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O'Keefe Family #1
The Arm of the Starfish
When Adam Eddington, a gifted marine biology student, makes the acquaintance of blond and beautiful Kali Cutter at Kennedy International Airport on his way to Portugal to spend the summer working for the renowned scientist Dr. O'Keefe, he has no idea that this seemingly chance meeting will set into motion a chain of events he will be unable to stop. Caught between Kali's seductive wiles and the trusting adoration of Dr. O'Keefe's daughter, Poly, Adam finds himself enmeshed in a deadly power struggle between two groups of people, only one of which can have right on its side. As the danger escalates, Adam must make a decision that could affect the entire world--which side is he on?
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First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Madeleine L'Engle
169 books9,192 followersMadeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 457 reviews
July 11, 2014
This book influenced me to become a scientist. It takes a heck of a lot more skill to write a really good "kid's book" than a best selling adult novel. Madeleine L'Engle once said that when she had something really important to say she put it in a children's book.
Not only did this book influence my career choice but I would like to say it reinforced my character. If you only choose the right way when its easy what's the point?
Not only did this book influence my career choice but I would like to say it reinforced my character. If you only choose the right way when its easy what's the point?
February 5, 2009
When Madeleine L'Engle creates a character they seldom appear in only one book, or even just one series for that matter. In The Arm of the Starfish a few of L'Engle's beloved characters from her Newberry Award winning book, A Wrinkle in Time, appear older, wiser and as parents.
Meg Murry and Calvin O'Keefe met in Wrinkle, but by Starfish have married, had six children and live on the island of Gaea off of western Europe. Calvin - now called Dr. O'Keefe - is a successful marine biologist whose discoveries involving the regenerative properties of starfish lead him, his daughter Polly (another of L'Engle's treasured heroines) and his young lab assistant, Adam Eddington, into mortal danger.
What sets Starfish apart from L'Engle's other books is that this story is as much a suspenseful thriller as it is science fiction. With her characteristic knack for telling stories through the perspective of lovable, but flawed characters, L'Engle tells a tale of how every decision we make can affect us, or our friends and family, deeply and directly. Adam Eddington, Starfish's focal character, learns the hard way about making right and wrong choices in a corrupt world.
Another enjoyable aspect of this novel is, oddly, that it does not have a very tidy ending. More so than in the "Time Quintet" L'Engle leaves questions in her reader's minds about the possible outcomes of a few small plot-points. Not enough to make the ending incomplete, but enough to demonstrate (I think rightly) that life is not always neat and tidy.
This story also has L'Engle's expected (and welcome) discussions on theology, science and ontology (in her own words, "is-ness," see A Circle of Quiet). Recommended for fans of light science fiction and fans of intrigue.
Meg Murry and Calvin O'Keefe met in Wrinkle, but by Starfish have married, had six children and live on the island of Gaea off of western Europe. Calvin - now called Dr. O'Keefe - is a successful marine biologist whose discoveries involving the regenerative properties of starfish lead him, his daughter Polly (another of L'Engle's treasured heroines) and his young lab assistant, Adam Eddington, into mortal danger.
What sets Starfish apart from L'Engle's other books is that this story is as much a suspenseful thriller as it is science fiction. With her characteristic knack for telling stories through the perspective of lovable, but flawed characters, L'Engle tells a tale of how every decision we make can affect us, or our friends and family, deeply and directly. Adam Eddington, Starfish's focal character, learns the hard way about making right and wrong choices in a corrupt world.
Another enjoyable aspect of this novel is, oddly, that it does not have a very tidy ending. More so than in the "Time Quintet" L'Engle leaves questions in her reader's minds about the possible outcomes of a few small plot-points. Not enough to make the ending incomplete, but enough to demonstrate (I think rightly) that life is not always neat and tidy.
This story also has L'Engle's expected (and welcome) discussions on theology, science and ontology (in her own words, "is-ness," see A Circle of Quiet). Recommended for fans of light science fiction and fans of intrigue.
May 12, 2008
I just love Madeleine L'Engle books. I love the families she gives most (main) characters-- strong, unique, loving, intellectual, spiritual families. I've only read her YA and JF books, but the themes aren't childish-- they deal with death, hard choices, and good and evil-- but she doesn't leave you feeling like the world is a horrible place to live. I would say that if there is any set of "book families" that I would want to model my parenting after, it would probably be the ones found in Madeleine L'Engles books.
But I guess I am writing this review for THIS book, so I'd better get down to it. But what I have said about all her books applies to this one as well. This book covers hard choices, growing up, learning. And ultimately, redemption.
The poem "Two Tramps in Mud Time" by Robert Frost was quoted throughout the book, especially the last stanza:
But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.
I haven't totally worked out in my head what this means to ME, but I can't get it out of my head, and it keeps me thinking. Definitely google the whole poem, I love it.
Anyway...liked the book :-)
But I guess I am writing this review for THIS book, so I'd better get down to it. But what I have said about all her books applies to this one as well. This book covers hard choices, growing up, learning. And ultimately, redemption.
The poem "Two Tramps in Mud Time" by Robert Frost was quoted throughout the book, especially the last stanza:
But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.
I haven't totally worked out in my head what this means to ME, but I can't get it out of my head, and it keeps me thinking. Definitely google the whole poem, I love it.
Anyway...liked the book :-)
July 30, 2011
It's astonishing that this book was written by the same author as A Wrinkle in Time. Terrible dialogue, boring characters, convoluted plot, and overwrought puppy love so contrived I almost began to rethink my whole Twilight-is-the-worst-love-story-ever position.
May 9, 2019
Published only four years after my beloved A Wrinkle in Time (though jumping the characters a generation ahead), this young-adult novel is not of other galaxies but grounded in this world. It’s a mystery thriller with a touch of science fiction (biological regeneration); ethical issues are raised but not heavy-handedly. I marveled at all poor 17-year-old Adam was put through—an adult wouldn’t have been asked to do more.
I thought I’d read this book before as I had a memory of a couple of things, such as Poly swimming with the dolphin; but I remembered absolutely nothing about the action-filled, heart-stopping plot. I think I’ve figured out why. When I’d spend the night at my cousins’ house, if I had the opportunity, I’d pick up whatever book might’ve been around. I didn’t always get to finish the book before one of my parents arrived to bring me home. I think that was the case for this one.
I read this novel (along with its respective endnotes) in this edition: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... .
I thought I’d read this book before as I had a memory of a couple of things, such as Poly swimming with the dolphin; but I remembered absolutely nothing about the action-filled, heart-stopping plot. I think I’ve figured out why. When I’d spend the night at my cousins’ house, if I had the opportunity, I’d pick up whatever book might’ve been around. I didn’t always get to finish the book before one of my parents arrived to bring me home. I think that was the case for this one.
I read this novel (along with its respective endnotes) in this edition: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... .
August 13, 2022
So first and foremost, with Madeleine L'Engle's The Arm of the Starfish (which is considered to be L'Engle's first instalment in her four story Polly O'Keefe Quartet, with Polly or Poly O'Keefe being the daughter of Meg Murry and Calvin O'Keefe of Time Quartet fame, but sadly with The Arm of the Starfish also and most definitely being much too international thriller and espionage oriented for my reading tastes and enjoyment), I guess I am rather majorly annoyed that there is no textual explanation whatsoever from L'Engle as to how and why chief protagonist of The Arm of the Starfish, how Adam Eddington has migrated from her, from Madeleine L'Engle's Austin Family series (where Eddington is one of Vicky Austin's suitors in A Ring of Endless Light and then also appears as her fiancé in Troubling a Star) to the Polly O'Keefe Quartet, with my frustration starting on page one of The Arm of the Starfish and continuing pretty much unabated until the very end.
