Madeleine L'Engle Partial List Of Works Kairos Chronos

L'Engle's best-known works are divided between " chronos" and " kairos"; the former is the framework in which the stories of the Austin family take place, and is presented in a primarily realistic framework, though occasionally with elements that might be regarded as science fiction. The latter is the framework in which the stories of the Murray and O'Keefe families take place, and is presented sometimes in a realistic framework and sometimes in a more fantastic or magical framework. Generally speaking, the more realistic kairos material is found in the O'Keefe stories, which deal with the second generation characters.

The Murray-O'Keefe and Austin families should not be regarded as living in separate worlds, because several characters cross over between them, and historical events are also shared.

A theme often implied and occasionally explicit in L'Engle's works is that what humans call "religion", "science" and "magic" are simply different aspects of a single seamless reality: a similar theme may be discerned in the fiction works of C. S. Lewis.

1 Partial list of works

1.1 Kairos

1.2 Chronos

1.3 Other Fiction

2 Important L'Engle characters

2.1 Recurring Kairos Characters:

2.1.1 Murry

2.1.2 O'Keefe

Calvin O'Keefe — Marine biologistMarine biology is the study of animal and plant life within saltwater ecosystems. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology deals with those species in which l, husband of Meg, father of a large brood. As a boy, Calvin was a "sport" among what the uncharitable might call degenerate white trash, excelling academicalliy, socially, and in sports from an early age, but feeling disconnected from his peers. He found a truer home with the Murrys.

Polly (Polyhymnia) O'Keefe — Eldest child of Meg and Calvin. Named, somewhat to her annoyance, by her eccentric Godfather Canon Tallis. Poly takes part in various socio-political intrigues in Arm of the Starfish and Dragons in the Waters, more personal ones in House like a Lotus, and is incorporated into the Murry time-and-space travel tradition with An Acceptable Time.

Charles O'Keefe — Named for Charles Wallace Murry, Charles is characterized by sensitivity to others, clairvoyance, and an introspective personal style.

2.1.3 Other

Simon Bolivar Quentin Phair Renier — Simon appears in Dragons in the Waters as a young boy of poor but aristocratic southern background, flung somewhat suddenly into the wide world after the sale of a portrait of Bolivar which was one of the last heirlooms of his family. He encounters the O'Keefe clan and Canon Tallis, and eventually comes into contact with another set of noble roots in distant Venezuela.

2.2 Crossover characters:

Canon Tallis — Tallis is probably the most frequently recurring character without genetic affiliation to the Murrays and Austins. Rather like a cross between G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown and Ian Fleming's James Bond, Tallis provides spiritual leadership and insight into the realms of crime and international intrigue in equal measure.

Adam Eddington — Marine biologist. Adam first appears in Arm of the Starfish working as an intern for Calvin O'Keefe. He is caught up in a power struggle between the O'Keefes and an unscrupulous industrialist vying for control of an emergent medical technology. Later, working with dolphins (to which he was introduced by Polly O'Keefe) in New England, he comes into contact with Vicky Austin.

Zachary Gray — Extremely affluent, disaffected young man, oscillating between his desires for redemption and self-destruction. Has rather complex relationships with both Polly O'Keefe and Vicky Austin.

L'Engle, Madeleine L'Engle, Madeleine L'Engle, Madeleine L'Engle, Madeleine

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