Filling out the storyline of Maurice Sendak’s childhood book
Where the Wild Things Are is an uphill battle from page one. The
original book is less than 20 sentences and owes its success to vivid
illustrations that leave the plot almost entirely to imagination. Dave
Eggers’ The Wild Things, written on Sendak’s suggestion, is a
281-page adventure that removes the reader’s imaginative powers. Eggers
is talented at writing from a child’s ever-shifting perspective, and
captures the futility of protagonist Max’s reign as king over the
island’s monsters when monster Carol says, “Go ahead Max, tell them
your plan to make everything better for everyone always for all time.”
Still, I’d rather live my own interpretation of Sendak’s world than hop
on a boat and sail to Eggers’.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2009.