For in my opinion, some information about Adam Eddington's experiences in A Ring of Endless Light in particular and how he and Vicky Austin were connecting over dolphins, if this were transferred by Madeleine L'Engle to The Arm of the Starfish as a back story (or looking towards the future) it would definitely for me make The Arm of the Starfish and Eddington's presence in both series more believable and less frustrating (although yes, I also cannot really guess if The Arm of the Starfish takes place before or after the events of A Ring of Endless Light and that I am with Adam Eddington equally kind of considering him rather similar to Zachary Gray considering how he, how Adam seems to rather string both Vicky Austin and also Polly O'Keefe along so to speak, and that femme fatale Kali Cutter in The Arm of the Starfish obviously has no problems at all getting Adam Eddington to become romantically interested in her and doing her and her father's nefarious and dangerous bidding, so that for me Adam Eddington is or at least is staring to become rather as much of a pretty negative player as Kali Cutter is and is thus not just some poor and unsuspecting naive little boy being taken advantage of by evil and calculating lowlives).
And yes, I have definitely not really enjoyed The Arm of the Starfish all that much with regard to reading joy and pleasure (even though I must rather grudgingly admit that Madeleine L'Engle's featured text for The Arm of the Starfish is stylistically speaking nicely descriptive and certainly reads quickly and flowingly). Because aside from my (above mentioned and analysed issues) regarding Adam Eddington's unexplained presence in both the O'Keefe and the Austin Family series and me simply not (ever) being truly all that textually into the themes of mystery, politics, and cloak and dagger shenanigans (kidnappings, secret meetings, demands of espionage) which are the main features of The Arm of the Starfish I do tend to find in particular Polly (Poly) O'Keefe unworldly, gullible and for a 12-year-old much too naive and childish to be in many way really believable (and especially so because Polly O'Keefe in The Arm of the Starfish also does not appear to be depicted by Madeleine L'Engle has having any type of flaw, which just makes "oh so perfect" little Polly as a character not only rather boring and weak but even kind of deserving of being tricked, kidnapped etc. etc., that I most definitely do find reading about supposedly faultless characters in works of fiction not at all entertaining, and not to mention that I just do not really understand how some readers actually and favourably compare Polly O'Keefe to Vicky Austin).
Finally, I also just find the entire beginning of The Arm of the Starfish pretty much unbelievable with regard to logical reality and plausibility. Because honestly, if Adam Eddington is supposed to be working for Dr. Calvin O’Keefe for the summer on an isolated island off the coast of Portugal at barely seventeen years of age, why would Madeleine L’Engle depict both Adam’s parents and the O’Keefes allowing him, allowing Adam to travel to that island completely by himself (as come on, with all of the controversy surrounding the starfish limb regeneration and that many individuals, including those with nefarious motives are very much interested in Calvin O’Keefe’s research, well, a teenager like Adam Eddington travelling by himself is so obviously overly dangerous and silly that for me, The Arm of the Starfish in my humble opinion, starts rather obviously ridiculously and beggaring belief).
For in my opinion, some information about Adam Eddington's experiences in A Ring of Endless Light in particular and how he and Vicky Austin were connecting over dolphins, if this were transferred by Madeleine L'Engle to The Arm of the Starfish as a back story (or looking towards the future) it would definitely for me make The Arm of the Starfish and Eddington's presence in both series more believable and less frustrating (although yes, I also cannot really guess if The Arm of the Starfish takes place before or after the events of A Ring of Endless Light and that I am with Adam Eddington equally kind of considering him rather similar to Zachary Gray considering how he, how Adam seems to rather string both Vicky Austin and also Polly O'Keefe along so to speak, and that femme fatale Kali Cutter in The Arm of the Starfish obviously has no problems at all getting Adam Eddington to become romantically interested in her and doing her and her father's nefarious and dangerous bidding, so that for me Adam Eddington is or at least is staring to become rather as much of a pretty negative player as Kali Cutter is and is thus not just some poor and unsuspecting naive little boy being taken advantage of by evil and calculating lowlives).
And yes, I have definitely not really enjoyed The Arm of the Starfish all that much with regard to reading joy and pleasure (even though I must rather grudgingly admit that Madeleine L'Engle's featured text for The Arm of the Starfish is stylistically speaking nicely descriptive and certainly reads quickly and flowingly). Because aside from my (above mentioned and analysed issues) regarding Adam Eddington's unexplained presence in both the O'Keefe and the Austin Family series and me simply not (ever) being truly all that textually into the themes of mystery, politics, and cloak and dagger shenanigans (kidnappings, secret meetings, demands of espionage) which are the main features of The Arm of the Starfish I do tend to find in particular Polly (Poly) O'Keefe unworldly, gullible and for a 12-year-old much too naive and childish to be in many way really believable (and especially so because Polly O'Keefe in The Arm of the Starfish also does not appear to be depicted by Madeleine L'Engle has having any type of flaw, which just makes "oh so perfect" little Polly as a character not only rather boring and weak but even kind of deserving of being tricked, kidnapped etc. etc., that I most definitely do find reading about supposedly faultless characters in works of fiction not at all entertaining, and not to mention that I just do not really understand how some readers actually and favourably compare Polly O'Keefe to Vicky Austin).
Finally, I also just find the entire beginning of The Arm of the Starfish pretty much unbelievable with regard to logical reality and plausibility. Because honestly, if Adam Eddington is supposed to be working for Dr. Calvin O’Keefe for the summer on an isolated island off the coast of Portugal at barely seventeen years of age, why would Madeleine L’Engle depict both Adam’s parents and the O’Keefes allowing him, allowing Adam to travel to that island completely by himself (as come on, with all of the controversy surrounding the starfish limb regeneration and that many individuals, including those with nefarious motives are very much interested in Calvin O’Keefe’s research, well, a teenager like Adam Eddington travelling by himself is so obviously overly dangerous and silly that for me, The Arm of the Starfish in my humble opinion, starts rather obviously ridiculously and beggaring belief).
March 14, 2018
The tone of this book is unusual. It's got a little of that urban otherness that The Young Unicorns has, but that quality is executed better here. Adam might be suddenly in over his head, but it's mostly believable. He's great. And Joshua is EVERYTHING.
My love for this book is slightly irrational, because this is very flawed. Still: it's also very beautiful.
That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they've been all along.That line jumps out and hits you - along with that ending - just the way the last paragraph in the Frost poem hits Joshua.
My love for this book is slightly irrational, because this is very flawed. Still: it's also very beautiful.
January 20, 2015
This packs an unexpected punch. I had written this book off as belonging to the "not-so-great" category that some of L'Engle's lesser-known books for teens sadly fall into, but despite the difficulty I had getting into the story initially, in the end it surprised me. After spending weeks dipping into it, then being distracted by other, shinier books, I consumed the last third in a single day, and even found myself tearing up at the soliloquy on love and loss. Even when not at her best, Madeleine knows how to unfold her wisdom in a way that kicks you in the gut and also (somehow) strengthens your faith in humanity.
