Wimpy Kid Lore

 A look back at my childhood reading

As most children did back in the day, I spent a portion of my life reading wimpy kids. I remember hearing about it first from my mother, who recommended one of the books (I think the Rodrick Rules one?) to me after hearing of it from her friend. At first, I didn’t want to read it: after all, it just seemed like some lame book. But after having some cheetoes, I was in a more complacent mood and bored out of my mind, so I picked the book up. It revolves around a middle schooler, Greg Heffley, and the various troubles he gets into. 

As I read more and more of the Wimpy kid lore, I became increasingly more enveloped by his wacky world where something absurd would happen almost every week. I remember, whenever I had free time I would pick a book out of the series to divulge in, however, judging by the wear and tear of the books nowadays and what I remember what was in them, I enjoyed watching him suffer. At the time, many of his solutions to the problems he faced seemed normal, maybe a tad on the weird side but nothing serious, like asking his friend to scout for dog poop on the way to school or his younger brother having imaginary friends. Nothing about it really stood out; it was a solid story with twists and turns for a 1st grader. 

HOWEVER! Recently, I went back to ye olde shelves, as a sort of “nostalgic” feeling came about me during the weekend. I randomly picked a book using the age old method of “eenie meenie minie moe”, and behold, one of my favorite books from 1st grade! I looked at the clock, eh it was 12 but whatever, and quickly divulged into the book, hoping to revisit the lore that I had once loved. But a number of very sore thumbs stook out to me, the sorest and most bruised being  how messed up the characters were. 

The main character, Greg Heffley, is a bit like a sociopath. I remember rereading the book where he breaks his best friend’s hand during the summer, and when they get to school the first thing he brags about is breaking his friend’s hand. I don’t know how I didn’t catch this as shitty when I was in 1st grade. It certainly surprised me, and from then on my perception of the hilarity of the book was ruined. 

Another character that stood out to me as a bit strange was his little brother. He seemed to have full awareness of everything that was going on despite only being 3, and even was smart enough to use his “perceived mind” (that is, the mind everyone thinks he has) to do things like break a plate and get away with it or extra dessert, which the parents pass off as normal behavior. Actually, talking about the parents, they’re really weird too. The dad is extremely distant and seems to care more about his figurines than his children, and the mom always babies the youngest to the point of spoiling him rotten. 

Despite the interesting characters, after rereading the series I thought it was a very interesting and worthwhile read. The plot was still the same and very entertaining, and I liked how you could get through it quickly, however that was not the case when I was younger. Overall, a good book for quick reads.