Status
Available
Call number
Publication
McSweeney's (2009), Hardcover, 300 pages
Description
During a fight at home, young Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them.
Media reviews
Het grote probleem van dit boek is tweeslachtigheid. Dat manifesteert zich al in de titel: zo'n half–Nederlandse, half–Engelse en half tussen haakjes gestelde titel doet vreemd aan. Ook de inhoud heeft de air van besluiteloosheid: is dit een roman of een kinderboek? Niemand die het weet. De
Show More
metaforiek – monsters die allerlei minder prettige menselijke eigenschappen in zich herbergen – is die van een volwassen roman, de ongeloofwaardige opbouw van het verhaal doet aan een belegen kinderboek denken.
In feite is Max (en de Wild Things) een moderne versie van Godfried Bomans' klassieker Erik of het klein insectenboek, vol dieren met menselijke trekjes, een intelligent jongetje dat hen iets bij tracht te brengen en een onduidelijke mengvorm tussen kinderboek en roman voor volwassenen. Maar waar Bomans' boek een afgerond verhaal is, vol van humor, daar is Max (en de Wild Things) vooral leuk voor zover het zich afspeelt in de gewone mensenwereld.
De hype rond Eggers mag dan verdiend zijn, niet alles wat hij aanraakt verandert in goud. Zelfs niet in januari.
Show Less
There are seven Wild Things all told, and getting to know them all within a 2-hour film is made easy by the fact that they are so broadly drawn. They have the lively, well-traveled banter of a family, making fun of each other’s quirks and accommodating them at the same time. It helps a lot that
Show More
they’re cute. But they crowd the story in Eggers’ novel. Their family bickering, which is quick and witty in the film, makes for pages of dialogue in the novel, during which I frequently lost track and who was who. Max’s personal journey starts out as a basic hero’s quest from home to unknown, at which point it breaks down into seven different quests as Max works out his personal issues with each of the Wild Things. If this sounds like pop-psych jargon, it’s because that’s what the weakest parts of the novel remind you of. Show Less
My resistance began from the very first sentence. Max is chasing his little white dog down the stairs. In Where The Wild Things Are, the dog is a nameless, terrier-shaped blob rushing anxiously out of frame. In The Wild Things, he's called "Stumpy". Worse than just the name – it's obviously
Show More
wrong, isn't it? – is that something ethereal and elusive has become so distressingly concrete. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member noelsbear1
The book was holding my interest up until the point where Max reaches the island. Then, it just got boring and I plodded throught the rest of it.
LibraryThing member jschofie
Dave Eggers' The Wild Things was published in 2009 by McSweeney's. Dave Eggers is the author of several other books of fiction and non-fiction including 2000's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The book is loosely based on Maurice Sendak's Where
The book follows the same basic plot as the movie. It begins with Max getting in a snowball fight with his sister and her friends and then destroying his sister's room. Max continues to act out at home, upset with the amount of time his mother and sister spend with him, and not liking his mother's new boyfriend. Later, after another bad fight with his mother and her new boyfriend Max decides to run away. He runs and runs as fast as he can before he comes to a lake, where luckily there is a boat. He decides to take the boat out to sea and sail to the nearby city to see his father. But Max loses track of the way and before long he is lost at sea. He sails for days and days, losing track of the time. Eventually, just as he has almost lost all hope he comes to an island. On the island he soon sees a group of huge Yeti-like creatures dancing around a fire and destroying some straw huts. Max decides to join the fun, and lights one of the huts on fire. The Wild Things are enthralled by Max, as they have never seen a creature who looks like him. They consider eating him, but when Max tells them loudly to "STOP!" they instead make him their king. Max promises that all their lives will be better under his rule. He organizes a parade, they play war, and they attempt to build new shelters. Howerver Max can't manage to make the bad feelings that the Wild Things get go away, so they begin to lose faith in him. Max also begins to question his choice to run away. He decides that maybe it is time for him to return home, and sails back home, where his mother is up waiting for him.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. I have loved Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are since I first read it as a child and I was very impressed that the movie managed to maintain the same themes and mood while greatly expanding the story and plot. Dave Eggers book also manages to maintain this mood, while expanding on the story even further. Max's interactions with the Wild Things are often hilarious and in some cases heart-breaking. Watching Max come to the realization that everything is messy and imperfect even in a world of his creation is truly a wonder to behold. Dave Eggers is an incredibly empatheic and engaging writer. I enjoyed The Wild Things as much as I enjoyed his other fiction and non-fiction. The back of the book advertises the book as a book for all-ages. It is classified at EPL in the teen section, but I think it would be enjoyable for adults, children, and teens. It is a truly beautiful and powerful book.
