October 23rd, 2009 / 7:54 pm
Snippets
Snippets
Ken Baumann—
Max decided to go for a quick bike ride before dinner. He was going to tell his mom he was leaving, but then didn’t, oh well. She was busy with Gary anyway. Gary, her chinless boyfriend, was lounging on the couch, drinking red wine and watching one of those ludicrous musicals. Every night was some musical. Disgusting, untrue, wrong in every way.
first paragraph from an excerpt from the Where The Wild Things Are novel by Dave Eggers.
that is surprisingly bad
that is surprisingly bad
horrible, is it supposed to be a YA novel???
Also, Mark Ruffalo has a chin.
horrible, is it supposed to be a YA novel???
Also, Mark Ruffalo has a chin.
Yeah, this is not good.
Yeah, this is not good.
The movie, I’m happy to say, is nowhere near this level of bad.
The movie, I’m happy to say, is nowhere near this level of bad.
This makes me so very, very sad
This makes me so very, very sad
That sure is some shit covered business card.
The movie is pretty bad.
That sure is some shit covered business card.
The movie is pretty bad.
come on kidz
Speaking as someone who defends/loves the film:
WTF?
come on kidz
Speaking as someone who defends/loves the film:
WTF?
Was this really necessary? A novel? Ugh.
Was this really necessary? A novel? Ugh.
Times two.
Times two.
Maurice Sendak should be left alone. This borders on sacrilege. This is worse than Austen redux. The only time something like this has ever worked for me is the Jane Eyre prequel by Jean Rhys “Wide Sargasso Sea”.
Maurice Sendak should be left alone. This borders on sacrilege. This is worse than Austen redux. The only time something like this has ever worked for me is the Jane Eyre prequel by Jean Rhys “Wide Sargasso Sea”.
“Nowhere near this level of bad”? The movie is GOOD. Just say that.
“Nowhere near this level of bad”? The movie is GOOD. Just say that.
i don’t know how sendak feels about the novelization, but he told parents that don’t like the film to go to hell and said they’re kids can go wet their pants.
i liked the movie.
i thought it was funny that people walked out of it.
i don’t know.
i have mixed feelings about eggers as a writer.
but i like the believer, i think mcsweeney’s makes incredible book objects, and i think that 826 national is amazing, and that what he is doing for writing and literacy with the youth of america is amazing.
and yeah, sure, it could be everywhere, but. i don’t know. these are my thoughts. i am sharing them.
i don’t know how sendak feels about the novelization, but he told parents that don’t like the film to go to hell and said they’re kids can go wet their pants.
i liked the movie.
i thought it was funny that people walked out of it.
i don’t know.
i have mixed feelings about eggers as a writer.
but i like the believer, i think mcsweeney’s makes incredible book objects, and i think that 826 national is amazing, and that what he is doing for writing and literacy with the youth of america is amazing.
and yeah, sure, it could be everywhere, but. i don’t know. these are my thoughts. i am sharing them.
I also have mixed feelings about Eggers as a writer. I liked “A Heartbreaking Work…” as a memoir. I mean, jeez, the guy lost both his parents to cancer, he took on the raising of his little brother. The book was very quick and raw, everything was on the surface. Also, I live in Berkeley, pass Black Pine Circle all the time, know the neighborhoods he wrote about. My boyfriend grew up in Lake Forest, as did Eggers. My father grew up in Northbrook. Therefore the North Shore Chicago scenes were familiar to me too. So much of “A Heartbreaking…” felt familiar to me. I just used the word “familiar” in two consecutive sentences.
The Believer rocks, and I like McSweeney’s, although it is sometimes weak, IMO. The pirate store, eh, but they DO have a great book selection if you feel like buying something and you don’t need an eye patch or rope. It is definitely worth a visit. Eggers’ TED talk about the pirate store is warm and funny. “Here We Go” sucked, I could not watch the whole thing. Eggers does have cool hair.
I applied for an internship at McSweeney’s once but didn’t get it. I think my cover letter was too “over the top”. In my cover letter I told them my cover letter should be published in McSweeney’s. Maybe they didn’t like that.
I am also a big, big fan of his “Non-Required Reading” series.
When folks on HTML GIANT were discussing who should win the Nobel Prize for literature a few weeks ago someone mentioned that Eggers, maybe, should win. At the time I felt compelled to comment back (although I didn’t, in fact) that there was no way Eggers was at all near/ready for the prize, and probably would never win it for Literature, but that maybe, just maybe, he could win the Peace Prize some day if 826 and his literacy work with young people some day “went international”. It is this work for which I admire him most.
I am much more “attached”, emotionally and otherwise, to Sendak’s work. I could, at points in my life, recite by heart “Where The Wild Things Are”, “In The Night Kitchen”, “Alligators All Around”, “One Was Johnny”, ” Chicken Soup with Rice” and the one about “Pierre” (“Pierre”?) I’m workin’ from memory here. For me personally “Where The Wild Things Are” should absolutely not be novelized, (it’s mine, mine, mine) and I will never read “it”.
I like Spike Jonze’s work and AM interested in seeing the movie “Where The Wild…”. I am trying to keep an open mind until I do. I’ve been struggling a bit with the thought that a movie of “Where The Wild Things Are” “seems okay” while a novelization most definitely is not, but maybe it’s the difference in medium that makes it “okay”?