And this is not her best. It was better than I'd expected--there is some delicious tension in the climactic scene in the city, and a few twists I didn't see coming and then realized I should have--but it is not without flaws. The pacing felt uneven, but in fairness that could be because of my stop-and-go reading.
My biggest complaint was with Adam's character development. He spends the majority of the novel dithering over who to side with: the "patriotic" tycoon and his alluring daughter, or Doctor O'Keefe (yes, THAT O'Keefe! Awkward li'l Calvin done growed up!) and his brood of precocious redheads. Even without background knowledge of the characters from A Wrinkle in Time --Which, honestly, you probably have if you're bothering to read this book--it's pretty obvious to the Reader which are the good guys. I mean, one is flanked by dark-suited thugs in sunglasses, the other sings and heals little girls in his free time.
Yet, though the choice seems an obvious one, we are given no clear reason why Adam finally throws his lot in with the O'Keefe clan, aside from their being decent likeable people. After so much time spent on his indecision, I would have wished for a more dramatic tipping point.
I did like the theme of Adam's sudden thrust into adulthood--how leaving home and traveling the world alone, without the aid or supervision of parents or mentors to lean on, becomes an education in making huge, life-altering decisions for himself, as well as in marine biology. From the initial scene at the airport to the heart-pounding race through the city, we see Adam grow from a lost, bewildered kid to a strong person willing to take risks and make sacrifices--still lost, maybe, but at least knowing the destination. His bewilderment, and later blooming confidence as he meets each challenge, felt very human and familiar; the only book, in fact, besides The Hobbit that so exactly captures my own experience traveling alone for the first time.
And one more note... it was delightful, just delightful, to meet Canon Tallis again. The priest/secret agent may well be the coolest character in L'Engle's gallery. He should have his own miniseries--Bond, Poirot and MacGyver COMBINED couldn't top this guy for sheer awesome factor.
And this is not her best. It was better than I'd expected--there is some delicious tension in the climactic scene in the city, and a few twists I didn't see coming and then realized I should have--but it is not without flaws. The pacing felt uneven, but in fairness that could be because of my stop-and-go reading.
My biggest complaint was with Adam's character development. He spends the majority of the novel dithering over who to side with: the "patriotic" tycoon and his alluring daughter, or Doctor O'Keefe (yes, THAT O'Keefe! Awkward li'l Calvin done growed up!) and his brood of precocious redheads. Even without background knowledge of the characters from A Wrinkle in Time --Which, honestly, you probably have if you're bothering to read this book--it's pretty obvious to the Reader which are the good guys. I mean, one is flanked by dark-suited thugs in sunglasses, the other sings and heals little girls in his free time.
Yet, though the choice seems an obvious one, we are given no clear reason why Adam finally throws his lot in with the O'Keefe clan, aside from their being decent likeable people. After so much time spent on his indecision, I would have wished for a more dramatic tipping point.
I did like the theme of Adam's sudden thrust into adulthood--how leaving home and traveling the world alone, without the aid or supervision of parents or mentors to lean on, becomes an education in making huge, life-altering decisions for himself, as well as in marine biology. From the initial scene at the airport to the heart-pounding race through the city, we see Adam grow from a lost, bewildered kid to a strong person willing to take risks and make sacrifices--still lost, maybe, but at least knowing the destination. His bewilderment, and later blooming confidence as he meets each challenge, felt very human and familiar; the only book, in fact, besides The Hobbit that so exactly captures my own experience traveling alone for the first time.
And one more note... it was delightful, just delightful, to meet Canon Tallis again. The priest/secret agent may well be the coolest character in L'Engle's gallery. He should have his own miniseries--Bond, Poirot and MacGyver COMBINED couldn't top this guy for sheer awesome factor.
June 9, 2007
joey carr's mother was a librarian at one of the local high schools, and she found out i was a huge fan of l'engle. she recommended this to me, telling me that she had actually written books for adults and teenagers, outside of the wrinkle universe. (or as l'engle herself divides them, chronos (austins) and kairos (murrays), with characters intersecting both worlds - canon talis, zachary, and adam.)
anyway, i saved this book for a particularly rotten day, thinking that i needed a good comforting pick-me-up-happy-ending book. little did i know.
this was the second book i ever cried at, and i think the total of books that have caused tears is now at five. admittedly, i wasn't expecting it - which is maybe a testament to how skillful l'engle is at writing - but i love adam, and i love joshua, and i love the idea of caring about the "fall of the sparrow". not to mention, this was the first we saw of post-time quartet meg and calvin, and i loved poly from the minute i met her, and since my mom is a marine biologist, i loved that aspect of the story as well. (again, her interest in science is so fascinating - and exposes people who think they aren't "into" science or think they don't like it to the grand huge ideas driving science without condescending.)
i still love adam, i still wish he came back in later books to polly, instead of vicky, but. it's a beautiful story, and it hurts, because it's beautiful, and because the decisions you make in life are hard and never really black and white, as much as you'd like.
anyway, i saved this book for a particularly rotten day, thinking that i needed a good comforting pick-me-up-happy-ending book. little did i know.
this was the second book i ever cried at, and i think the total of books that have caused tears is now at five. admittedly, i wasn't expecting it - which is maybe a testament to how skillful l'engle is at writing - but i love adam, and i love joshua, and i love the idea of caring about the "fall of the sparrow". not to mention, this was the first we saw of post-time quartet meg and calvin, and i loved poly from the minute i met her, and since my mom is a marine biologist, i loved that aspect of the story as well. (again, her interest in science is so fascinating - and exposes people who think they aren't "into" science or think they don't like it to the grand huge ideas driving science without condescending.)
i still love adam, i still wish he came back in later books to polly, instead of vicky, but. it's a beautiful story, and it hurts, because it's beautiful, and because the decisions you make in life are hard and never really black and white, as much as you'd like.
October 28, 2021
2 Stars from me usually means it's a "Meh" book. This was NOT a meh book, this was TORTURE.
I absolutely loved about 25% and absolutely hated about 50%. The biggest offender: the sexism and culture of the time was so ingrained into the author's worldview that it was inescapable. I know, I know, this happens when reading classics. Sometimes it's easier to process than others.
~STUFF I LOVED~
The interesting science behind how starfish, frogs, lizards can generate lim's at sites that have enhanced nerve function. (But there was barely any of it, not nearly enough!)
The O'Keefe family.
The beautiful island near Portugal where the research was taking place.
Seriously, swimming with dolphins. A no brainier.
The referenced Robert Frost poem was cool! That man sure knew how to poet :)
Poly and her "switchblade" LOL
Joshua. And that Joshua was a self-reported Heathen
~STUFF I WASN'T SO SURE ABOUT~
Some of the ideology about the history of medicine and surgery was thrown out there and left dangling quite awkwardly. Like this sentence.
Some of the religious, philosophical messages, a brief discussion about the nature of evil... I'm just not sure what she was trying to accomplish there.
The ending, which was supposed to be profound but felt a little lacking in something... Didn't feel finished.
~STUFF I HATED~
I mentioned there was some sexism? Yeah... Let's start with the small stuff. I'll be brief.
Strong emphasis on stereotypical gender roles. For example, at lunch the females of all ages serve the males and then do the clean up while the males go off to do interesting science stuff. Or not recognizing a kind of fabric because, of course, he's a boy.
