The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
Immediately after finishing this book I went to a book store and read Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are for some perspective. Although it was certainly one of my favorite books growing up I honestly didn’t really remember the story and had a pretty strong inkling that Eggers book was pretty different. I was right. After all, as Eggers explains at the end of his novel that “the children’s book Max is, after all, a version of Maurice and the movie [which of course was just recently released] Max is a version of Spike [Spike Jonze, the director of the film]. The Max of [Eggers] book, then, is some combination of Maurice’s Max, Spike’s Max, and the Max of my own [Eggers] boyhood.”
The story of how this book and the movie came to be is a pretty interesting one. If you haven’t already heard about it I’ll give you a quick synopsis. Maurice Sendak writes book in 1963. In 2003 Spike Jonze calls Dave Eggers and says “hey want to do a collaboration on the screenplay for a film adaptation of the book?” Dave says “yes.” Later, Maurice calls Dave and says “hey, I think a novel could be written based on all the material we’ve accumulated for the movie, do you want to write it?” Dave then says “sure, I’ll give it a shot.” And thus we have a movie and a book based on Where the Wild Things Are. (Dialogues are fictional and completely the guesswork of the author.)
At this point, having read both versions of the book I’m 2 for 3. I have not yet seen the movie. I wanted to, but I think all the hype surrounding it kind of got to me and turned me off. I will at some point see it though, preferably with a small child because I hear that I will scare the bejeezus out of them and I think that is pretty amusing.
Alright, so Eggers’ Max. I really enjoyed it. Certainly the fact that I like Eggers style of writing didn’t hurt but he changed the story, made it a bit more adult and gave it more depth. His version of Max is very much so his own. What you really have to get passed is the fact that this is not a 38 page illustrated book with only 9 sentences. It is in my mind a completely different book. Words have replaced the vivid illustrations of Max and the wild things. Prose and description has enabled the child in all adults to create our own illustrations for this book. Pretty deep huh? Didn’t think I had in me did ya?
There could be a strong argument that without the illustrations, that without the ability to fantasize, imagine and make what you will of the the illustrations and what is happening once “the wild rumpus” begins you lose a grasp as to what this book is all about. But I say that it’s all up to the reader. Eggers has recreated the story. Whether it’s for better or for worse, is something that each of us has to decide on our own.
From what I’ve heard the film adaptation is not necessarily for children. After reading Egger’s novelization of the screenplay I can actually understand and that see why. It is somewhat terrifyingly scary. These wild things aren’t the fun loving wild things that you get in Sendak’s book. Instead they have personalities and strong ones at that. Like I said, it is indeed a completely different book that takes on the exact same themes and yet takes them in a different direction.
When it’s all said and done though, I think I can fairly say that Eggers did justice to Sendaks’ book. That is of course strictly from the point of view that what has done is turned Sendaks’ book into Eggers’ book. Ya dig? I enjoyed it, whether you will or not I don’t think I can say but hell, give it a shot, it’s a quick read.
