The most elegant place in the world to hide

I have always had a special place in my heart for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  My first home was only eight blocks away, and some of my earliest memories are of the grand staircase, statue gallery, and the Temple of Dendur.  Who has not been to the Met and fantasized about living there?  And that is why one my all-time childhood favorites is From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, about a brother and sister who run away from home and do just that. 

Written in 1967, E.L. Konigsburg's book tells the story of Claudia Kincaid who, bored with her life in suburban Connecticut, hatches a plot to go live at the Metropolitan Museum until her family learns to appreciate her.  Enlisting her younger brother Jamie as her partner in crime, they spend a week of adventures at the museum and solve a mystery about a statue of disputed provenance.

As a child, the title of this book turned me off for a long time.  What was this book even about?  And indeed, even the title is one of the puzzles the reader must figure out over the course of the book.  For, though Claudia is the protagonist, the narrator is the titular Mrs. Frankweiler, whose role does not become clear until well on into the story.  This complex narrative structure is one of the many ways in which this tale is much more than meets the eye.

However, it's still great fun, even as a simple story.  I, like Claudia, am a planner, and as a kid I loved reading about every carefully orchestrated detail of their escape and life in hiding.  To this day I can't look at a fountain with coins in it without being reminded of the Kincaid siblings bathing in the Met fountain after dark and collecting the change to buy food.  And, of course, though I am twenty-eight years younger than the fictional Claudia, the Met hasn't changed much in the interim, and I enjoyed hearing about all its familiar landmarks.

Now, as an adult, I notice different aspects.  On a positive note, I appreciate better how the book is perfectly plotted.  Almost everything that happens turns out to be part of a complex set-up for the solution of the mystery.  Even the children's bickering, with Claudia constantly correcting Jamie's grammar, turns out to be crucial to the plot.  I am always of two minds when it comes to children arguing in books.  On the one hand, real children get into arguments.  On the other hand, you want fictional characters that your children can emulate.

When it comes to emulating the characters, however, this book does become problematic, especially for a parent.  By necessity, the story has a lackadaisical attitude towards the agony Claudia would have put her parents through by running away from home.  Real children do not run away from loving parents on a lark, especially ones that are otherwise characterized as well-behaved, responsible, and conscientious.  Though Claudia is told by another character that she has done something terrible, the point doesn't really sink in, nor do we see any negative consequences for her actions.  On the contrary, it allows her to become the heroine of her own whodunit.  Furthermore, the children also engage in various forms of deception, lying, and petty theft to keep their adventure going.  I personally think the book is still well-worth reading, despite these drawbacks.  It is a good read for 9-11 year olds, especially in conjunction with a study of art history, or--even better--a field trip to the Met.

Rating: A-