Or discounting a warning because "she was only a kid, and A GIRL, and GIRLS ARE APT TO BE HYSTERICAL." (Emphasis mine)
A person's value in relation to their looks. Especially strong emphasis on how a woman's value and power is grounded in her beauty and femininity, and how much male attention she receives.
Particularly creepy are the references to a prepubescent girls body, in particular where she's wearing a bikini that "DOES NOTHING FOR HER STILL UNDEVELOPED FIGURE." (emphasis mine)
Toxic "romantic" stuff like jealousy, sexual and emotional manipulation, possessiveness, pleas for protection, threats of self harm if feelings aren't returned... Took up a small amount of page time but was still about as welcome as poop at a picnic.
The whole espionage / thriller / mystery thing... It was pretty weak because the characters and situations weren't convincing.
~IN SUMMARY~
Let's completely set aside the sexism that was normative in the era in which it was written.
To be fair to the rest of the story. Ahem.
Despite some very pretty prose in relation to sweet domestic scenes or the beauty of the landscape, I still don't think this was a well-written or well-thought-out story. Half the characters were quite nice, the other half were caricatures and cliches. The suspense was not well paced or well-developed. The conflict was pretty unbelievable because the people involved were over the top bullies and their nefarious intentions were telegraphed with no subtlety or ambiguity. The O'Keefe family was very endearing, and like Adam, the desire to become part of it was well done. But the rapid way Adam gets in folded in and bonds with the family didn't feel earned.
So, those ⭐⭐ 2 Stars are the stuff I loved balanced against the story critique, without taking any of the sexism into account. Because GR doesn't support algebra and I can't give negative stars.
I'm so bummed. I've been a fan of Madeleine L'engle almost my whole life and I was so excited to find this series on audio through my library system. I was finally going to get to experience Meg and Calvin's adventures as adults. And it turned out to be a mess. I'm exhausted.
I absolutely loved about 25% and absolutely hated about 50%. The biggest offender: the sexism and culture of the time was so ingrained into the author's worldview that it was inescapable. I know, I know, this happens when reading classics. Sometimes it's easier to process than others.
~STUFF I LOVED~
The interesting science behind how starfish, frogs, lizards can generate lim's at sites that have enhanced nerve function. (But there was barely any of it, not nearly enough!)
The O'Keefe family.
The beautiful island near Portugal where the research was taking place.
Seriously, swimming with dolphins. A no brainier.
The referenced Robert Frost poem was cool! That man sure knew how to poet :)
Poly and her "switchblade" LOL
Joshua. And that Joshua was a self-reported Heathen
~STUFF I WASN'T SO SURE ABOUT~
Some of the ideology about the history of medicine and surgery was thrown out there and left dangling quite awkwardly. Like this sentence.
Some of the religious, philosophical messages, a brief discussion about the nature of evil... I'm just not sure what she was trying to accomplish there.
The ending, which was supposed to be profound but felt a little lacking in something... Didn't feel finished.
~STUFF I HATED~
I mentioned there was some sexism? Yeah... Let's start with the small stuff. I'll be brief.
Strong emphasis on stereotypical gender roles. For example, at lunch the females of all ages serve the males and then do the clean up while the males go off to do interesting science stuff. Or not recognizing a kind of fabric because, of course, he's a boy.
Or discounting a warning because "she was only a kid, and A GIRL, and GIRLS ARE APT TO BE HYSTERICAL." (Emphasis mine)
A person's value in relation to their looks. Especially strong emphasis on how a woman's value and power is grounded in her beauty and femininity, and how much male attention she receives.
Particularly creepy are the references to a prepubescent girls body, in particular where she's wearing a bikini that "DOES NOTHING FOR HER STILL UNDEVELOPED FIGURE." (emphasis mine)
Toxic "romantic" stuff like jealousy, sexual and emotional manipulation, possessiveness, pleas for protection, threats of self harm if feelings aren't returned... Took up a small amount of page time but was still about as welcome as poop at a picnic.
The whole espionage / thriller / mystery thing... It was pretty weak because the characters and situations weren't convincing.
~IN SUMMARY~
Let's completely set aside the sexism that was normative in the era in which it was written.
To be fair to the rest of the story. Ahem.
Despite some very pretty prose in relation to sweet domestic scenes or the beauty of the landscape, I still don't think this was a well-written or well-thought-out story. Half the characters were quite nice, the other half were caricatures and cliches. The suspense was not well paced or well-developed. The conflict was pretty unbelievable because the people involved were over the top bullies and their nefarious intentions were telegraphed with no subtlety or ambiguity. The O'Keefe family was very endearing, and like Adam, the desire to become part of it was well done. But the rapid way Adam gets in folded in and bonds with the family didn't feel earned.
So, those ⭐⭐ 2 Stars are the stuff I loved balanced against the story critique, without taking any of the sexism into account. Because GR doesn't support algebra and I can't give negative stars.
I'm so bummed. I've been a fan of Madeleine L'engle almost my whole life and I was so excited to find this series on audio through my library system. I was finally going to get to experience Meg and Calvin's adventures as adults. And it turned out to be a mess. I'm exhausted.
March 17, 2018
I read The Arm of the Starfish as a child 50 years ago; therefore, when I gave up on Madeleine L’Engle’s sequels to A Wrinkle in Time, I thought I’d re-read this book so as to give her another chance.
Although some of the characters from that other series pop up (a grown-up Meg Murry and Calvin O’Keefe), readers who begin with The Arm of the Starfish will do just fine without having read A Wrinkle in Time or its inferior sequels.
The Arm of the Starfish differs considerably from L’Engle’s best-known work, being more of an international thriller than a children’s fantasy. Marine biology whiz kid Adam Eddington heads out to Portugal to spend the summer working with one of the premiere marine biologists in the world, Dr. Calvin O’Keefe. However, en route, he’s warned that Dr. O’Keefe is up to no good by a pretty blonde. So is Dr. O’Keefe a traitor to his country? Or are there villainous forces out there that the naïve Adam can’t begin to understand? I thoroughly enjoyed this game of cat-and-mouse and the novel ends with a big of a cliff hanger. I’ve already bought the sequel, Dragons in the Waters. Readers are advised that they should really do the same before they get to the end of The Arm of the Starfish.
Although some of the characters from that other series pop up (a grown-up Meg Murry and Calvin O’Keefe), readers who begin with The Arm of the Starfish will do just fine without having read A Wrinkle in Time or its inferior sequels.
The Arm of the Starfish differs considerably from L’Engle’s best-known work, being more of an international thriller than a children’s fantasy. Marine biology whiz kid Adam Eddington heads out to Portugal to spend the summer working with one of the premiere marine biologists in the world, Dr. Calvin O’Keefe. However, en route, he’s warned that Dr. O’Keefe is up to no good by a pretty blonde. So is Dr. O’Keefe a traitor to his country? Or are there villainous forces out there that the naïve Adam can’t begin to understand? I thoroughly enjoyed this game of cat-and-mouse and the novel ends with a big of a cliff hanger. I’ve already bought the sequel, Dragons in the Waters. Readers are advised that they should really do the same before they get to the end of The Arm of the Starfish.
February 19, 2018
Adam Edington faces difficult moral choices when he begins an internship with ground-breaking marine biologist Dr. O'Keefe.
According to my friends at Wikipedia, this is the first of the second-generation "Kairos" framework of the author's novels. The story is self-contained, but eagle-eyed readers will recognize Poly's father and mother from previous stories, although they serve to support Adam's story here.
