A Wind in the Door was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1973. Charles Wallace Murry, now six, is ill — he is being “X-ed” (un-Named, un-created) by the Echthroi, beings of nothingness who work to unmake creation. The physical manifestation: his mitochondria are being destroyed.
Meg is joined by Proginoskes, a cherubim (not a chubby baby but a terrifying being of wings and eyes, as described in Ezekiel), and Blajeny, a celestial Teacher. Their mission requires Meg to enter Charles Wallace’s body — to travel into the mitochondria themselves — and there to “Name” the farandolae (the fictional organelles within mitochondria) before the Echthroi can un-Name them.
L’Engle moves from the cosmic scale of Wrinkle (interplanetary travel) to the microscopic, arguing that the very small is as infinite and significant as the very large. The theological dimension is explicit: to “Name” something is to love it into existence; to “un-Name” is to deny its reality. The Echthroi are nihilism personified — they work not through evil acts but through the denial that anything matters.
Collecting A Wind in the Door
First edition (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1973): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine in jacket: $200–$500
- Very good in jacket: $80–$200