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A review by jenpaul13
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories by Tim Burton
4.0
Twenty-three short stories presenting a revolving, and occasionally repeating, cast of seemingly strange or otherwise misunderstood people in somewhat tragic situations, with illustrations, comprise The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories by Tim Burton.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Poetry serves as the base and classic Burton style sketched visuals accompany these quick short stories. A few stories span several pages, with brief bits of text telling the story as the illustrations convey the scene or the emotional state of a character, while others expound in a mere sentence, but each raises topics with an impact at odds with their seeming simplicity. The tales told adhere to a theme of outcasts, notably children, with unique characteristics that make navigating the world difficult for them, resulting in an outcome that may be grim or sad yet contains a sliver of charming humor. The stories involving parents whose children were part-human and part-something else highlighted an uncomfortable cruelty and selfishness to the parents, while the use of a cartoon staple of not depicting faces of adults was a technique that visually shifted focus back to the child and their captivating plight. Revisiting this book for the first time in several years different things caught my notice in this readthrough but the experience remained macabre and heartwarming in equal measure.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Poetry serves as the base and classic Burton style sketched visuals accompany these quick short stories. A few stories span several pages, with brief bits of text telling the story as the illustrations convey the scene or the emotional state of a character, while others expound in a mere sentence, but each raises topics with an impact at odds with their seeming simplicity. The tales told adhere to a theme of outcasts, notably children, with unique characteristics that make navigating the world difficult for them, resulting in an outcome that may be grim or sad yet contains a sliver of charming humor. The stories involving parents whose children were part-human and part-something else highlighted an uncomfortable cruelty and selfishness to the parents, while the use of a cartoon staple of not depicting faces of adults was a technique that visually shifted focus back to the child and their captivating plight. Revisiting this book for the first time in several years different things caught my notice in this readthrough but the experience remained macabre and heartwarming in equal measure.