Daniel Pinkwaters novel The Boy from Mars - Essay Example

Daniel Pinkwater’s 1979 novel The Boy from Mars is a novel that tells the story of a portly kid d Leonard Neeble who moves to his new home West Kangaroo Park and goes in his new school where he suffers greatly from other boys. Nevertheless, he was able to find a friend in the person of Alan Mendelsohn who is revealed to be a Martian at the end of the story. Both characters encounter what is seemingly unreal experience which included learning the “Klugarsh Mind Control”, trying to achieve the mental state known as "State Twenty-Six", learning how to travel through different planes of existence through a Japanese-English dictionary and going into an alternate dimension called Waka Waka where they toppled a cruel government by making them take off their hats and rub their bellies. Neeble then learns that Alan is actually a Martian whose family is stranded on Earth. In the end, Alan returns to Mars and Leonard returns to school better able to make friends with other students who have been dismissed by the snobs. Microsoft Encarta (2006) defines Art as the “product of creative human activity in which materials are shaped or selected to convey an idea, emotion, or visually interesting form. In this sense, The Boy from Mars takes the form of an art of using rogues gallery of oddballs and outcasts to underpin the silliness of day-to-day life all the while enabling the reader to connect and appreciate their own shortcomings and difficulties with the misfits of the characters. This is typical of Daniel Pinkwater who uses characters from the always-awkward early teen years which each of us must have surely undergone. Pinkwater’s characters evoke sympathy because everyone has some experience of alienation and difficulty from junior high school. Readers find some part of their selves with Leonard and Alan. The most evident thing about The Boy from Mars is its goofy sense of humor where much of it is derived from a childlike delight in inherently absurd events such as the Mind Control and Dimensional travel. Bizzarre place names or background characters, like the town of Hogboro or the Clarence Yinbonji find their way in the story and into the hearts and minds of children and adults alike. Another source of humor is absurd juxtapositions of the mundane and fantastic such as dictionaries as gateways to other dimensions and toppling the dictators governing the people there. Also notable is the puncturing of authority which is shown by the representation of adults as pretentious bufons in Pinkwaters world. In the story, the occult bookseller Samuel Klugarsh then the Venusian motorcyclist Clarence Yojimbo are first admired by the storys heroes, but soon prove less clever, honest, and resourceful than themselves. The Boy from Mars presents a bizarre otherworld where common and seemingly irrelevant misfits find themselves important and significant and projects the notion that the life we live in is just a pale representation of the real, weird world. What is very artistic in the piece is the use of characters and events that seems to fit perfectly blend to capture the mind of anyone who believes that the world must be weirder than it appears to be. The master of making the absurd seem perfectly normal that he is, Pinkwater opens readers eyes to the inherent strangeness around us. Daniel Pinkwater is very much renowned for his irreverent sensibility as well as his wit to skewer his targets and The Boy from Mars is one such expression of the man’s childish ingenuity. His literary style is that of a parody which is treating a serious work in a lighter mood. Indeed, one can see that this particular composition of Daniel Pinkwater is a parody of detective stories, horror stories, adventure tales, science-fiction and young adult "problem" novels. What is artistic in The Boy from Mars is the way it is able to make the reader appreciate a ‘nonsensical’ piece and make sense of it. It is nonsensical because the events that occur in the story are far from being possible and there is no logical progression of events. Who would have thought that Alan was the Martian? How was it possible for Alan and Leonard to be both in the Bermuda Triangle Chili Parlor? Who would have expected that the Japanese-English dictionary was a gateway to another dimension? Who would have thought that the mind control really had some purpose? While the piece is mainly for children’s delight, many adults and critical reviewers alike have become fond of the work. Many critics have considered Pinkwater to be a masterful humorist whose compositions are both accurate assessments and inspired nonsense which makes him especially popular with young people. Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Susan B. Madden (1982), for example, enthusiastically considers this "particular wonderfully titled piece of nonsense is the best of all. . . . As is typical with Pinkwater, the wit pinpoints some very real adolescent concerns and feelings." Writing for the New York Times Book Review, Peter Andrews (1979) considers Pinkwater as "rightly praised as a childrens author who does not treat his audience as if they are little darlings." Perhaps it is this characteristic of The Boy from Mars to be a children’s story and still have some inklings of an adult discussion that makes the story so artistic. The story may be discussing adult topics such as repressive governments, dimensional travel and interplanetary travel but it is full of puns, nonsense words, one-liners, vivid imagery, and allusions to other books (some of them his food, and popular culture) that makes it so amusing and childlike. Yet it seems that the use of deadpan tone by the author belies the outlandishness and wild humour of his stories. Still, the inclusion of the surprise twist of Alan at the end of the story suggests playfulness and exuberance as well as for the color and vitality of his characterizations. This novel of Daniel Pinkwater novels invariably pounce on the weirdness that underpins everyday life but in spite of the seeming wackiness and childishness of Alan Mendelsohn: The Boy from Mars can also be seriously taken as a fable about liberating power of fantasy. Here in the story, the characters are able to cope better with a mundane and deadening world by entering into one of excitement where they are included and admired. (Landsberg, 1987) All in all, it is the ability of the story to be childish and absurd and still generate fondness from adults that makes it so artistic. It is in this regard that I agree with Silvey (1995) who said that Alan Mendelsohn: The Boy from Mars is "that rarity, a childrens fantasy that is truly contemporary in sensibility as well as setting. Its funny, [and] properly paranoid, shot through with bad puns and sweet absurdities." It seems a little wacky and the storys details are sometimes downright bonkers but it captivates the mind of everyone and that is truly an art. References: Madden, Susan (1982). Review of Alan Mendelsohn: The Boy from Mars. US: Voice of Youth Advocates Publications. Andrews, Peter (1979). "The Fantastic Mr. Pinkwater". New York Times Book Review. April 29, 1979. Pinkwater, Daniel (1979). Alan Mendelsohn: The Boy from Mars. E.P. Duttons: U.S. Silvey, Anita (1995). Childrens Books and Their Creators. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, MA. Landsberg, Michele (1987). Reading for the Love of It. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Read More