Reviews

Opowieści z głębi miasta by Shaun Tan

babyplutox's review against another edition

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5.0

5/5

ohlhauc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

my_inner_filomena's review against another edition

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5.0

Tohle bylo něco neuvěřitelnýho. Taková síla, zdánlivě odevzdaná naléhavost pulzovala z každý věty, z každýho slova, z každýho obrazu. Nesmírně aktuální, nesmírně potřebné.

Dílo Shauna Tana je obtížné vklínit do jedné věkové kategorie. Bohaté ilustrace – tuze sugestivní – svádějí k zařazení mezi knihy dětské, témata a celkové ladění se na dětskou knihu může jevit těžké a pochmurné. Sama jsem za takové knihy ráda, narušují hranice žánrů, věku, navyklých představ o tom, co se hodí pro děti a co pro dospělé; viklají se zdmi a rozhrnují závěsy do snových světů se znepokojivými mosty do známé reality. Příběhy z vnitřního města reflektují soužití s jinými živočichy ve fantaskních prostředích, situacích tísnivých i radostných (ačkoli těch je značně méně). Nezřídka vyvolávají sevření srdcí, mráz v obratlích, přistihnutí se, že váš pohled nezastavuje papír stránky, ale proniká znepokojeně hlouběji a dál. Ocitáte se v zastřené, ne nepříjemné melancholii.
Listování Příběhy z vnitřního města znamená vstoupit na nebezpečnou půdu. Kdo však jednou vstoupil, jen zdráhavě se bude otáčet zpět.

jrosenstein's review against another edition

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4.0

Utter unique, mystical and poetic and evocative and gorgeous text and illustrations.

blairmahoney's review against another edition

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5.0

More brilliant work from Tan. Come for the luminous artwork but stay for the fantastical stories that go with them. A beautiful book in all respects.

katykelly's review against another edition

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4.0

Moving and beautiful set of city-set animal/ecology sketches.

4.5 stars.

Shaun Tan's picture books are exquisite, often profound. This is for older readers, and has serious points to make in its series of vignettes that take place in an anonymous city.

Some worked wonderfully well, poignant stories of human interactions with animals, of greed, thoughtlessness, sadness, love. A few went over my head and I didn't enjoy, but the vast majority were poetic and some even heart-breaking.

My favourites were the short but perfect 'Rhino' and the 'Cat'. The book is over 200 pages but around half of that is illustration, full page, colour, just spectacular.

There is so much here for children, teens and adults to discuss and digest. Issues of human materialism, ecological ruin, animal welfare and preservation... But it won't be easy to access for any reader. The imagery is quite mature, the language rich.

I would suggest ages 10 and over, but selected students ideally. A treasure trove of a book for the right readers.

With thanks to Walker Books for the sample reading copy.

lisakey's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad

2.5

emerentina's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad

2.75

lorevhumbeeck's review against another edition

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5.0

Nieuwe favoriet der favorieten!

katherinevarga's review against another edition

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I love the premise and execution of this book: speculative flash fiction and a few poems interspersed with gorgeous full-page artwork, each imagining an animal within a city where humans' dependency on, and destruction of, nature is made literal and immediate and intimate. 

The stories were hit-or-miss for me, a few being too pessimistic or uneventful for my tastes. The hits were very strong, and if I ever teach flash fiction I'd consider using them as examples (my favorites were cat, bear, and tiger). The visuals throughout are stunning. IDK how artists do it.