Going to fulfill half of Seasonal Reading ChallengeTask 30.8, item 2, (letters from "…oF the starfish" make a word in a second book's title), in conjunction with The Fifth Season which I am currently reading.
...Task 25.4 - Nick KY’s Task: White Winter, Yellow Moon. TAOTS is on p.3 of the list Moon, Sun, and Stars, with Ice Station Zebra.
Also, I am attempting to finish last year's goal of finishing the "2017 SciFi and Fantasy Book Club TBR Cleanup Challenge". This is the fourth book on that list.
According to my friends at Wikipedia, this is the first of the second-generation "Kairos" framework of the author's novels. The story is self-contained, but eagle-eyed readers will recognize Poly's father and mother from previous stories, although they serve to support Adam's story here.
Going to fulfill half of Seasonal Reading Challenge
...Task 25.4 - Nick KY’s Task: White Winter, Yellow Moon. TAOTS is on p.3 of the list Moon, Sun, and Stars, with Ice Station Zebra.
Also, I am attempting to finish last year's goal of finishing the "2017 SciFi and Fantasy Book Club TBR Cleanup Challenge". This is the fourth book on that list.
July 26, 2019
I love A Wrinkle in Time more than almost any other childhood book and was shocked at how much I didn’t enjoy this. It has a convoluted plot, strikingly normative gender roles, and a strangely close relationship between a twelve and a sixteen(?) year old that made me uncomfortable. I felt like I didn’t know the characters, which is weird because several of them are favorites from A Wrinkle in Time. They felt like the color they had in that book was totally washed out by their adulthood here. I will not be finishing the series.
April 19, 2018
This is a book about Adam Eddington, Vicky Austin's boring but less homicidal love interest, going to an island in Portugal named Gaea to help Calvin O'Keefe study starfish regeneration. I have lovingly tended a grudge against it for many years and recently reread it, so if you enjoy it, spare yourself this series of aggrieved reactions.
All that said, I do love a good tale of intrigue starring a completely bewildered, ignorant teenager. Like, that is exactly at my level, thanks. All the adrenaline, none of the paying attention. It wasn't even stressful because I don't like or care about Adam.
All that said, I do love a good tale of intrigue starring a completely bewildered, ignorant teenager. Like, that is exactly at my level, thanks. All the adrenaline, none of the paying attention. It wasn't even stressful because I don't like or care about Adam.
December 29, 2012
First of all, ADAM EDDINGTON OMG. I LOVE Adam. He is easily in the top five characters in all of L'Engle's books. He's also the anti-Zachary Gray; his appearance in a book is an automatic plus a million, while Zachary is an automatic minus a million. (Commander Rodney should have let him drown in Ring. And since he didn't, Poly should have let him drown in Lotus. Third time the charm?*)
Anyway, Starfish is a lot of fun. Adam spends a bit too much time trying to make up his mind about whose side to be on, but he doesn't have the benefit of having read the previous books about Meg and Calvin, so it's realistic. It's nice to fantasize about being a spy and having awesome countersigns from Robert Frost poems, but when it starts actually happening around you and you don't know whom to trust...I think Adam's hesitancy is more or less how most of us really would react in his shoes.
For characters, while we don't get much of Meg and Calvin, we do get Canon Tallis and Poly, and the sadly short-lived Joshua. So all in all, Starfish is a fun read. I recommend it.
*This tangent is wholly irrelevant, but: I can't think of many other fictional characters I pure hate as much as Zachary Gray. There are characters I love to hate, like Lucius Malfoy, and there are villainous characters for whose deaths I gleefully root, like Larry on Burn Notice, but there aren't many characters that are so repellent and vile that I can't even stand to read about them. Zachary Gray is one. Man, I pure hate that guy.
Anyway, Starfish is a lot of fun. Adam spends a bit too much time trying to make up his mind about whose side to be on, but he doesn't have the benefit of having read the previous books about Meg and Calvin, so it's realistic. It's nice to fantasize about being a spy and having awesome countersigns from Robert Frost poems, but when it starts actually happening around you and you don't know whom to trust...I think Adam's hesitancy is more or less how most of us really would react in his shoes.
For characters, while we don't get much of Meg and Calvin, we do get Canon Tallis and Poly, and the sadly short-lived Joshua. So all in all, Starfish is a fun read. I recommend it.
*This tangent is wholly irrelevant, but: I can't think of many other fictional characters I pure hate as much as Zachary Gray. There are characters I love to hate, like Lucius Malfoy, and there are villainous characters for whose deaths I gleefully root, like Larry on Burn Notice, but there aren't many characters that are so repellent and vile that I can't even stand to read about them. Zachary Gray is one. Man, I pure hate that guy.
January 19, 2023
In Which What I Thought Was a Young Adult Story Becomes a Cold War Spy Novel
I had no idea what was going on for most of this book, but I didn't dislike that. We are obliquely introduced to the O'Keefe family, their peccadilloes, and lab experiments through Adam Eddington, who is on the most exciting marine biology internship I've ever heard about. I loved L'Engle's referential storytelling especially in this volume, and finally met Canon Tallis. I am quite curious where this series is headed; if it's anything like the four previous books, it will be all over space/time. My husband thought the sci-fi was wack but when have I ever read sci-fi for the sci?
With the violence and suggestion of seduction, I'd put this at the older end of YA. I know Wrinkle received a Newbery, but these have all seemed solidly YA to me. The main character is also just out of college, and had this been published in the 21st century it would likely be categorized as New Adult.
I had no idea what was going on for most of this book, but I didn't dislike that. We are obliquely introduced to the O'Keefe family, their peccadilloes, and lab experiments through Adam Eddington, who is on the most exciting marine biology internship I've ever heard about. I loved L'Engle's referential storytelling especially in this volume, and finally met Canon Tallis. I am quite curious where this series is headed; if it's anything like the four previous books, it will be all over space/time. My husband thought the sci-fi was wack but when have I ever read sci-fi for the sci?
With the violence and suggestion of seduction, I'd put this at the older end of YA. I know Wrinkle received a Newbery, but these have all seemed solidly YA to me. The main character is also just out of college, and had this been published in the 21st century it would likely be categorized as New Adult.
December 20, 2020
I have been following the books of Madeleine L'Engle all through My Big Fat Reading Project. This one is a great tale. Set in the "near future" as of 1965, filed at my library as "children's literature" because as of 1965 there was no such genre as Young Adult. However, Adam is a 17-year-old heading off for a summer job in Portugal before his freshman year at Harvard.
He intends to become a marine biologist himself. Dr O'Keefe, his prospective employer, is doing groundbreaking research on the regenerative tissues found in the arms of starfish. Adam finds himself in the middle of a battle between pharmaceutical companies for possession of O'Keefe's research.
This is YA like one rarely finds these days. No drugs, no swearing, no sex. There is a sexy girl, the daughter of one of the men who wants to steal the research for his own profit.
Was this eerie to read during the weeks different drug companies were racing to get their COVID vaccines approved? You bet it was.
I love how Madeleine L'Engle always grants her young protagonists so much intelligence and independence. In this one, Adam has to decide all on his own who to trust as well as who to kiss.
He intends to become a marine biologist himself. Dr O'Keefe, his prospective employer, is doing groundbreaking research on the regenerative tissues found in the arms of starfish. Adam finds himself in the middle of a battle between pharmaceutical companies for possession of O'Keefe's research.