Show More
the Wild Things Are and the movie adaptation which was also co-written by Eggers. The book follows the same basic plot as the movie. It begins with Max getting in a snowball fight with his sister and her friends and then destroying his sister's room. Max continues to act out at home, upset with the amount of time his mother and sister spend with him, and not liking his mother's new boyfriend. Later, after another bad fight with his mother and her new boyfriend Max decides to run away. He runs and runs as fast as he can before he comes to a lake, where luckily there is a boat. He decides to take the boat out to sea and sail to the nearby city to see his father. But Max loses track of the way and before long he is lost at sea. He sails for days and days, losing track of the time. Eventually, just as he has almost lost all hope he comes to an island. On the island he soon sees a group of huge Yeti-like creatures dancing around a fire and destroying some straw huts. Max decides to join the fun, and lights one of the huts on fire. The Wild Things are enthralled by Max, as they have never seen a creature who looks like him. They consider eating him, but when Max tells them loudly to "STOP!" they instead make him their king. Max promises that all their lives will be better under his rule. He organizes a parade, they play war, and they attempt to build new shelters. Howerver Max can't manage to make the bad feelings that the Wild Things get go away, so they begin to lose faith in him. Max also begins to question his choice to run away. He decides that maybe it is time for him to return home, and sails back home, where his mother is up waiting for him.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. I have loved Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are since I first read it as a child and I was very impressed that the movie managed to maintain the same themes and mood while greatly expanding the story and plot. Dave Eggers book also manages to maintain this mood, while expanding on the story even further. Max's interactions with the Wild Things are often hilarious and in some cases heart-breaking. Watching Max come to the realization that everything is messy and imperfect even in a world of his creation is truly a wonder to behold. Dave Eggers is an incredibly empatheic and engaging writer. I enjoyed The Wild Things as much as I enjoyed his other fiction and non-fiction. The back of the book advertises the book as a book for all-ages. It is classified at EPL in the teen section, but I think it would be enjoyable for adults, children, and teens. It is a truly beautiful and powerful book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AshleyMiller
Overall, I really enjoyed The Wild Things by Dave Eggers. I was looking for something different than the fantasy books I normally read. This was definitely one of those books. From the beginning, it was funny, entertaining, and interesting. Then, when you are introduced to the monsters it also
Max is a wild 8 year old boy who really just wants someone to play with. He really wants to play with his sister, but she is getting older and wants nothing to do with her little brother. His mother has a new boyfriend, so she has less time to spend with Max. He can’t seem to control anything in his life and just doesn’t understand a lot of what is going on around him. Most of the story is his escape from his world and into one that he has control over.
Eggers’s book focuses a lot more on the characters in the story. He really adds more to them than what you watch in the movie. Each creature has its own personality and they are extremely dysfunctional in the book. They go from from being happy and having fun to becoming very angry and wanting to eat everything in a split second. They are also very scary for this reason. Some have very strange habits as well, which is actually funny, but I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t read this book yet.
The story is well paced, easy to read, hilarious, and just plain crazy.
This book is basically a full length version of the picture book and adds more to the movie. If you have enjoyed these, then you will enjoy this book too. I only recommend this book to young adults and adults as it would probably be to scary and violent for younger children.
Show More
becomes a little creepy and crazy.Max is a wild 8 year old boy who really just wants someone to play with. He really wants to play with his sister, but she is getting older and wants nothing to do with her little brother. His mother has a new boyfriend, so she has less time to spend with Max. He can’t seem to control anything in his life and just doesn’t understand a lot of what is going on around him. Most of the story is his escape from his world and into one that he has control over.
Eggers’s book focuses a lot more on the characters in the story. He really adds more to them than what you watch in the movie. Each creature has its own personality and they are extremely dysfunctional in the book. They go from from being happy and having fun to becoming very angry and wanting to eat everything in a split second. They are also very scary for this reason. Some have very strange habits as well, which is actually funny, but I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t read this book yet.
The story is well paced, easy to read, hilarious, and just plain crazy.
This book is basically a full length version of the picture book and adds more to the movie. If you have enjoyed these, then you will enjoy this book too. I only recommend this book to young adults and adults as it would probably be to scary and violent for younger children.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bikesandbooks
The movie version, screen play by same author, is my favorite movie of 2010. The book diverges somewhat from the script and adds to my appreciation of the movie. Read if you are big fan of the original by Sendak, or Eggers, or Spike Jones. 3.5 stars.
LibraryThing member Berly
#1 [The Wild Things] by Dave Eggers, an adaptation of [Where the Wild Things Are] by Maurice Sendak and based on the screenplay of the same name with Spike Jonze.
Eggers takes Sendak’s very simple idea and expands it to movie/book length by filling in the story. Max now comes from divorced
The wolf costume is still used to convey the wild, untamed animal side of Max, but instead of getting sent to bed without his supper, Max runs away. This is where the sweetness of the original story is really lost and became truly dark for me. Through out the book, I actually wasn’t sure if Max would find his way home or if he might get physically hurt along the way. It was a constant dread.
