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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Page is a Stage, November 3, 2009
This review is from: Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation (Hardcover)
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Almost everyone is familiar with Maurice Sendak's Wild Things, but are you familiar with the inspirations behind the creative genius? In this masterfully crafted presentation, brilliant critic and author Gregory Maguire offers a unique analytical overview of the artwork that is signature Sendak. Maguire exudes an honest passion for Sendak's work: He carefully draws comparisons between the offerings of visual narrative masters of the 19th to early 20th century (i.e. Randolf Caldecott) with that of Sendak's visions. I myself didn't realize the extent of influence that the golden age illustrators and the theatrical presentations of the early 19th century had on Sendak's work. This revelation has elevated my appreciation for an elusive artist who forever transformed children's literature with his beloved 'Where the Wild Things Are'. We are also treated to brief glimpses of a man who is famously private and grouchy--yet depicts children with full emotional poignancy. "Most fundamental to Sendak's work, for over 50 years, is his trust in the emotions of children." (p. 95)
Sendak was not afraid to confine his drawings--often compacting his settings in a style that is reminiscent of a stage. He focused on the characters, their gesticulations, and the idea of transformation and transcendance. Much like the cluttered studio he apparently worked in, once at the drawing table, his creative oasis transformed into a magical forest filled with endless imagination. "The page is a stage" and this book does an excellent job providing page-turning enticements, revealing a broad spectrum of styles and techniques that Sendak explored over his lifetime. The book is written with a rehearsed scholastic tongue peppered with some heavy-handed language/references that may be off-putting for some. However, the visual streams are lyrical and entertaining, making this work a joy to peruse again and again.
Near the end of the book, Macquire cleverly asks us/himself: "What would I drag from a burning museum?" (if said museum housed an ouevre of Sendak's work). Though I agree with several of Maguire's 10 picks, there are others that I would have chosen for inclusion, making for a compelling debate/conversation. What would you choose? After poring over this delightful homage to one of the great children's book writer/illustrators, I would honestly have a hard time deciding.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loving tribute to a literary great, October 26, 2009
This review is from: Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation (Hardcover)
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Fans of both Sendak and Maguire will enjoy this retrospective. Relying heavily on Sendak's illustrations culled from across the lifetime of his work, the book is both intriguing and visually exciting. We see many samples of works that inspired the famous author accompanied by succinct and pithy commentary. I particularly liked Maguire's words at the beginning of chapter two on page 65, beginning with, "Children's lives are fiendishly hard." They are and we adults too often see only a rosy glow when we look backward. Books are essential for navigating the treacherous years - good books. Ones that offer more than white-washed platitudes and watered down stories filled with morals for this and that. Sendak has given us good books.
If you only glance at one part of this wonderful fan letter, let it be the re-telling of Where The Wild Things Are on pg 154. An incredibly moving ending to this wonderful book.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A personal look at the deconstruction of a very wild thing..., November 4, 2009
This review is from: Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation (Hardcover)
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I'm of two minds dueling when it comes to Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation. On the one hand, Gregory Maguire has put together an amazingly thoughtful look at Sendak's art through illumination of his influences and homages. The book is a very insightful one-sided conversation that seeks to deconstruct and learn from the oeuvre of an artist. It opens the topic of how artists communicate with each other subconsciously through their work with borrowed imagery, casting, and outright theft (by hook or by crook.) On the other hand it reads very much like (I imagine) the presentation it originated as during a symposium that also included Sendak's May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture at MIT. It doesn't seek to be authoritative, instead it's only Maguire's impressions and observations, and because of this is feels sort of like half a book. It's very subjective and in a way it pushes Sendak as the subject out of the books focus and pulls Maguire's own observations into the spotlight.
My first impression of Maguire's Sendak Appreciation is tinged with a bit of frustration in that it's yet another example of a trend in publishing these days that tends to irk me, repurposing. The first chapter reads like an extended apology, absolving the writer for his choice of focus and perspective; deciding to cover Sendak's body of as a whole, his influences, and considering a through-line or encompassing theme, yet also deciding to ignore much of what's already been written about the man's work. Maguire chose instead to stick to his own revelations and the connections he made to others' art, which is an interesting and personal approach for the presentation/talk he gave at MIT. Making Mischief is derived from that presentation, and in this repurposing it suffers a bit in its own indulgence. This sort of approach to looking at Sendak's art seems like it would work best as one part of a larger retrospective, and granted there are other books out there that this volume helps complete (in terms of broad appreciation of Sendak.) But as a stand alone it feels very much like one piece of a larger work.
Again, I don't want to understate the fact that what is presented is insightful; it's a terribly interesting read and is beautifully illustrated with a lot of rare art, but if you're looking for a book that gives a nice overview of Maurice Sendak's artistic career you'll be left wanting. For devoted fans of Sendak's work, I'd highly suggest picking up this volume, but for those new to examining the man's work I'd suggest starting with The Art of Maurice Sendak (v. 1).
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