I also have mixed feelings about Eggers as a writer. I liked “A Heartbreaking Work…” as a memoir. I mean, jeez, the guy lost both his parents to cancer, he took on the raising of his little brother. The book was very quick and raw, everything was on the surface. Also, I live in Berkeley, pass Black Pine Circle all the time, know the neighborhoods he wrote about. My boyfriend grew up in Lake Forest, as did Eggers. My father grew up in Northbrook. Therefore the North Shore Chicago scenes were familiar to me too. So much of “A Heartbreaking…” felt familiar to me. I just used the word “familiar” in two consecutive sentences.
The Believer rocks, and I like McSweeney’s, although it is sometimes weak, IMO. The pirate store, eh, but they DO have a great book selection if you feel like buying something and you don’t need an eye patch or rope. It is definitely worth a visit. Eggers’ TED talk about the pirate store is warm and funny. “Here We Go” sucked, I could not watch the whole thing. Eggers does have cool hair.
I applied for an internship at McSweeney’s once but didn’t get it. I think my cover letter was too “over the top”. In my cover letter I told them my cover letter should be published in McSweeney’s. Maybe they didn’t like that.
I am also a big, big fan of his “Non-Required Reading” series.
When folks on HTML GIANT were discussing who should win the Nobel Prize for literature a few weeks ago someone mentioned that Eggers, maybe, should win. At the time I felt compelled to comment back (although I didn’t, in fact) that there was no way Eggers was at all near/ready for the prize, and probably would never win it for Literature, but that maybe, just maybe, he could win the Peace Prize some day if 826 and his literacy work with young people some day “went international”. It is this work for which I admire him most.
I am much more “attached”, emotionally and otherwise, to Sendak’s work. I could, at points in my life, recite by heart “Where The Wild Things Are”, “In The Night Kitchen”, “Alligators All Around”, “One Was Johnny”, ” Chicken Soup with Rice” and the one about “Pierre” (“Pierre”?) I’m workin’ from memory here. For me personally “Where The Wild Things Are” should absolutely not be novelized, (it’s mine, mine, mine) and I will never read “it”.
I like Spike Jonze’s work and AM interested in seeing the movie “Where The Wild…”. I am trying to keep an open mind until I do. I’ve been struggling a bit with the thought that a movie of “Where The Wild Things Are” “seems okay” while a novelization most definitely is not, but maybe it’s the difference in medium that makes it “okay”?
THEIR kids. what the fuck. goddamit. fuck.
THEIR kids. what the fuck. goddamit. fuck.
Spike Jonze did a great job.
Not a knock on Eggers or anything, because I like the guy for pretty much the same reasons you do, but I heard somewhere that his sister felt really betrayed by “A Heartbreaking…” because he used her diary to write it basically and something something she committed suicide? I heard that from someone else. I could Wikipedia that information right now but I don’t really feel like it. I could be horribly wrong. Plus, if she did commit suicide, she lost both her parents at the same time and it’s probably not all Eggers’ fault, if at all. Eggers does lots of good things otherwise, good things he doesn’t have to do. I agree that he’s a long way from the Nobel Prize for literature. Sometimes his writing is a bit too “Hey! Hey! Pretty clever? Pretty edgy?” for my tastes but I think the above novel excerpt is better than that first paragraph implies.
Here is my opinion on the WTWTA “adaptations”:
Original book = 2009 Movie (they are so different, and both very good, so it’s hard to put one over the other, but I don’t have the “history” with the original that you have) > > > The Eggers YA novel (based on the excerpt). But if the novel helped develop the movie (seems like it, based on what I’ve read) than who cares, because it’s worth it.
Spike Jonze did a great job.
Not a knock on Eggers or anything, because I like the guy for pretty much the same reasons you do, but I heard somewhere that his sister felt really betrayed by “A Heartbreaking…” because he used her diary to write it basically and something something she committed suicide? I heard that from someone else. I could Wikipedia that information right now but I don’t really feel like it. I could be horribly wrong. Plus, if she did commit suicide, she lost both her parents at the same time and it’s probably not all Eggers’ fault, if at all. Eggers does lots of good things otherwise, good things he doesn’t have to do. I agree that he’s a long way from the Nobel Prize for literature. Sometimes his writing is a bit too “Hey! Hey! Pretty clever? Pretty edgy?” for my tastes but I think the above novel excerpt is better than that first paragraph implies.
Here is my opinion on the WTWTA “adaptations”:
Original book = 2009 Movie (they are so different, and both very good, so it’s hard to put one over the other, but I don’t have the “history” with the original that you have) > > > The Eggers YA novel (based on the excerpt). But if the novel helped develop the movie (seems like it, based on what I’ve read) than who cares, because it’s worth it.
Andre’ – You are correct about his sister. There is info about all this online that you can read if you want. I chose not to mention it in my above comment because 1) it is so very sad and 2) it has no bearing on how I feel about WTWTA.
I do think that Eggers “cares” very deeply and that much of what he does is to both “redeem” himself and “do good in the world” by “spreading the love” re: writing. To find meaning and purpose after real-life tragedy.
I will watch the movie at some point.
Andre’ – You are correct about his sister. There is info about all this online that you can read if you want. I chose not to mention it in my above comment because 1) it is so very sad and 2) it has no bearing on how I feel about WTWTA.
I do think that Eggers “cares” very deeply and that much of what he does is to both “redeem” himself and “do good in the world” by “spreading the love” re: writing. To find meaning and purpose after real-life tragedy.
I will watch the movie at some point.