Life is far from dull… (cannonball)

The Phantom Tollbooth is a story about a little boy who never knows what to do with himself. Wherever he is he always longs to be somewhere else. Till one day he comes home and a package is waiting for him “For Milo, who has plenty of time.” Inside is a tiny tollbooth and a map to another world.

Milo dusts of a toy car he’s never played with and drives through the booth. He drives into a world where the Princess of sweet Rhyme and the Princess of pure Reason have been banished from the city of wisdom. Only their return can reconcile the competing kingdoms of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis. Along with the Humbug and a ticking watchdog named Tock, Milo sets out to return Rhyme and Reason to the city of Wisdom.

“if something is there, you can only see it with your eyes open, but if it isn’t there, you can see it just as well with your eyes closed. That’s why imaginary things are often easier to see than real ones.”

This book explores a world where everything is literal. This leads to ample opportunity for wordplay and common phrases turned upside down. Moments that I know I never understood as a child delighted me now. They visit the island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping) and swim in the sea of knowledge. Did you know that “You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and not get wet.”? And this one time, they jump into the car to drive and the Duke advises, “Shh, be very quiet, for it goes without saying”. I nearly clapped my small chubby hands together.

“Whether or not you find your own way, you’re bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it’s quite rusty.”

Norton Juster was supposed to write a book about Urban Aesthetics and instead he wound up writing the book he wasn’t supposed to write.  This tiny nugget of a fact resonated with me particularly, since I instead of writing a paper on urban planning read this book. I could have used a book on Urban aesthetics, instead I got one of the most successful children’s book of all time. A book that is not only worth revisiting as an adult, but one of the rare literary gems that delight and unite its readers in one grand realization;

“Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond [our] wildest dreams…”