This is Sendak's last book, and for those of us who are aging, maybe it's his most powerful and moving, like nothing else, in many ways, than he had done before, as far as I know. It's a children's book in the way that Blake's Songs of Innocence is a children's book, essentially about life-long grief and longing to see again his brother, who died when he was young. It's very complex, something that is more all ages, like those old Warners Brothers cartoons that you can enjoy at 7 and in a different way at 17, and 27, etc. This story is based in part on a tale from within Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, one of his later plays, and has paintings Sendak does to accompany the story that are kind of amazing, reminiscent of Blake, actually. I maybe love most and am most affected by it because it is story of lifelong grief and longing for the possibility of meeting his brother again "on the other side," that's what's so powerfully affecting, that it is so personal, of course, and raw. And I love the layering of the play and the poetry in arcane, older English. The poetry is not warm, the story is not obviously likable, and the paintings are not obviously child-oriented, at least compared to most silly children's books. This aims high, and maybe aims to Sendak readers across the decades. But I thought it was awesome and powerfully affecting, that he did it, and feels that so powerfully even as he faces death. So cool on the surface, so not for all of us, and yet so raw and personal and kind of universal in that we can all come to understand the deeper project on various levels. It's not our book, it's his brother's book, which is at first kind of a mundane title for such a poetic, kind of erudite project. But then you see that's it's perfect. He uses poetry and drama and ancient mythic stories and a magical pairing style to help us see his brother and how he feels about him and those days together. I bet there are many family memories in this book, that only he and his brother, or maybe his family would get.Read Adam's review for a fascinating connection between Sendak and Stephen Colbert, who also lost a brother at an early age… Moving connection. Completed before his death, this book is Sendak’s tribute to his late brother. In this other-worldly tale, Sendak explores the pain of losing others in a masterful, new, and spell-binding way. Once in an interview Maurice Sendak said, “There is no such thing as fantasy unrelated to reality.” This truth is nowhere more beautifully shown than this puzzling, small, and challenging life-narrative.
What do You think about My Brothers Book (2000)?
I sort of feel like I'm not awake enough to quite grasp this book...
—Varsha