This is YA like one rarely finds these days. No drugs, no swearing, no sex. There is a sexy girl, the daughter of one of the men who wants to steal the research for his own profit.
Was this eerie to read during the weeks different drug companies were racing to get their COVID vaccines approved? You bet it was.
I love how Madeleine L'Engle always grants her young protagonists so much intelligence and independence. In this one, Adam has to decide all on his own who to trust as well as who to kiss.
March 11, 2022
ENGLISH: This is the first book in the Kairos-second-generation series, what Goodreads calls the O'Keefe family series, https://www.goodreads.com/series/4258.... In fact, this book was published after the first book in the Kairos-first generation series (called by Goodreads the Time-Quintet series, https://www.goodreads.com/series/4940...), but long before the second book in this series.
This is the first book where Adam Eddington appears as a character, several years before his second appearance in A Ring of Endless Light and the third in Troubling a Star, both belonging to the Austin family series (Chronos). In fact, this is the only book where Adam is the protagonist, for in the other two he is secondary (the main character is Vicky Austin).
The plot of this novel purports to be a thriller about misuse of scientific research among spies and conspiracies, where the main character does not know who is who. But the evil guys are too easily detected, without mentioning the fact that some of the good guys appear in other L'Engle novels, so we know who they are. Or perhaps it's Adam Eddington the only one who is meant to be full of doubts, rather than the reader.
It is clear from this book that L'Engle did not like Spain. Her comments about Madrid, the Plaza Hotel and the Prado Museum are disdainful. She again mentions the Spanish Inquisition, showing that she only knows about it what she has learnt from the fake Black Legend usually taught in English-speaking countries. I think the author was actually describing her own trip to Madrid, for this is what she usually does in her books. Perhaps this is one of the reasons of my original low rating for this book.
A good quote in chapter 23, for those who want to get all they want immediately: We are not going to try to do more than we know we can do. If this seems to you inadequate expediency, try to remember that one battle won today permits us to embark on the next, and then a next, and all the long ones that are to follow.
ESPAÑOL: Este es el primer libro de la serie Kairos de la segunda generación, lo que Goodreads llama la serie de la familia O'Keefe, https://www.goodreads.com/series/4258...). De hecho, este libro se publicó después del primero de la serie Kairos de la primera generación (llamada por Goodreads serie Time-Quintet, https://www.goodreads.com/series/4940...), pero mucho antes que el segundo libro de esta serie.
Este es el primer libro en el que aparece el personaje de Adam Eddington, años antes de su segunda aparición en A Ring of Endless Light y la tercera en Troubling a Star, ambos pertenecientes a la serie de la familia Austin (Chronos). De hecho, este es el único libro en el que Adam es el protagonista, pues en los otros dos es secundario (el personaje principal es Vicky Austin).
La trama de esta novela pretende ser un thriller sobre el mal uso de la investigación científica, con espías y conspiraciones, en la que el protagonista no sabe quiénes son los buenos y quiénes son los malos. Pero los malos parecen de cartón piedra, pues son demasiado simples y fáciles de detectar, sin mencionar el hecho de que algunos de los buenos aparecen en otras novelas de L'Engle, por lo que ya sabemos quiénes son. O quizá no es el lector quien se supone que estará hundido en un mar de dudas, sino sólo Adam Eddington.
Está claro en este libro que a L'Engle no le gustaba España. Sus comentarios sobre Madrid, el Hotel Plaza y el Museo del Prado son desdeñosos. Vuelve a mencionar la Inquisición española, demostrando que sólo sabe de ella lo que ha aprendido de la falsa Leyenda Negra que suelen enseñar en los países de habla inglesa. Creo que, de hecho, la autora describe aquí su propio viaje a Madrid, pues es eso lo que suele hacer en sus libros. Quizás sea este uno de los motivos de la baja calificación que le di originalmente a este libro.
Una buena cita del capítulo 23, para los que quieren obtener de inmediato todo lo que quieren: No intentaremos hacer más de lo que sabemos que podemos hacer. Si esto te parece inadecuado, trata de recordar que una batalla que ganemos hoy nos permite embarcarnos en la siguiente, y en la siguiente, y en todas las que vengan después.
This is the first book where Adam Eddington appears as a character, several years before his second appearance in A Ring of Endless Light and the third in Troubling a Star, both belonging to the Austin family series (Chronos). In fact, this is the only book where Adam is the protagonist, for in the other two he is secondary (the main character is Vicky Austin).
The plot of this novel purports to be a thriller about misuse of scientific research among spies and conspiracies, where the main character does not know who is who. But the evil guys are too easily detected, without mentioning the fact that some of the good guys appear in other L'Engle novels, so we know who they are. Or perhaps it's Adam Eddington the only one who is meant to be full of doubts, rather than the reader.
It is clear from this book that L'Engle did not like Spain. Her comments about Madrid, the Plaza Hotel and the Prado Museum are disdainful. She again mentions the Spanish Inquisition, showing that she only knows about it what she has learnt from the fake Black Legend usually taught in English-speaking countries. I think the author was actually describing her own trip to Madrid, for this is what she usually does in her books. Perhaps this is one of the reasons of my original low rating for this book.
A good quote in chapter 23, for those who want to get all they want immediately: We are not going to try to do more than we know we can do. If this seems to you inadequate expediency, try to remember that one battle won today permits us to embark on the next, and then a next, and all the long ones that are to follow.
ESPAÑOL: Este es el primer libro de la serie Kairos de la segunda generación, lo que Goodreads llama la serie de la familia O'Keefe, https://www.goodreads.com/series/4258...). De hecho, este libro se publicó después del primero de la serie Kairos de la primera generación (llamada por Goodreads serie Time-Quintet, https://www.goodreads.com/series/4940...), pero mucho antes que el segundo libro de esta serie.
Este es el primer libro en el que aparece el personaje de Adam Eddington, años antes de su segunda aparición en A Ring of Endless Light y la tercera en Troubling a Star, ambos pertenecientes a la serie de la familia Austin (Chronos). De hecho, este es el único libro en el que Adam es el protagonista, pues en los otros dos es secundario (el personaje principal es Vicky Austin).
La trama de esta novela pretende ser un thriller sobre el mal uso de la investigación científica, con espías y conspiraciones, en la que el protagonista no sabe quiénes son los buenos y quiénes son los malos. Pero los malos parecen de cartón piedra, pues son demasiado simples y fáciles de detectar, sin mencionar el hecho de que algunos de los buenos aparecen en otras novelas de L'Engle, por lo que ya sabemos quiénes son. O quizá no es el lector quien se supone que estará hundido en un mar de dudas, sino sólo Adam Eddington.
Está claro en este libro que a L'Engle no le gustaba España. Sus comentarios sobre Madrid, el Hotel Plaza y el Museo del Prado son desdeñosos. Vuelve a mencionar la Inquisición española, demostrando que sólo sabe de ella lo que ha aprendido de la falsa Leyenda Negra que suelen enseñar en los países de habla inglesa. Creo que, de hecho, la autora describe aquí su propio viaje a Madrid, pues es eso lo que suele hacer en sus libros. Quizás sea este uno de los motivos de la baja calificación que le di originalmente a este libro.
Una buena cita del capítulo 23, para los que quieren obtener de inmediato todo lo que quieren: No intentaremos hacer más de lo que sabemos que podemos hacer. Si esto te parece inadecuado, trata de recordar que una batalla que ganemos hoy nos permite embarcarnos en la siguiente, y en la siguiente, y en todas las que vengan después.