The whole island sequence is phantasmagorical and I would love to have a group of people to discuss who or what each of the monsters represents (OK, so I was a psych major). They are each sweet and beastly and damaged in some way. Carol is jealous, The Bull doesn’t talk, Judy is a pessimist, etc. Max, as King, initially loves the wildness of the beasts: there is a parade, and a Wild Rumpus, and a pretend war. But he soon finds keeping his beasts happy a difficult job.
I much prefer the opening sequence of the book, but the movie is incomparable in the island sequence: absolutely visually stunning. I must admit to having seen the movie first and I cannot imagine how it would be to read the book without that imagery. The creatures you could summon up from childhood readings of the classic book, but the vast size and scale of the monsters is breathtaking in the movie and I had that when I read the book. So the book and movie are somewhat opposites: while the movie is visually stunning, the book is minimalistic in its descriptions. The movie was, however, short on explanations and delivering the inner musings of the characters, which the book excelled at. Together they make a wonderful pair. To be honest, if I had to choose one over the other, though, I would choose the movie.
PS –The movie is NOT for little children!
[Where the Wild Things Are], Children’s Book by Maurice Sendak Five Stars
[Where the Wild Things Are], Movie by Spike Jonze Four and a Half Stars
[The Wild Things], Book by Dave Eggers Thee and A Half Stars
Eggers takes Sendak’s very simple idea and expands it to movie/book length by filling in the story. Max now comes from divorced
Show More
parents, with an older sister who is too cool to play with him anymore. Old houses are being torn down and bigger, better ones are replacing the simple one-story dwellings in his neighborhood. The reality sequence in the book is fantastic. Eggers does an amazing job of telling Max’ story, capturing simply and vividly the inner workings of a child’s mind (perhaps one with ADD). We see how Max feels rejected by his teenage sister, and abandoned by his father, unsure of why his mother is sad and stressed, the joy of a snowball fight and the anger and sorrow when his fort is destroyed. Max is transported by angry glee when he seeks revenge on his sister and then we see the guilt creep in. This section of the book has beautiful, poignant moments as well as one of the funniest scenes I have ever read. (I ADORE Max’ rendering of the crazy over-protective Mom down the street.) The wolf costume is still used to convey the wild, untamed animal side of Max, but instead of getting sent to bed without his supper, Max runs away. This is where the sweetness of the original story is really lost and became truly dark for me. Through out the book, I actually wasn’t sure if Max would find his way home or if he might get physically hurt along the way. It was a constant dread.
The whole island sequence is phantasmagorical and I would love to have a group of people to discuss who or what each of the monsters represents (OK, so I was a psych major). They are each sweet and beastly and damaged in some way. Carol is jealous, The Bull doesn’t talk, Judy is a pessimist, etc. Max, as King, initially loves the wildness of the beasts: there is a parade, and a Wild Rumpus, and a pretend war. But he soon finds keeping his beasts happy a difficult job.
I much prefer the opening sequence of the book, but the movie is incomparable in the island sequence: absolutely visually stunning. I must admit to having seen the movie first and I cannot imagine how it would be to read the book without that imagery. The creatures you could summon up from childhood readings of the classic book, but the vast size and scale of the monsters is breathtaking in the movie and I had that when I read the book. So the book and movie are somewhat opposites: while the movie is visually stunning, the book is minimalistic in its descriptions. The movie was, however, short on explanations and delivering the inner musings of the characters, which the book excelled at. Together they make a wonderful pair. To be honest, if I had to choose one over the other, though, I would choose the movie.
PS –The movie is NOT for little children!
[Where the Wild Things Are], Children’s Book by Maurice Sendak Five Stars
[Where the Wild Things Are], Movie by Spike Jonze Four and a Half Stars
[The Wild Things], Book by Dave Eggers Thee and A Half Stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member frisbeesage
The Wild Things is an interesting, more adult, take on Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. Here the story of Max is expanded and fleshed out to give us some insight into Max's behavior and his experience on the island. Max is a confused young boy dealing with divorce, a teenage sister, and
Its ultimately a sad, dark story about a lost and confused little boy. Elements of it reminded me of Lord of the Flies with the feeling of loss of control and fear and anger ruling. The Wild Things are well developed and fascinating characters with many of their own problems to deal with. The ending felt a little less complete and more uncertain than I would have liked.
I listened to the audio version which was very creatively read by Dion Graham. The Wild Thing's voices were well done and it was a pleasant listen.
Show More
anger he doesn't know how to control. He runs away one night after a fight with his mother and sails to the island of the Wild Things. Its ultimately a sad, dark story about a lost and confused little boy. Elements of it reminded me of Lord of the Flies with the feeling of loss of control and fear and anger ruling. The Wild Things are well developed and fascinating characters with many of their own problems to deal with. The ending felt a little less complete and more uncertain than I would have liked.
I listened to the audio version which was very creatively read by Dion Graham. The Wild Thing's voices were well done and it was a pleasant listen.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DRFP
Dave Eggers can be a fantastic writer but this short novel just falls flat.
