the past to the present, was emotionally touching. i became completely absorbed in the story. the issues that the charcters dealt with are challanging and uncomfortable, and everyone must face who they are. it's a beautiful story and everyone should read it.

Rating:
Summary: A compassionate story
Review: I've been a huge fan of Madeleine L'Engle since second grade, and i was thrilled to pick up this book, one of her more "adult" novels. But I was fairly disappointed in the end. Because of the constant switching back and forth between the present and past, I knew much of what would happen and the rest was obvious and predictable--but for the sudden ending, which seemed contrived and tacked-on. Unlike many of her other series in which I felt a real empathy with the characters, I could care less about this excessively melodramatic family. Throughout the entire novel I kept waiting for the story to pick up, for something unexpected and exciting to happen, for the magic that I associate with L'Engle books to surface, and unfortunately it never did.

Rating:
Summary: Simply a FANTASTIC novel - one of the best I've ever read!
Review: If you want to read an absorbing, moving and surprising story that you could read over and over again, reach for Madeleine L'Engle's "A Live Coal in the Sea." L'Engle is one of this century's greatest living writers. She always writes about meaningful and varied topics, and this novel is full of them. The story is shocking at times, and yes, there are sexual themes that are deeply disturbing, but this is an INCREDIBLY WELL-WRITTEN book. As a college graduate from the University of California in English and American literature, I have read plenty of books. I truly feel that writing doesn't get much better than this. L'Engle creates characters who are realistic and who have profound concepts to teach yet are fallible people. The protagonists within the story are amazing role models who inspire and disappoint us. "A Live Coal in the Sea" is a sequel to L'Engle's novel "Camilla" and it just makes the experience richer if you've read that before reading this one, but not crucial. I have to laugh after reading the other reviews here that pick apart small "flaws" within this story - YOU try writing something like this and then we'll talk! I think that all novels, whether they are written by Charles Dickens or by Jackie Collins, have something to pick apart if you are looking for that. If you want a story that will affect you and you want to read one of the most magnificent writers of our time, choose "A Live Coal in the Sea." I have read over 2/3 of L'Engles books (she has written many!!!) and besides "A Ring of Endless Light" and "A Wrinkle in Time" it is one of the best of her books. Whether or not you're L'Engle fan, you will most likely become one after reading this tale of true mercy, growth, and love.

Rating:
Summary: Who Am I?
Review: It is once again one of Madeline's greater books. It I believe shows the universal theme of Protagonists vs. Self. Protagonists vs. Self is saying the character has interanal struggles within themselves. Taxi my personal favorite character in the book of Camilla's grandmother, her book is best described as a good mother and sister to this soap opera star. Women as described swoon at his feet. Of course mon the whole story is around Taxi. It is also around his one and only daughter Camilla. Camilla wonders what her heritage is. How can she be the only one in her whole family with the shocking red hair. (L'Engle seems to like charaters with red hair) Both her father and her struggle with their past and present to discover the truth hidden behind the doors with the dey only known by few.

Rating:
Summary: Mercy in an unmerciful world
Review: Oh that more people in our world had read this sweet and poingant story! This is perhaps one of the most telling tales of humanity that I have ever read, and has remained hopeful for our possibilities. L'Engle has told a story of Grace, like in the parable of the vinyard workers, which is radical and even offensive to our natrual inclinations, yet hopeful that we might find grace and mercy for ourselves and those who hurt us.

Read it, and hear it. If you listen closely you might hear the Christ telling his Gospel of peace, mercy, faith and hope.

Rating:
Summary: Mercy in an unmerciful world
Review: One of my favorite things about Madeleine L'Engle's work is that she shares her own life with her readers. At first glance a fictional story dealing with four generations working through their own dysfunction and pain to find healing and mercy, and perhaps even a sort of peace, would not seem to have a lot of similarity to L'Engle's own life, or at least one would hope not. The similarities I find are subtler. L'Engle is Episcopalian. Her main character's husband works in an Episcopalian church. L'Engle's husband Hugh was an actor who played on a soap opera for many years, as is Taxi Xanthakos, another character from the book. As she shares pieces of herself in numerous details such as these, L'Engle adds authenticity to her tale.
The story itself takes many unexpected twists and turns as it progresses. These twists and turns, along with L'Engle's attention to detail that I mentioned earlier, invite the reader to not just take the story at face value, but to read it for the broader underlying theme-mercy. Each of her characters must give and receive mercy at one time or another, some more than others. Although I have had none of the experiences of the characters in this book, I found myself able to identify with their plight as they struggled with mercy and forgiveness. The plot of the story so drew me in though that I was about halfway through the book before I really understood why I was identifying with them. We all need to give and receive mercy countless times throughout our lives.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Novel
Review: This book is kind of like a sequel to Camilla. After I read Camilla, I had this questioning feeling as if to say, "Whatever became of Camilla???" So I read A Live Coal in the Sea. This book answered all my questions, and gave me something to think about. A Live Coal in the Sea mostly features Camilla although it is not in first person. Camilla is a grandmother to Raffi, her son Taxi's daughter. Raffi is a troubled freshman and doesn't know who her real grandparents are. Is Camilla her real grandmother? After asking Camilla this strange question, Camilla decides that Raffi has a right to know. A right to know the whole story. Camilla tells Raffi everything that happened since she was in college. Madeleine L'Engle has done a good job not to confuse the reader about the complicated 4 generations of the family. I thought this was an awesome book. A Live Coal in the Sea deals with hate, love, life, and most of all, family problems. This book amazed me by how L'Engle could actually write such an extraordinary piece of art. This is art in it's best and truest form and I hope anyone who has the chance will read it.