BOOK: The Wild Things - David Eggers

Title: The Wild Things
Author: Dave Eggers
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 2009
Pages: Paperback, 279
Language: English
Rating: 7/10
Summary: Based on the children's book Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, this is David Eggers' interpretation of the story about a boy who runs away from home and ends up on an island full of monsters.

Spoilerfree review
After his debut A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius rocked my socks, I made it a habit to put any new book by David Eggers on my wishlist. I didn't find out The Wild Things wasn't an original new story until after I had seen the film 'Where The Wild Things Are'. I had never heard of the classic children's book that was based on; I went to see the film because of director Spike Jonze. It was a pleasant surprise he wrote the screenplay together with David.
This book is an adaptation of David's view on the screenplay, which is not quite the same as the final version of the film. David explains in his foreword how he probably projected his own experiences on the boy, just like Spike had done in the film.
I guess I would have enjoyed the book more if I hadn't seen the film, since the images and plot were still fresh on my mind when I started reading and now the scenes that weren't exactly as seen just didn't feel right. Combined with the unusual large letterfont in my edition, it made for a bit of an uncomfortable read, even if it was now easy to imagine the monsters.
Those creatures are clearly a metaphor of the boy's emotions; it's his way of dealing with his parents divorce and his teensister's struggle with puberty. But it doesn't matter whether the story is a dream, fantasy or reality; everybody will recognize feelings from their childhood. The story made me very curious about the original book, I will certainly try to find that.
I recommend the story, but if I had to choose between the film and David's book, I'd pick the film as my favorite version.