The Austins: The Young Unicorns

As a small child, I was madly in love with Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door. So, recently I decided to go back and reread those books, and all the other novels I missed by L'Engle during my childhood.

A few days ago, I readA Ring of Endless Light for the first time, and just finished The Young Unicorns Yesterday. If you're familiar with L'Engle's books, you may realize I'm not reading them in chronological order. I'm getting these books from the library in whatever order I can, and this is fine because although there is continuity between most of L'Engle's books, each one is also self-contained and wraps up neatly and satisfactorily at the end.

The Young Unicorns was first published in 1968, 12 years before A Ring of Endless Light, but it takes place right before that story, when the Austins are spending their year in New York, which was mentioned often in that later story.

At the start of Unicorns, Suzy and Rob Austin and their blind friend Emily Gregory happen to rub an antique lamp that, according to Rob, resembles a gravy boat. Of course when they rub the lamp, a "genie" appears. Thus begins an adventure that puts them all - and many others - in a great deal of danger.

I sat down to read The Young Unicorns with no small measure of excitement. I have always really loved L'Engle's books (the ones I've read) because they are character driven, have unusual but believable plots, and L'Engle's writing style is such that readers are swept away regardless of theme or plot.

The Young Unicorns bares the distinction of being the first L'Engle book to significantly disappoint me. Here's Why:

Plot Driven
The best books - and certainly the best of L'Engle's books - are character driven. Unicorns is not. In Unicorns, we hardly get to know the characters. The plot is very busy, and all of the Austins and their friends just get swept along in it, and seem strangely passive and thoughtless. It feels as though L'Engle has a story she wants to tell with this book, and that the characters are being bent and twisted to fit that story, and doing things that seem unnatural and out of character (from what we've read of these same characters in other books).

Point of View
The POV in this book switches constantly and is shared between far too many characters. It's very difficult to get to know or to like any of them, and the story is less powerful and seems more contrived with all of the switching viewpoints.

Story Not Believable
This might not be a problem if it weren't for the other complaints, and yes, L'Engle's books often somewhat on the fantastic side. However, Unicorn's story is so grandiose as to be laughable, which is almost unforgivable when coupled with the other shortcomings.

However...
This is an important book to read if you want to know everything there is to know about the Austins. Their year in New York is often referred to in other books, and was evidently a transition period for the Austins, who were previously more naive and sort of... countrybumpkinish. Furthermore, L'Engle's writing style is very readable, so even though this book is somewhat disappointing, it's not a real struggle to get through the book.

Final Thougths
Don't make this book your first Madeleine L'Engle book, but if you're following the Austin's story, be sure to include this one.