It's perfectly okay, and there's a nice sense of menace underneath the surface, which I feel the movie lacks, but it doesn't seem like Eggers wants to be too adventurous with the source material. The set-up is quite good but
It's perfectly okay, and there's a nice sense of menace underneath the surface, which I feel the movie lacks, but it doesn't seem like Eggers wants to be too adventurous with the source material. The set-up is quite good but
Show More
things peter quite quickly out once Max gets in his boat. Slightly disappointing from the man who wrote "A Heartbreaking Work" and "What is the What". Show Less
LibraryThing member porch_reader
This book got my attention when it first came out. I love the children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, but I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel version. So, I didn't buy it, but when I found it on the shelf at my library, I decided to give it a try.
In short, I loved it.
Eggers does an
In short, I loved it.
Eggers does an
Show More
amazing job expanding on small details of the book in clever ways. He uses lines and scenes from the children's book, and provides texture and depth in ways that are sometimes surprising, but always feel true to the original story. Eggers helps us understand why Max acts out at the beginning of the story and convincingly captures the perspective of a boy. He also creates an amazing world where the Wild Things are and gives each of the Wild Things a distinct personality. I was as captivated by this book as I was by the original. Show Less
LibraryThing member ameyers
Taking a classic children’s story and giving it legs, Eggers lets those of us who did not grow up with brothers and do not have sons get a glimpse into the head of one very precocious boy. This coming of age novel is filled with fantasy and monsters who are a bit more like eight year old boys
I would recommend this for really anyone. It would be fun for a boy to remember how he used to be if he was a crazy kid, and great for an adult to see how a boy might react to his parents’ divorce. It probably is not my first choice for a teen girl, but it is really well written and could be enjoyed by anyone. I am partial to Eggers, though.
Show More
than you would think.I would recommend this for really anyone. It would be fun for a boy to remember how he used to be if he was a crazy kid, and great for an adult to see how a boy might react to his parents’ divorce. It probably is not my first choice for a teen girl, but it is really well written and could be enjoyed by anyone. I am partial to Eggers, though.
Show Less
LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
As an expanded edition of the children's book, this is an interesting installment of the Where the Wild Things Are vision. More in tune with the recent film adaptation than the original story, there's no doubt this is a dark journey, but it's also a surprisingly engaging and heartening work of art.
Show More
I'd take a break from the vision, and wouldn't read this immediately after seeing the movie, but if either of the other versions engages you, this might well be worth your while. The voice of Max is utterly perfect, and the journey is priceless in its unique variety of characters and images. For what it is, it's worth the while as a quick adventure. Show Less
LibraryThing member KinnicChick
From the cover: "Max is a rambunctious eight-year-old whose world is changing around him: His father is absent, his mother is increasingly distracted, and his teenage sister has outgrown him."
This sets up a situation in which eight-year-old Max is angry, sad, and ready to misbehave to the best of
I adored this book. Dave Eggers nailed the pain of childhood, when the interactions with those we love and trust most are hurtful and we make them our demons within, which follow us into our adulthood.
This sets up a situation in which eight-year-old Max is angry, sad, and ready to misbehave to the best of
Show More
his ability for just a little bit of attention and love. As frequently happens, this backfires and he is left believing his family doesn't love or want him anymore. So Max puts on his wolf suit and sets off on his own to sail to a new land where he finds a land of giant creatures who behave in all of the ways that Max feels on the inside. They destroy things and they are loud and they rage! Soon Max is appointed their king, complete with scepter and crown, and he leads them on adventures and does everything fun and wild, acting out all of his pain and sadness.I adored this book. Dave Eggers nailed the pain of childhood, when the interactions with those we love and trust most are hurtful and we make them our demons within, which follow us into our adulthood.
Show Less
LibraryThing member HeikeM
I bought this book because I was intrigued. But very quickly disappointed. It is after all only a kids tale. There are too many things in the story that do not make sense for an adult. For example: a child runs away after a big row with mum. So mum cooks him a meal and then has a nap. What? No
Show More
search parties, no police, no stress? That only happens in a kids story. Lets leave the book in the children's shelf then. Show Less
LibraryThing member MartyAllen
After a fight with his mother, a boy, Max, runs away, ending up on an island of "Wild Things," where he is made their king. This book closely follows the movie, though there are some deviations, as would be expected. These deviations, though, only add to the story. The reader is allowed to really
Show More
go inside Max’s head as he sees his mother’s boyfriend, as he meets the Wild Things. One scene that is especially powerful is when Max is swallowed by Katherine, who refuses to release him, she loves him so much. While also in the movie, the scene is given much more depth and emotion in the book. The one flaw is the ending, or lack thereof—Max is left standing over his sleeping mother, observing her. However, even this has a flavor of growing up, of realization—Max sees her with new eyes, his observations reflections of his time with the Wild Things. The book shows all the pains of growing up, including the realization that no one can make things perfect, not even a king of Wild Things. It is a beautiful adaptation of a children’s book that young adults will enjoy. Show Less
LibraryThing member Esquiress
I enjoyed this book, which was my first introduction to the writing of Dave Eggers. I had found myself confused by the movie when I saw it in theaters, and I assumed that this book would assist me in filling in the gaps I felt were in the film. The writing style was compelling, and I was engaged
Reading this book has definitely informed and filled out my understanding and enjoyment of the film. However, I found myself with more questions than answers after finishing the book. The Wild Things were frustrating to understand, and I was annoyed that I could not truly "get" their motivations. There were all sorts of undercurrents of interpersonal issues within the Wild Things that weren't explored; I assume that was because Max could not actually fathom what was happening with these emotions. Still, I was frustrated by it. There were a great number of loose ends with the Wild Things, and though I felt comfortable with Max's resolution, I felt that the Wild Things would not "be ok in the end."
