A Review of "The Wild Things' by Dave Eggers (Audio Book)

 "Loosely based on Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book Where the Wild Things Are, Dave Eggers's novel follows the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can't control.  His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, and his sister is becoming a teenager.  At the same time, he finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness: he wears a wolf suit and he bites his mom.  During a fight at home, 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 becomes their king.  But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them."

I didn't really read Maurice Sendak when I was a kid (my grandma thought 'Where the Wild Things Are' was too scary for us when we were in daycare, which, for me, was between six months of age and eighth grade... yep.  That just happened).  I was more of an 'Arthur' person.

Any way, once I did get a chance to read the original children's book and saw the movie that was based on both the original and this book, but mostly this book, I was in love.  So when I went to the big library in my city, I did a silent squeal and a happy dance because I loved the movie so much and I really wanted to read the adapted book that the movie was based on.

Max was a lot more wild in this book than the original, but I think that's mainly because Dave Eggers had more time to develop this story further.  It really worked for this book.  Dave Eggers did a great job considering how limiting adapting a children's book for teens and adults can be.  He created a world that I cared about and I really cared about Max as the story carried on and he was dealing with the Wild Things.

It was a little difficult to listen as Max tried to rule over the Wild Things and have to deal with an assortment of really strong and immutable personalities.  One Wild Thing didn't like sailing, two of them hated each other with a passion (they each hated when Max went off with the other).

This is about a boy who struggles to make sense of and master the world at such a young age.  To me, this book says that it's impossible to control everything, especially when you're young and don't understand things as adults do.

Overall, this was a very well-written, imaginative completion of Maurice Sendak's original children's story.

I give 'The Wild Things':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude