Regarding the phrase that kicks off the Wild Rumpus
by Josh Kimball
I am no Dave Eggers apologist and I never have been. In fact, my regard for Eggers normally hovers somewhere near my feelings about Bono, black mead and the online zine Slate. Which is to say: not my bag.
However, I can’t but take issue with this particular criticism from Tom Scocca of the Awl, leveled at Eggers’ “Where the Wild Things Are” screenplay adaptation:
Tom Scocca: Sendak: “And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start.”
Tom Scocca: Eggers: Blah blah blah blah the beasts gathered around blah blah blah Max understood that he was supposed to say something blah blah blah “Let the wild rumpus begin!”
Tom Scocca: I would say that the difference between that crisp “start” and Eggers’ flaccid “begin” defines everything that could be said about the literary gap between the two, except I am also fixated on “understood that he was supposed to say something,” which is essentially the epigram and epitaph for the literary imagination of Dave Eggers.
Disregarding the “understood that he was supposed to say something” part (which is fine and all), I respectfully submit that Scocca’s preference of “start” rather than “begin” is just plain wrong. So wrong that it nearly drives me stark-raving mad. So wrong that I cannot begin on, much less buy, the rest of the argument.
*In fact: Said word choice pays no attention to how the entire line scans.
*In fact: To call “start” crisp because it’s a single-syllable word with an alvealor final phonetic is somewhat acceptable, but it ignores completely the two-syllable rhythm setup of “rumpus” – along with the rest of the phrase. “Let the frat bash start!” MAYBE. But the opening of the original line makes “start” not a “crisp” choice, but an abrupt one.
(I have read this thing aloud thousands of times, and after so many readings, chinks in prose become apparent. Don’t get me started on “Hide ‘N Seek Elmo.”)
*Furthermore: One does not let something start. Starting is to move suddenly. It is to throw into motion. Begin, on the other hand, means “to do the first part of an action.” If you are “letting,” then you are beginning. If you are starting, you’re starting. CHRIST.
In summation, if there’s one worthy thing Eggers did in his screenplay (and please note that I have not yet seen the film, so I have no real judgement on it), it is to right the decades-old wrong that was “Let the Wild Rumpus start.” Which is awful. I will apostatically add that some of the prose in those “Little Bear” books is really wonky, too. In a bad way; not just weird, bad.
(Also, I love the Awl. In general. But not on this. Goodbye.)
“Start” ends with a voiceless plosive, “begin” ends with a voiced nasal; I’d definitely suggest that the former is more crisp.
“Begin” puts a 2 syllable word into a phrase that before only contained one 2 syllable word. It distracts from the awesomeness that is the word “rumpus.”
“Begin” does not take into account the awkward voice of a power-drunk adolescent, it sounds more like a douchey wizard or something.
I have too much time on my hands.
We can agree to disagree about the crispness of it. If anything, my point that it was TOO crisp.
And how about the LETTING something START part?
I have no doubts about being right on this question, despite my inability to articulate my position.
Regards.
Can’t we all just be happy that the plural form of rumpus (rumpuses) has already been worked out? No need to go into battle against the forces of “rumpi,” gentlemen!
…and thanks for using “wonky,” a fave of mine. My hero! I employed it in a tribute to my dog, who is coincidentally named Max.
http://startlingmoniker.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/maxthedog/
In my informal poll of 12 people.
9 Remembered the line ” let the wild Rumpus, Begin!”
2 Never read the book and only saw the trailer.
1 “just read it for the first time” and had to look it up after I asked the question.
Begin is just right because it is “just right.”
You almost never hear a sentence ending in start. However “begin” appears at the end of sentences all the time.
“let us begin, you may begin, Where should we begin? And so it begins”
Stressing the BE in begin adds drama to the line.
And as for crispness, begin, is crisp like biting into an apple the snap of that first bight and then the sweetness. “Start” is crisp like burnt toast.