I read somewhere that this book was intended for teens. I don't know if many of my students would actually enjoy it. While I'm glad I read it, I didn't get a great deal out of the reading. Hopefully, my next reading of Eggers will be more satisfying.
Show More
throughout the reading of this (surprisingly short) book.Reading this book has definitely informed and filled out my understanding and enjoyment of the film. However, I found myself with more questions than answers after finishing the book. The Wild Things were frustrating to understand, and I was annoyed that I could not truly "get" their motivations. There were all sorts of undercurrents of interpersonal issues within the Wild Things that weren't explored; I assume that was because Max could not actually fathom what was happening with these emotions. Still, I was frustrated by it. There were a great number of loose ends with the Wild Things, and though I felt comfortable with Max's resolution, I felt that the Wild Things would not "be ok in the end."
I read somewhere that this book was intended for teens. I don't know if many of my students would actually enjoy it. While I'm glad I read it, I didn't get a great deal out of the reading. Hopefully, my next reading of Eggers will be more satisfying.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kirstiecat
I like quite a bit of what Dave Eggers does but I have had a hard time with this story as an adult. Quite clearly, it has affected many of us adults as children and has lent itself space inside the compartments of our brains for many years. I was really excited about the film, especially
Anyhow, what I saw in the film dismayed me quite a bit because I work with children and some of the behavioral issues I see both in regular ed. and special ed. students is a result of really poor and inconsistent discipline from parents. Parents want to be friends to their kids instead of set limits and so when the child tantrums, the parents give in and the child continues to tantrum at school and becomes confused and angry when he/she cannot be given everything the heart desires from the teachers they encounter.
So, in the film version, when Max comes back after tantrumming and even biting his mom like a child raised by wolves instead of with a mother that cares about him, it's hard to feel sorry for him during his journey and trials of his imagination and it's hard to think he really deserves a hug and a piece of cake at the end of the film. It made me angry, even though I realized what I was supposed to feel is that Max had gone through some cathartic transformation and would mend the error of his ways. I still thought...he bit mom and ran away and he got cake for that...way to reward horrific behavior in your child!
Of course, from the perspective of a child myself reading the much smaller original version of the story, I remember thinking how imagination was such an amazing and powerful thing. I really loved the diversity of the characters and the drawings that are really essentially part of Max's imagination.
I had picked Eggers's book up at a discount as it was an overstock hardcover and I felt it was worth reading at some point, even though I disliked the film version. What piqued my interest recently was that the Autism classroom for younger students that I work in was reading the original version recently. One of the students is a little like Max but honestly it's difficult to tell if Max really has a disability or if he is just a more extreme melodramatic child. We all **hope** that Max will learn to control his own wavelength, self regulate his extreme emotions, and not have to depend on antidepressants to function in the real world as an adult. We all want Max to stay creative but just be nicer to the family around him. We all feel a little sad and disappointed when Max makes poor decisions and feel even worse about it when he realizes after the fact that what he did was wrong but couldn't stop himself. Max is exceptional and we all want him to stay that way but we'd like him to learn a few things that makes his interactions with other human beings less painful.
Essential what Eggers adds to this story is this very complexity. In the book, we see Max makes a few poor decisions then goes off to adventure land, comes back and all seems forgiven. In the novel version that Eggers creates, we see that Max is a little depressed about his own behavior and that the behavior and choices of others from his parents separating to his older sister deciding she's too cool to hang with him, to the science elementary teacher that tells him that the sun is going to burn out and die one day. All these things are pretty heavy to a young boy (or to anyone, really) but the way that Max chooses to deal with them is dishonest to others and himself and his behavior really doesn't do him any favors.
In Eggers's version, one can easily see how each of these oversized animal creatures are aspects of himself and that the one he bonds most with initially terrifies him with his temper and his justification of committing acts Max feels are evil. Max grows because as he sees how hurtful his behavior can be in the way the monster Carol so demonstrates, he realizes he needs to change. However, at the end, there is still a part of me which wonders if he really will change now that mom has forgiven him and given him cake.
