The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth [Hardcover]

Madeleine L'Engle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2002

We are all strangers in a strange land, longing for home, but not quite knowing what or where home is. We glimpse it sometimes in our dreams, or as we turn a corner, and suddenly there is a strange, sweet familiarity that vanishes almost as soon as it comes… –Madeleine L’Engle, from The Rock That Is Higher

Story captures our hearts and feeds our imaginations. It reminds us who we are and where we came from. Story gives meaning and direction to our lives as we learn to see it as an affirmation of God’s love and truth–an acknowledgment of our longing for a rock in the midst of life’s wilderness.

Drawing upon her own experiences, well-known tales in literature, and selected narratives from Scripture, Madeleine L’Engle gently leads the way into the glorious world of story in The Rock That Is Higher. Here she acknowledges universal human longings and considers how literature, Scripture, personal stories, and life experiences all point us toward our true home.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

We are all strangers in a strange land, longing for home, but not quite knowing what or where home is. We glimpse it sometimes in our dreams, or as we turn a corner, and suddenly there is a strange, sweet familiarity that vanishes almost as soon as it comes… –Madeleine L’Engle, from The Rock That Is Higher

Story captures our hearts and feeds our imaginations. It reminds us who we are and where we came from. Story gives meaning and direction to our lives as we learn to see it as an affirmation of God’s love and truth–an acknowledgment of our longing for a rock in the midst of life’s wilderness.

Drawing upon her own experiences, well-known tales in literature, and selected narratives from Scripture, Madeleine L’Engle gently leads the way into the glorious world of story in The Rock That Is Higher. Here she acknowledges universal human longings and considers how literature, Scripture, personal stories, and life experiences all point us toward our true home.

About the Author

Madeleine L'Engle was the author of more than forty-five books for all ages, among them the beloved A Wrinkle in Time, awarded the Newbery Medal; A Ring of Endless Light, a Newbery Honor Book; A Swiftly Tilting Planet, winner of the American Book Award; and the Austin family series of which Troubling a Star is the fifth book. L'Engle was named the 1998 recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards award, honoring her lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Ms. L'Engle was born in 1918 in New York City. She wrote her first book, The Small Rain, while touring with Eva Le Gallienne in Uncle Harry. She met Hugh Franklin, to whom she was married until his death in 1986, while they were rehearsing The Cherry Orchard, and they were married on tour during a run of The Joyous Season, starring Ethel Barrymore.

Ms. L'Engle retired from the stage after her marriage, and the Franklins moved to northwest Connecticut and opened a general store. After a decade in Connecticut, the family returned to New York.

After splitting her time between New York City and Connecticut and acting as the librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Madeleine L’Engle died on September 7, 2007 at the age of 88.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Shaw Books (March 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877887268
• ISBN-13: 978-0877887263
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1 x 7.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #787,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Madeleine L'Engle, the popular author of many books for children and adults, has interspersed her writing and teaching career with raising three children, maintaining an apartment in New York and a farmhouse of charming confusion which is called "Crosswicks."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finding Truth in Circumstance, January 17, 2000

By 

s. shaw - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rock that Is Higher (Writers' Palette Book) (Paperback)

L'Engle's work is a tribute to the senseless attitude many of us have toward the apparent mindlessness offered to us by the world. Story as Truth is her search for meaning in moments of trouble. Not only do the accounts of her soul-searing tribulations mirror the anger and hurt of the reader, the ways in which she seeks the goodness of God during these times bekons us to seek the same. Yet in seeking that, she finds the God of peace sitting behind a veil of experience. We seek passionatly life, truth, and the good in life, yet in reality (as L'Engle points out) we can only come to this through a thoughtful experience of substance; not necessarily a foul experience, just one real enough to weigh upon our own mortality. A thoughtful look at the experiential side of our lives.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another gem from Madeleine..., October 19, 2003

By 

Neville G. Kiser "NGK" (Pasadena, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth (Hardcover)

"The Rock That Is Higher" is an important book that many Christians need to read. It not only asks great questions, but it makes you think in ways that you never have before. Sometimes, you won't agree with Madeleine...but really, I don't think that agreeing with her all the time is really the point.

I question myself when I read a book and seem to be agreeing with everything the author is saying. Either they are not challenging me to think hard or I'm not challenging myself to think hard enough about what I've just read. Either way you look at it, reading books like that, is rarely helpful in forming who you are as a person.

However, this book is different. It is great and different and challenging and inspiring and odd and unique and indifferent and just plain brilliant. So don't pass this book up. Get hooked on Madeleine.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Timeless, September 4, 2003

By 

"bennb1" (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth (Hardcover)

This is a very good book talking about how stories can hold little slices of truth. Fiction isn't truly fictitious b/c it has whispers of truth in it--much like the writers of the Bible may have felt. Her attitudes on religion and the Bible are right on imho. She doesn't worship the Bible (written by man) or the religion, but sees the slices of truth that story can hold. She loves God with all her heart, but she's not super-dogmatic and doesn't use overly complicated religious language. She is a breath of fresh air while remaining steadfast in her faith. Anyone interesting in writing or finding sources of inspiration will enjoy this book or especially "Walking on Water". She further proves that real and true people are never dated, but rather timeless b/c of the soul and spirit within them. She is a free spirit and an inspiration.