May 3, 2017
We read every book through the lens of the time we're in -- the time in our lives, the atmosphere of the places we live in and love. Madeleine L'Engle wrote The Arm of the Starfish in the 1960s, and Adam Eddington's struggle to disentangle right from wrong, truth from lies, remains pointedly, excruciatingly relevant to the current moment -- maybe to every historical moment. "You cannot be uncommitted, Adam, believe me, you cannot," Joshua advises early on, when what Adam wants most is to be left out of the tug-of-war in which he is caught. The message of this book is not subtle, and it isn't intended to be; its purpose is to make the obvious, obvious. L'Engle contends that when conscience nags, listening to it is the bare minimum we can do. Decency, virtue, and justice demand much more -- with no promise that you'll get to feel good about it in the process, that you'll choose correctly, that there will be no cost. Because that isn't the point.
February 2, 2017
Madeleine L'Engle wrote this story in 1965 but it is still rather contemporary. The main plot device in this novel is medical espionage. And, it happens to be a genre I enjoy reading.
I would have loved to give this story five stars, but something in the story made me change my mind. I won't say what it was because I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
Also, for "Wrinkle In Time" fans this will eventually tie in with it somewhere.
Give this story a go. It's worth the time.
I would have loved to give this story five stars, but something in the story made me change my mind. I won't say what it was because I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
Also, for "Wrinkle In Time" fans this will eventually tie in with it somewhere.
Give this story a go. It's worth the time.
May 27, 2020
What a strange book! The plot, though convoluted and generic, was fun enough to keep me entertained, but not much else. The characters were complete empty vessels and the vague, borderline sexualisation of a 12-year old by a sixteen year-old was not a good look.
Maybe if I'd read this as a kid I would have been more into it.
But at least it had the good result of making me want to visit Lisbon?
Maybe if I'd read this as a kid I would have been more into it.
But at least it had the good result of making me want to visit Lisbon?
August 3, 2008
Intrigue! Espionage! Double agents! I was rather surprised by the rapid appearance of these elements. There are still enough of the usual L'Engle traits recognizable in the O'Keefe family and their actions and beliefs but this book introduces elements of science, politics, morality, and mortality in a way that is different from the author's two other series.
March 6, 2025
Action packed adventure from start to finish. Lots of tangled webs to figure out and you never really know who’s on what side.
It deals with lab ethics and the sanctity of life well, from a Christian perspective without being preachy or condescending.
Some of the characters fell a little flat to me, and I felt like the mystery should have started to unravel a bit earlier as I began to lose interest at all the confusion with little payout.
It deals with lab ethics and the sanctity of life well, from a Christian perspective without being preachy or condescending.
Some of the characters fell a little flat to me, and I felt like the mystery should have started to unravel a bit earlier as I began to lose interest at all the confusion with little payout.
December 31, 2016
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Adam Eddington, a bright high school student with an interest in marine biology, plans to spend his summer working for Dr. O’Keefe on the island of Gaea. In the airport before he boards his plane, he meets Kali, a beautiful girl, who warns him that Dr. O’Keefe and his colleague, Canon Tallis, are dangerous and cannot be trusted. After this meeting, things change dramatically for Adam. Suddenly, his credentials and motives are questioned, and he can’t decide whether to place his loyalties with Dr. O’Keefe and his loving, innocent daughter Polyhymnia, or with Kali and her dad, Typhon Cutter, who asks Adam to spy on his behalf.
Of all the L’Engle books I’ve read so far, this one is the strangest. From the start, the book gives the reader an unsettled feeling which really doesn’t resolve itself until almost the end of the story. This feeling arises from the suspenseful plot as well as from the strange otherworldliness of 12-year-old Poly. Dr. O’Keefe describes his daughter in terms of her ability to love, saying, “She loves in an extraordinary way for a twelve-year-old, a simple, pure outpouring, with no looking for anything in return.” This ability makes her character seem somehow sheltered and gullible, and annoys me a little bit because she doesn’t seem to have any flaws. At every moment of the story, Poly is this shining example of perfect human love, and that perfection doesn’t jibe with real-life adolescence, or with L’Engle’s depiction of adolescence in her other books. Vicky Austin might go overboard with her self-deprecation and sense of otherness, but she is ten times more believable than Poly.
I had some trouble, also, buying into the starfish regeneration research that Dr. O’Keefe works on. The entire concept - and the potential for it to be abused by evil forces - reads more like the subject of a superhero comic than a science fiction novel. The science behind regeneration in humans seems too easy, and I never quite felt the sense of urgency the characters feel about protecting those secret scientific discoveries. I’m also starting to grow somewhat weary of these “special” kids L’Engle writes about, who are so well-versed in poetry, music, and culture. Is the Tallis canon really something tweens or teens would recognize? I found myself questioning that and wondering if she could have told the story without quite so many precocious characters.
Saying all of this makes it sound like I didn’t enjoy this novel, and that actually is not the case. I was drawn into the mystery almost immediately, and enjoyed getting to know Adam’s voice. I was pleased to see the subtle references to A Wrinkle In Time - especially Poly’s siblings’ names - that made it clear that Dr. O’Keefe is Calvin, and his wife is Meg, even though the narrative never says as much. It was an interesting read, and it left me with a lot to think about and process before moving onto the next book, The Young Unicorns.
Adam Eddington, a bright high school student with an interest in marine biology, plans to spend his summer working for Dr. O’Keefe on the island of Gaea. In the airport before he boards his plane, he meets Kali, a beautiful girl, who warns him that Dr. O’Keefe and his colleague, Canon Tallis, are dangerous and cannot be trusted. After this meeting, things change dramatically for Adam. Suddenly, his credentials and motives are questioned, and he can’t decide whether to place his loyalties with Dr. O’Keefe and his loving, innocent daughter Polyhymnia, or with Kali and her dad, Typhon Cutter, who asks Adam to spy on his behalf.
Of all the L’Engle books I’ve read so far, this one is the strangest. From the start, the book gives the reader an unsettled feeling which really doesn’t resolve itself until almost the end of the story. This feeling arises from the suspenseful plot as well as from the strange otherworldliness of 12-year-old Poly. Dr. O’Keefe describes his daughter in terms of her ability to love, saying, “She loves in an extraordinary way for a twelve-year-old, a simple, pure outpouring, with no looking for anything in return.” This ability makes her character seem somehow sheltered and gullible, and annoys me a little bit because she doesn’t seem to have any flaws. At every moment of the story, Poly is this shining example of perfect human love, and that perfection doesn’t jibe with real-life adolescence, or with L’Engle’s depiction of adolescence in her other books. Vicky Austin might go overboard with her self-deprecation and sense of otherness, but she is ten times more believable than Poly.
I had some trouble, also, buying into the starfish regeneration research that Dr. O’Keefe works on. The entire concept - and the potential for it to be abused by evil forces - reads more like the subject of a superhero comic than a science fiction novel. The science behind regeneration in humans seems too easy, and I never quite felt the sense of urgency the characters feel about protecting those secret scientific discoveries. I’m also starting to grow somewhat weary of these “special” kids L’Engle writes about, who are so well-versed in poetry, music, and culture. Is the Tallis canon really something tweens or teens would recognize? I found myself questioning that and wondering if she could have told the story without quite so many precocious characters.
