http://heliologue.com/2010/01/25/the-wild-things/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:33:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://heliologue.com/2010/01/25/the-wild-things/#comment-186852 Ben Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:55:28 +0000 http://heliologue.com/?p=4886#comment-186852 To be fair, I think Sendak himself turned a 10-page children's book into a clever allegory of a young boy slowly grappling with empathy and self reflection. Eggers simply gave it more dimensions. To be fair, I think Sendak himself turned a 10-page children’s book into a clever allegory of a young boy slowly grappling with empathy and self reflection. Eggers simply gave it more dimensions.

]]> http://heliologue.com/2010/01/25/the-wild-things/#comment-186831 Brady Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:16:02 +0000 http://heliologue.com/?p=4886#comment-186831 Eggers' evolution continues to amaze me. AHWoSG was highly enjoyable for, but I am part of the demographic that could appreciate his arrogant, intellectual PoMo hipsterism. I could easily see why a person would not like it. Especially given the tone of a lot of McSweeney's stuff, I thought he'd pretty much occupy that niche as long as he could. But, as you've mentioned, he hasn't. This pseudobiographical genre he's shifted to is not only better writing- it shows greater maturity and humility, as well as having a broader mass appeal. <em>Wild Things</em> wasn't his best work, but it showed a canny understanding of a young boy's mind, when most authors would choose to make their child characters overly precocious to avoid the challenge of finding a believable voice for them. Not only that, but he turn a 10 page children's book into a clever allegory of a young boy slowly grappling with empathy and self-reflection, even if he doesn't openly recognize it. Eggers’ evolution continues to amaze me. AHWoSG was highly enjoyable for, but I am part of the demographic that could appreciate his arrogant, intellectual PoMo hipsterism. I could easily see why a person would not like it. Especially given the tone of a lot of McSweeney’s stuff, I thought he’d pretty much occupy that niche as long as he could. But, as you’ve mentioned, he hasn’t. This pseudobiographical genre he’s shifted to is not only better writing- it shows greater maturity and humility, as well as having a broader mass appeal. Wild Things wasn’t his best work, but it showed a canny understanding of a young boy’s mind, when most authors would choose to make their child characters overly precocious to avoid the challenge of finding a believable voice for them. Not only that, but he turn a 10 page children’s book into a clever allegory of a young boy slowly grappling with empathy and self-reflection, even if he doesn’t openly recognize it.

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