The story of this book and the essence of it has infiltrated the psyche of North American children anywhere. I just worry that kids may draw the wrong idea from it. That may be a little sensitive of me but I see so many kids who are rewarded for their poor choices. I'm glad Max made the journey..I'm glad Max realized the error of his ways...but I still don't think he deserved the cake at the end.
Favorite Quotes:
pg. 17 "Gary, his mom's boyfriend with a chin as soft as cake, sometimes came over early after work and napped on the couch. He stained any room he spilled himself into."
pg. 45 "Once there were some buildings. They were these huge buildings and they could walk. So one day they got up and they left the city. Then there were some vampires. The vampires wanted to make the buildings into vampires so they flew in and attacked them. They bit them. One of the vampires bit the tallest building but his fangs broke off. Then the rest of his teeth fell out. And he cried because he would never get new teeth again. And the other vampires said "Why are you crying, aren't those just your baby teeth?" "And the vampire said, "No, those are my grown up teeth." And the vampires knew he couldn't be a vampire anymore, s they left him. And he couldn't be friends with the buildings because the vampires had killed them all."
pg. 57 "Look on the bright side-you and everyone you know will be long gone by then! When the sun is extinguished and the world is swallowed like a grape by the collapsing fabric of space, we'll be long forgotten in the endless continuum of time. The human race is, after all, just a sign in the long sonorous sleep of this world and worlds to come."
pg. 65 "Max burst into the cold night and sped down the driveway. He had to think and he could only think while biking or building things, and he wanted to be biking, to think with the blood loudly filling his head."
pg. 150 "Have you ever been in a place that should feel good, but it feels out of control, like you're really small? Like where all the people are made out of wind, like you don't know what they're going to do next?
...
"This one time I went to my friend's house, and everyone in his family had these huge mouths but no ears. And where they were supposed to have ears they just had more mouths so they couldn't listen...And when you talked they couldn't even hear you. And all they would do all the time is eat and talk."
pg. 179 "But though Judith was skeptical of Douglas's account of the sounds underground, she didn't doubt the existence of the chatter. "Carol," she said, "When you heard it, did it ever sound like huffing?"
Carol was diplomatic. "I think it might have, somewhere down there. And it sounds different to different ears, of course. You might hear something more jagged and angry, Judith. It might be chatter specifically about you, and all the things you've done wrong. Ira might hear something open and hollow, like an empty, void-ish sound, the sound of a well with no bottom. They really know how to get to us."
pg. 260 "Just then, the first light of day split the darkness like a knife prying the sky from the earth. The white gumdrop sun broke the horizon and the birds began to gossip from the trees."
pg. 236 "He left the fort and wandered toward the sun, which was hovering low over the water like a mother over her children."
Show More
considering it stars Catherine Keener and there was an Arcade Fire song prominently featured on one of the trailers/previews for it. Lol, I'm a sucker for good music used in films.Anyhow, what I saw in the film dismayed me quite a bit because I work with children and some of the behavioral issues I see both in regular ed. and special ed. students is a result of really poor and inconsistent discipline from parents. Parents want to be friends to their kids instead of set limits and so when the child tantrums, the parents give in and the child continues to tantrum at school and becomes confused and angry when he/she cannot be given everything the heart desires from the teachers they encounter.
So, in the film version, when Max comes back after tantrumming and even biting his mom like a child raised by wolves instead of with a mother that cares about him, it's hard to feel sorry for him during his journey and trials of his imagination and it's hard to think he really deserves a hug and a piece of cake at the end of the film. It made me angry, even though I realized what I was supposed to feel is that Max had gone through some cathartic transformation and would mend the error of his ways. I still thought...he bit mom and ran away and he got cake for that...way to reward horrific behavior in your child!
Of course, from the perspective of a child myself reading the much smaller original version of the story, I remember thinking how imagination was such an amazing and powerful thing. I really loved the diversity of the characters and the drawings that are really essentially part of Max's imagination.
I had picked Eggers's book up at a discount as it was an overstock hardcover and I felt it was worth reading at some point, even though I disliked the film version. What piqued my interest recently was that the Autism classroom for younger students that I work in was reading the original version recently. One of the students is a little like Max but honestly it's difficult to tell if Max really has a disability or if he is just a more extreme melodramatic child. We all **hope** that Max will learn to control his own wavelength, self regulate his extreme emotions, and not have to depend on antidepressants to function in the real world as an adult. We all want Max to stay creative but just be nicer to the family around him. We all feel a little sad and disappointed when Max makes poor decisions and feel even worse about it when he realizes after the fact that what he did was wrong but couldn't stop himself. Max is exceptional and we all want him to stay that way but we'd like him to learn a few things that makes his interactions with other human beings less painful.