Saying all of this makes it sound like I didn’t enjoy this novel, and that actually is not the case. I was drawn into the mystery almost immediately, and enjoyed getting to know Adam’s voice. I was pleased to see the subtle references to A Wrinkle In Time - especially Poly’s siblings’ names - that made it clear that Dr. O’Keefe is Calvin, and his wife is Meg, even though the narrative never says as much. It was an interesting read, and it left me with a lot to think about and process before moving onto the next book, The Young Unicorns.
August 23, 2017
Wow this was terrible. I'm glad I got it as a free audiobook, because the plot and characterization was weak.
The concept could have been interesting. Finding a way to regenerate missing limbs like starfish, but it wasn't about the research of that at all. It was about this Marty Stu of a character Adam. I'm not going to dive into the premise, and I know it was written in the 60s or 70s, but the fem-fatale is getting old, and the fact our seventeen year old main was acting like a creeper and checking out a twelve year old girl, rose the hair on the back of my neck.
Also, I thought it might pick up in the end, but the end was people trying to comfort Adam, about him not being responsible for his friends death.
The concept could have been interesting. Finding a way to regenerate missing limbs like starfish, but it wasn't about the research of that at all. It was about this Marty Stu of a character Adam. I'm not going to dive into the premise, and I know it was written in the 60s or 70s, but the fem-fatale is getting old, and the fact our seventeen year old main was acting like a creeper and checking out a twelve year old girl, rose the hair on the back of my neck.
Also, I thought it might pick up in the end, but the end was people trying to comfort Adam, about him not being responsible for his friends death.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2023
When I first saw that this book would be from Adam Eddington's point of view, I was disappointed. But the story didn’t disappoint. It is typical L'Engle: suspense, romance, religion, faith, love, and hope. Just as in the other books I've read by her, the ultimate message is love, not just for friends and family, but even for the unknown sparrow, for "starfish and sparrows." Although the story is unbelievable and even downright contrived at points, I don't care because as anyone knows who follows my reviews, I love L'Engle's work and continue to be a fan of anything I can get my hands on. Again, this isn't my favorite of her works, but I enjoyed it, as my rating indicates.
December 29, 2017
Excellent book. It was slow to get started in the beginning, but the interesting story, characters, and intrigue reeled me in. I love Madeline Le'Engle's work. I know that she writes a lot of it for children, but I think that adults would do well to read her also.
December 28, 2023
This is probably the best of the O’Keefe books besides Dragons in the Waters.
July 30, 2019
Adam Eddington is going to work with Dr. O'Keefe (Calvin from Wrinkle in time who is a world-renowned marine biologist) this summer on the island of Gaea. Before even boarding his plane, he is sidetracked by a very attractive young woman, Kali Cutter, who is familiar with Dr. O'Keefe and his work and warns him against them, saying they are unpatriotic and devious and that her father is working to make it right. This immediately colors Adam's opinion of the O'Keefes and drops him into a world of intrigue involving members of the Embassy and religious figures who've taken sides and which results in the kidnapping of Dr. O'Keefe's oldest daugher, Poly. Adam is still confused about whose side he's on and what is the right thing to do. He'll have to trust someone and examine his own motivations to make the right decisions and hope he can live with the consequences of his actions.
The characters in this book are really well-written...except perhaps Poly. At times I couldn't remember how old she was supposed to be. She seemed to be 10 and 15 at the same time (she's 12). I even thought Adam was really well-written in his indecisiveness and inability to choose sides, even though his dithering was kind of annoying. But the imperfections in the characters made them feel realistic, as well as their emotional reactions to things. And really, seeing how these characters work and react was the highlight of this story. I mean, you've got Dr. O'Keefe who sends a 15-year-old boy out into dangerous situations, but at the same time what choice does he have? And it would have been interesting to know to what degree he blamed himself, if at all, for the events of that night. But it's Adam's reaction that is pretty much stellarly presented, same with Poly.
The suspense plot wasn't so great, but it wasn't bad either. I was really disappointed that we have the teenage girl using her sexual wiles to manipulate Adam, who naturally falls for it. Ugh. It was pretty cliche. I also had problems with the ending, which was pretty abrupt for the circumstances. I would have liked to know if Kali and Mr. Cutter's "evil" would have tainted the results (and therefore been a sort of justice in and of itself). I wanted discussion of the implications - I mean, you have Adam risking his life and to protect this research and Dr. O'Keefe basically gives it to Mr. Cutter on a silver platter in order to do the morally correct thing. The reasons for doing so, as Adam explains it, are good, but there's a deeper discussion that needs to be had there. And this all ends with a sense of grief and despair really. Also, I found it very interesting that, as religious as the family is, So, this was an interesting sort of addition to the O'Keefe family saga. Also, it's interesting that Meg decided to be a stay at home Mom instead of entering a career or using her math-genius brain for some personal interest or hobby. I would have liked to understand why she chooses not to exercise her intellectual gift (or if this is a reflection of the author's belief in certain gender roles...which, given Kali's character and role in this story, might not be too far off the mark).
The characters in this book are really well-written...except perhaps Poly. At times I couldn't remember how old she was supposed to be. She seemed to be 10 and 15 at the same time (she's 12). I even thought Adam was really well-written in his indecisiveness and inability to choose sides, even though his dithering was kind of annoying. But the imperfections in the characters made them feel realistic, as well as their emotional reactions to things. And really, seeing how these characters work and react was the highlight of this story. I mean, you've got Dr. O'Keefe who sends a 15-year-old boy out into dangerous situations, but at the same time what choice does he have? And it would have been interesting to know to what degree he blamed himself, if at all, for the events of that night. But it's Adam's reaction that is pretty much stellarly presented, same with Poly.
The suspense plot wasn't so great, but it wasn't bad either. I was really disappointed that we have the teenage girl using her sexual wiles to manipulate Adam, who naturally falls for it. Ugh. It was pretty cliche. I also had problems with the ending, which was pretty abrupt for the circumstances. I would have liked to know if Kali and Mr. Cutter's "evil" would have tainted the results (and therefore been a sort of justice in and of itself). I wanted discussion of the implications - I mean, you have Adam risking his life and to protect this research and Dr. O'Keefe basically gives it to Mr. Cutter on a silver platter in order to do the morally correct thing. The reasons for doing so, as Adam explains it, are good, but there's a deeper discussion that needs to be had there. And this all ends with a sense of grief and despair really. Also, I found it very interesting that, as religious as the family is, So, this was an interesting sort of addition to the O'Keefe family saga. Also, it's interesting that Meg decided to be a stay at home Mom instead of entering a career or using her math-genius brain for some personal interest or hobby. I would have liked to understand why she chooses not to exercise her intellectual gift (or if this is a reflection of the author's belief in certain gender roles...which, given Kali's character and role in this story, might not be too far off the mark).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2022
I loved it! It isn’t her best, but it was a page turner. Kept me on my toes the entire time and she’s such a great writer that I was lost in the plot but also her gorgeous descriptions of nature (swimming with dolphins!) and the various places the characters travel to.
The book comes down to the final sentence and there’s a powerful lesson of grace and loving/being “for” our enemies.
My favorite quote from the book: “You cannot see the past that did not happen any more than you can foresee the future.”
The book comes down to the final sentence and there’s a powerful lesson of grace and loving/being “for” our enemies.
My favorite quote from the book: “You cannot see the past that did not happen any more than you can foresee the future.”
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