Sophie’s Stories
But I didn’t think about it, and here I am. The best I can do is apologize, Sophie, because all in all I really didn’t care for Sophie’s Stories.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Not that it’s your fault. I don’t object to your taste in literature. Well, maybe a little. The first of the three pieces, an adaptation of Marjorie Weinman Sharmat’s “Walter the Wolf,” is strenuously naive: a PC fable in which young Walter learns–of all things!–not to bite other animals. This may be a fine rule for you and me, Sophie, but if wolves don’t bite they don’t eat. Granted, Walter’s motive for sinking his teeth into Naomi Beaver’s tail is pretty tawdry–he’s essentially acting as a hit man on behalf of Naomi’s grasping sister, Regina. Still, Sharmat’s conclusion, that having big fangs doesn’t mean you have to use them, would ultimately lead to a mighty thin Walter. And I don’t think it’s fair to anthropomorphize animals to death even in the service of a social ideal, do you? For a more realistic treatment of the same subject, I suggest you ask your parents to read you Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, though not before bedtime.
The other thing that makes “Monkey Trouble” work is the fact that Alison Aske plays Monkey–and clearly relishes the role. Whether whimpering ostentatiously over her toe or doing an ecstatic end-zone boogie in celebration of her good fortune, Aske’s Monkey is an endearingly amoral beast and the most vivid character in any of the three stories.