Essential what Eggers adds to this story is this very complexity. In the book, we see Max makes a few poor decisions then goes off to adventure land, comes back and all seems forgiven. In the novel version that Eggers creates, we see that Max is a little depressed about his own behavior and that the behavior and choices of others from his parents separating to his older sister deciding she's too cool to hang with him, to the science elementary teacher that tells him that the sun is going to burn out and die one day. All these things are pretty heavy to a young boy (or to anyone, really) but the way that Max chooses to deal with them is dishonest to others and himself and his behavior really doesn't do him any favors.
In Eggers's version, one can easily see how each of these oversized animal creatures are aspects of himself and that the one he bonds most with initially terrifies him with his temper and his justification of committing acts Max feels are evil. Max grows because as he sees how hurtful his behavior can be in the way the monster Carol so demonstrates, he realizes he needs to change. However, at the end, there is still a part of me which wonders if he really will change now that mom has forgiven him and given him cake.
The story of this book and the essence of it has infiltrated the psyche of North American children anywhere. I just worry that kids may draw the wrong idea from it. That may be a little sensitive of me but I see so many kids who are rewarded for their poor choices. I'm glad Max made the journey..I'm glad Max realized the error of his ways...but I still don't think he deserved the cake at the end.
Favorite Quotes:
pg. 17 "Gary, his mom's boyfriend with a chin as soft as cake, sometimes came over early after work and napped on the couch. He stained any room he spilled himself into."
pg. 45 "Once there were some buildings. They were these huge buildings and they could walk. So one day they got up and they left the city. Then there were some vampires. The vampires wanted to make the buildings into vampires so they flew in and attacked them. They bit them. One of the vampires bit the tallest building but his fangs broke off. Then the rest of his teeth fell out. And he cried because he would never get new teeth again. And the other vampires said "Why are you crying, aren't those just your baby teeth?" "And the vampire said, "No, those are my grown up teeth." And the vampires knew he couldn't be a vampire anymore, s they left him. And he couldn't be friends with the buildings because the vampires had killed them all."
pg. 57 "Look on the bright side-you and everyone you know will be long gone by then! When the sun is extinguished and the world is swallowed like a grape by the collapsing fabric of space, we'll be long forgotten in the endless continuum of time. The human race is, after all, just a sign in the long sonorous sleep of this world and worlds to come."
pg. 65 "Max burst into the cold night and sped down the driveway. He had to think and he could only think while biking or building things, and he wanted to be biking, to think with the blood loudly filling his head."
pg. 150 "Have you ever been in a place that should feel good, but it feels out of control, like you're really small? Like where all the people are made out of wind, like you don't know what they're going to do next?
...
"This one time I went to my friend's house, and everyone in his family had these huge mouths but no ears. And where they were supposed to have ears they just had more mouths so they couldn't listen...And when you talked they couldn't even hear you. And all they would do all the time is eat and talk."
pg. 179 "But though Judith was skeptical of Douglas's account of the sounds underground, she didn't doubt the existence of the chatter. "Carol," she said, "When you heard it, did it ever sound like huffing?"
Carol was diplomatic. "I think it might have, somewhere down there. And it sounds different to different ears, of course. You might hear something more jagged and angry, Judith. It might be chatter specifically about you, and all the things you've done wrong. Ira might hear something open and hollow, like an empty, void-ish sound, the sound of a well with no bottom. They really know how to get to us."
pg. 260 "Just then, the first light of day split the darkness like a knife prying the sky from the earth. The white gumdrop sun broke the horizon and the birds began to gossip from the trees."
pg. 236 "He left the fort and wandered toward the sun, which was hovering low over the water like a mother over her children."
Show Less
LibraryThing member Girl_Detective
I recently saw Spike Jonze’s "Where the Wild Things Are," and appreciated its complex, nuanced takes on the mother/son relationship and how baffling it is to be a child. When a friend recommended "The Wild Things" I was skeptical. I’m a book snob; we snobs don’t read movie novelizations. Yet
The book, like the movie, is an imaginative expansion of the popular, enduring children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Max is the spirited son of a single mother. He doesn’t like his mother’s new boyfriend, and his teenage sister has become distant and unkind. After a particularly violent outburst, he runs away and finds a boat.
On the island, Max meets the group of wild things, and becomes their king. As he gets to know the island and its denizens, though, he finds life as a wild thing is more difficult than he’d imagined.
If you liked the movie, you’ll likely appreciate the book, if you didn't care for the movie avoid this book. As with the movie, I enjoyed Max’s sojourn with the wild things more than I did the modern-world scenes at the beginning and end. The prose is simple and straightforward, and would be good for young readers of longer, non-illustrated chapter books. In places it hews closely to the movie but in others it departs. Overall it’s more of a collection of compelling scenes rather than a narrative with forward momentum. In the acks at the back, Eggers states it’s an amalgam of Sendak’s, Jones’ and his own childhood experiences.
As with all McSweeney’s books, it’s a striking edition with heavy paper, whether covered in illustrated cloth or fur.
