the essential calvin and hobbes a calvin and hobbes treasury

There is something profound about Calvin and Hobbes. The brilliance of these comic strips go deeper than just nostalgia. And now here I am, in my third decade, trying to reconnect with that aspect of my life. Nevertheless, there is something universal to the childhood experience about Calvin's exuberance. I was not a terror of babysitters, and as far as I know, I never flooded the bathroom while struggling against a shark in the bathtub. I did not launch wagons into lakes or trees. Not that I was ever a trouble-maker like Calvin, oh no. For me, it is a nostalgic retrospective on the days I have left behind. Calvin and Hobbes has a broad appeal, but it is not the same appeal to everyone. We all might find the strips funny, but our core enjoyment is going to come from an identification that is different for each of us. So I think a child, an adolescent, or an older adult are all going to get something different from Calvin and Hobbes than I will. And I know now what I did not know as a child: it is tough to keep your child-like enthusiasm when the world expects you, requires you to be an adult. Which is not to say that I have entirely abandoned my childhood glee, my sense of wonder-I do, after all, read science fiction in November I got involved in an awesome snowball fight with my coworkers. Eventually, fortunately or unfortunately, it won. Maturity sneaked up on me, stalked me, and played a game of cat-and-mouse through my adolescent years. I speak with the perspective of a 21-year-old who never wanted to grow up, but in spite of my best efforts, managed to do it anyway.

Do you know where I am?' Precocious, clever, and self-aware, Calvin embodies that spark, dare I say that joie de vivre, that we all seek to retain from childhood.

Calvin refuses to eat something on his plate, observing wryly that 'you know you won't like it when they won't tell you what it is.' Calvin, ever street-smart, sneaks out of bed late at night, then phones his house from a pay phone (remember those?) to say, 'Hello, Dad! It is now three in the morning.

Children, lacking the filters that most adults come to acquire, often say the darnednest things, and Calvin says a lot that falls into that category. I fell in love with the way Bill Watterson portrays the truth and beauty of the universe through the cheeky eyes of a young boy.

So to all my friends out there: how dare you not kidnap me and force-feed me Calvin and Hobbes? For shame! When I did finally sit down, I fell in love. I had not sat down with a thick, luscious book full of Calvin and Hobbes strips, full of wonderful, pinpoint and intelligent humour. My dad gave me this book Christmas 2009, and I prior to reading it last week, I had not experienced Calvin and Hobbes.

The essential calvin and hobbes a calvin and hobbes treasury