I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: President Obama reading Where the Wild Things Are (2009).

A President who is literate!

Apparently my video won’t fit here unless I space this section out better.

I don’t really have anything to say, except that I enjoyed hearing him read this.

And it’s fun to watch the Secret Service pretend to be invisible.

One more line should do the trick.

See the video here.

[READ: August 24, 2011] Wild Things

Okay, so this is a novel.  It is based on Where the Wild Things Are, the film by Spike Jonze and Where the Wild Things Are, the book by Maurice Sendak.  Obviously, Sendak’s book came first.  But, it’s only got about 60 words in it.  So, how do you make a film based on it?  Eggers and Jonze worked together for a long time to craft a screenplay and then (as Egger’s Acknowledgments explain) Jonze more or less took over the film and Eggers went off to write this book.

Hence, the book is fully titled:

The Wild Things: A Novel by Dave Eggers Adapted from the Illustrated Book “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak and Based on the Screenplay “Where the Wild Things Are” co-written by D.E. and Spike Jonze

I had read Egger’s except “Max” that was printed in the New Yorker ages ago and I liked it well enough, but it seemed so much like WTWTA, that I wasn’t sure what the point was (I didn’t realize it was an excerpt and, strangely enough, it’s an excerpt from several sections).  And since I had seen the film not too long ago (and honestly was kind of bored by it) I wasn’t really that excited about reading this.

But since I loved Zeitoun and this fur-covered book has been sitting near my bed for a couple of years now, I decided it was time.  And I really enjoyed it.

Well, here’s the thing.  This book is not a novelization of the film.  You notice that right away because the first chapter (which is awesome) is not in the film at all.  In it, Max rides his bike to his neighbor’s house.  His friend is not home but his mother is and when she sees Max all by himself and on his bike without a helmet she freaks out (even though they live about four houses apart).  His reaction and her overreactions are really very funny.

There are scenes from the movie in the book, of course.  It is adapted after all.  Indeed, it is more or less the same as the book, but there are many scenes which Eggers has added that really help to flesh out the story and give depth to everyone involved.  As a matter of fact, Max doesn’t reach the Wild Things’ Island until page 100 (out of 285 pages).

I found the Wild Things’ section of the film to be really dull.  They looked great but in my memory, there was very little talking and just rumpusing and building forts for like 45 minutes.  Things happened, but it felt like there was no real explanation for anything.  The book suffers in some ways from this as well.  It’s not as dull as the book, but it is quite unfocused.  It’s a good representation of Max’s mind, but it’s hard to read when you’re not sure what is happening.

Eggers fills in those explanations.  Max declares himself King but the beasts are suspicious of him almost from the start.  The beasts are kind of dumb (they fall for his explanations) but also kind of savvy (they give him a hard time when he doesn’t follow through).  And Eggers places a wonderful sense of tension all over the whole book.  Despite Max’s friendship with Carol (the most famous monster) at any moment we believe that Carol might eat him (especially since he threatens to eat him constantly).

The movie implies (a little) why some of the things that happened actually happen, but in the book, Eggers explains the motives (such as they are) behind what happens.  The beasts are insisting that Max take care of them, and so he does what any boy would do–think of fun things that take your mind off responsibilities.  Of course, that can only last for so long.

The end is a bit confusing in that it just sort of ends.  But the very last chapter is strangely satisfying and rather sad.

The interesting thing to me is that Max seems like more than just a wild kid at the beginning.  And I wondered how much Eggers was basing Max on a child with some kind of social awkwardness–Asperger’s maybe.  Max can come down to earth but his behavior is quite reactionary.  Is that what boys do or does he really cross a line?

This is a really interesting an enjoyable book.  Eggers really keeps the pace fluid and really bring a lot of depth to all of these formerly two-dimensional characters.  There are flaws, but it’s still a treat.