Show More
this one is by Dave Eggers, editor of McSweeney’s, author of several books, co-founder of a national network of youth writing and tutoring centers, and co-author (with Jonze) of the film’s screenplay. It was part of a sale, so I was easily swayed and decided to give it a go.The book, like the movie, is an imaginative expansion of the popular, enduring children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Max is the spirited son of a single mother. He doesn’t like his mother’s new boyfriend, and his teenage sister has become distant and unkind. After a particularly violent outburst, he runs away and finds a boat.
On the island, Max meets the group of wild things, and becomes their king. As he gets to know the island and its denizens, though, he finds life as a wild thing is more difficult than he’d imagined.
If you liked the movie, you’ll likely appreciate the book, if you didn't care for the movie avoid this book. As with the movie, I enjoyed Max’s sojourn with the wild things more than I did the modern-world scenes at the beginning and end. The prose is simple and straightforward, and would be good for young readers of longer, non-illustrated chapter books. In places it hews closely to the movie but in others it departs. Overall it’s more of a collection of compelling scenes rather than a narrative with forward momentum. In the acks at the back, Eggers states it’s an amalgam of Sendak’s, Jones’ and his own childhood experiences.
As with all McSweeney’s books, it’s a striking edition with heavy paper, whether covered in illustrated cloth or fur.
Show Less
LibraryThing member librarybrandy
This may be the only time I'll ever say this, so listen closely:
The movie was better.
The writing here is very good, with some truly stand-out sentences, just what you'd expect from Eggers. But the book lacks the emotion of the movie: you don't get as full a sense of Max's out-of-control anger, or
I'm pretty sure this was written as a novelization of the screenplay, and (sadly) it shows.
The movie was better.
The writing here is very good, with some truly stand-out sentences, just what you'd expect from Eggers. But the book lacks the emotion of the movie: you don't get as full a sense of Max's out-of-control anger, or
Show More
his desperation. The rumpus feels a little flat. Carol's jealousy and temper don't feel as organic as they do in the movie.I'm pretty sure this was written as a novelization of the screenplay, and (sadly) it shows.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AmberTheHuman
I actually really don't like Dave Eggers - I found his "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" boastful and boring. But a friend of mine lent me this book, and I do like both the original book and the movie, so I thought I'd give it a shot. And, yeah, it was okay. It does a good job of
Show More
combining the original and the movie, letting you get into Max's head. It's clear that Eggers is still part child (not really a compliment, but it does work for him here). I dunno - if you liked the original and movie and Eggers doesn't drive you totally mad, may as well. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibleblaster
A gripping, important, true story about one family's experiences during Hurricane Katrina. I found the writing almost transparent, which was just what was called for in this case as the story itself is the thing. A frightening and inspiring view of what can/did happen in this country and what
Show More
should happen as we move forward. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibleblaster
Having not seen the movie, I was not sure what to expect of Eggers' novelization of a screenplay based on Maurice Sendak's classic children's book. Having read it, I'm not sure exactly what it is that I read. On one hand, it seemed like an unnecessary stretching out of Sendak's original. On the
Show More
other hand, it was held together by a psychological integrity and a dreamlike mythical quality. I don't know if I could recommend it. I'm glad I read it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
My library had this in adult fiction. Imo, it is not. The resonances, metaphors, and themes are accessible to children and other naive readers. They are not complex enough to engage me. Plus it's awfully short. The only thing I want to do now is reread, for the hundredth time, the original. I don't
Show More
feel a need to think about this anymore, nor do I have interest in the movie. Show Less
LibraryThing member Michael_Godfrey
As others have noted, Eggers has taken Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are beloved children's book and made of it a full length fantasy. For whom? Teen and adult readers I suspect, and it works masterfully. I needed an escape from some Real Life Issues™ and here was therapy indeed. No need for
Sadly it turned up in a remainders bin. It deserves a top shelf. I will (when I have the chance) read more Eggers.
Oh, by the way, somehow in the reviews that follow, his Zeitoun has become entangled with this book. I hope someone corrects it (then I'll delete this comment!).
Show More
spoilers, Eggers simply plays with Sendak's narrative, exploring, enlarging, fantasizing with it. He has a right to, knowing the children's book intimately, for he worked on the screenplay for it. He clearly loved and admired Sendak, and this is no spin off exploitation but a respectful homage to the wild things' creator. Sadly it turned up in a remainders bin. It deserves a top shelf. I will (when I have the chance) read more Eggers.
Oh, by the way, somehow in the reviews that follow, his Zeitoun has become entangled with this book. I hope someone corrects it (then I'll delete this comment!).
Show Less
LibraryThing member bpeters65
It was a good read. Gave some insight into Katrina disaster, but left me wanting more. Not wholly satisfying.
LibraryThing member rosechimera
Horrifying
LibraryThing member rosechimera
Horrifying
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2011)
Language
Original publication date
2009-10-13
Physical description
300 p.; 7.87 inches
ISBN
1934781614 / 9781934781616