Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book: Where The Wild Things Are
I've always known about the famous book title, heard about it in some shape or form, seen the film poster, admired the cover illustrations, but never actually read the original and understood why it was such an important work in the world of children's literature. I supposed I never really experienced it as a child either, and I never will. The scarce memories of books I remember being very prominent was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Rainbow Fish.
Of course. revisiting children's books as an adult is a completely contrasting experience. It is a different sense of delight, an urge to dig deeper in the author's simple, happy-toned choice of words. What separates Where The Wild Things Are from the other two are, well, I feel like it can easily be seen as a book for adults as it can be for children. The first time I read through it there was an unsettling feeling- wasn't sure if it was the eerie illustrations or sudden phrases that just seem dark, 'we'll eat you up - we love you so!' The way Max repeated what his mother (unseen throughout the book) did to him - sent the wild things off to bed 'without their supper' made me question what reality he was living. It must have impacted him significantly if this single action is repeated in his journey in the land of the wild things. This brought me to start to read some analysis on the book online. I discover that some say that the wild things represent his anger...
... and I understood instantly why this children's book have fascinated readers for decades. The best children's books are ones that convey messages, almost like a foreshadowing of lessons to come in their life onwards. However almost all children's literature have a moral to them to learn from. Rainbow Fish teaches children it's okay, in fact its magnificent to be different. The Very Hungry Caterpillar introduces children to the concept of the butterfly life stages from the hungry caterpillar to the beautiful butterfly. What makes makes Sendak's work stand out, to me at least, is the very difficult topic of controlling and dealing with Anger, in a way that young children can understand. Anger is an emotion that can get out of control in a single moment - like fire blazing through a forest - and it emerges all the way back in the timeline of life, even from a baby. It's dangerous - it's contagious - it can ignite an unhealthy spark that can consume you. I've been taught that in my Buddhist religion that you should never get angry. You have to let that fire die out. Otherwise all your peace, your good positive wholesome feelings in you will be burned out as well. Then what are you left with?
Personally, I am not someone who gets angry a lot. I can get angry and frustrated with myself, sure, but with others it takes particularly annoying situations to ignite that scary spark. When I do get angry though, I feel as though I am trying to drown that fire by swallowing it down. So on the outside, I don't show much emotion, because if I do, it will all come spilling out like a deadly waterfall. So I don't say anything. Only when I am forced. I shut down. and people around me get uncomfortable because they clearly know something is wrong. But nothing you say to me will do a thing. The only way for me to move forward is to exit the situation, spend some time to myself, let go and forget about the matter. Block that memory out. I do a lot of memory blocking because life is Too Short to hold on to negative things, don't you agree? There is too much negativity in the world in general, which is why I try to spread positivity, especially online. It is ironic since I feel like I am always painting out my negative feelings, but that is a sort of outlet for me, I feel like paintings are far more fascinating if there is a shadow of hellish feelings under an optimistic work.
Anyway, that shut-down situation did happen to me several months ago, in 2017 (what a year, I've been thinking about the year a lot and digging up memories that make me feel certain things, like friendship, but more on that later) I wasn't exactly angry, I was just in a situation where I was rather uncomfortable. It wasn't even a drastic situation either, it was a friendly invitation to my friend and roommate's Buddhist temple festival day.
(selective mutism)
I've always known about the famous book title, heard about it in some shape or form, seen the film poster, admired the cover illustrations, but never actually read the original and understood why it was such an important work in the world of children's literature. I supposed I never really experienced it as a child either, and I never will. The scarce memories of books I remember being very prominent was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Rainbow Fish.
Of course. revisiting children's books as an adult is a completely contrasting experience. It is a different sense of delight, an urge to dig deeper in the author's simple, happy-toned choice of words. What separates Where The Wild Things Are from the other two are, well, I feel like it can easily be seen as a book for adults as it can be for children. The first time I read through it there was an unsettling feeling- wasn't sure if it was the eerie illustrations or sudden phrases that just seem dark, 'we'll eat you up - we love you so!' The way Max repeated what his mother (unseen throughout the book) did to him - sent the wild things off to bed 'without their supper' made me question what reality he was living. It must have impacted him significantly if this single action is repeated in his journey in the land of the wild things. This brought me to start to read some analysis on the book online. I discover that some say that the wild things represent his anger...
... and I understood instantly why this children's book have fascinated readers for decades. The best children's books are ones that convey messages, almost like a foreshadowing of lessons to come in their life onwards. However almost all children's literature have a moral to them to learn from. Rainbow Fish teaches children it's okay, in fact its magnificent to be different. The Very Hungry Caterpillar introduces children to the concept of the butterfly life stages from the hungry caterpillar to the beautiful butterfly. What makes makes Sendak's work stand out, to me at least, is the very difficult topic of controlling and dealing with Anger, in a way that young children can understand. Anger is an emotion that can get out of control in a single moment - like fire blazing through a forest - and it emerges all the way back in the timeline of life, even from a baby. It's dangerous - it's contagious - it can ignite an unhealthy spark that can consume you. I've been taught that in my Buddhist religion that you should never get angry. You have to let that fire die out. Otherwise all your peace, your good positive wholesome feelings in you will be burned out as well. Then what are you left with?
Personally, I am not someone who gets angry a lot. I can get angry and frustrated with myself, sure, but with others it takes particularly annoying situations to ignite that scary spark. When I do get angry though, I feel as though I am trying to drown that fire by swallowing it down. So on the outside, I don't show much emotion, because if I do, it will all come spilling out like a deadly waterfall. So I don't say anything. Only when I am forced. I shut down. and people around me get uncomfortable because they clearly know something is wrong. But nothing you say to me will do a thing. The only way for me to move forward is to exit the situation, spend some time to myself, let go and forget about the matter. Block that memory out. I do a lot of memory blocking because life is Too Short to hold on to negative things, don't you agree? There is too much negativity in the world in general, which is why I try to spread positivity, especially online. It is ironic since I feel like I am always painting out my negative feelings, but that is a sort of outlet for me, I feel like paintings are far more fascinating if there is a shadow of hellish feelings under an optimistic work.
Anyway, that shut-down situation did happen to me several months ago, in 2017 (what a year, I've been thinking about the year a lot and digging up memories that make me feel certain things, like friendship, but more on that later) I wasn't exactly angry, I was just in a situation where I was rather uncomfortable. It wasn't even a drastic situation either, it was a friendly invitation to my friend and roommate's Buddhist temple festival day.
(selective mutism)