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The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: And Other Stories |  | Author: Tim Burton
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy Used: £0.50
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New (41) Used (47) from £0.50
Seller: more_books_direct_2u
Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 4317
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.8 x 0.5
ISBN: 057122444X
EAN: 9780571224449
ASIN: 057122444X
Publication Date: November 18, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Occupying a similarly sinister and macabre world to the American artist Edward Gorey Tim Burton's work is similarly difficult to place. This is a beautifully produced book filled with fine line drawings--many in colour--illustrating 23 small verse stories which all centre on a surreal deformity--the eponymous Oyster Boy, Stain Boy, The Boy with Nails in his Eyes, Junk Girl, The Pin Cushion Queen...The tales are all quietly disturbing. As with Burton's cinematic work (IEdward Scissorhands/I, INightmare Before Christmas/I and IMars Attacks/I) the book seems aimed at children but the subtexts feel too disquieting. This however is where Burton's genius lies. Children are outcasts in the adult world and their own notion of what is important, grave, frightening and odd is different to ours. We each remember the child inside of us and so are each compelled to recognise the otherness within ourselves: the outcasts that Burton paints are somehow strangely well known to us. As dark and disturbing as the best fairy tales Burton shares a space with the Brothers Grimm--a place that all children know exists when the lights go out and the adults leave the room. --IMark Thwaite/I
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 32
An unusually enchanting and cherished read January 9, 2004
S J Hamilton
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This collection of poems are essentially short stories about misunderstood children, outcast from society and mentally tortured by their abnormalities. Such characters include #8220;The Boy with Nails in His Eyes#8221;, #8220;The Pin Cushion Queen#8221; and #8220;Jimmy, the Hideous Penguin Boy#8221;. Each short story portrays the loneliness and sadness, which consume these characters as they struggle to find compassion, love and acceptance in their lives.brEach story is simply, yet beautifully illustrated by Burton who designs the sets, costumes and mise-en-scene for his films in the same intricate manner. The illustrations are almost childish but provoke a feeling of deep sorrow in the reader. Each illustration is roughly coloured with faint watercolours enhancing the fragility and innocence of youth in these individuals. . In contrast to the saddening drawings, the poems are surprisingly funny in a twisted, typically Burton-esque way. The stories are a complex combination of humour and tragedy, disguising deep and serious subtexts with a light hearted mask. brAlthough this book has the appearance of an illustrated storybook for children, the macabre subjects of the stories and satirical humour can only be fully appreciated by adults. But it is the childlike and innocent nature of the book which makes it such an unusually enchanting and cherished read.
Rantings of a Tim Burton lover! June 20, 1999
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
As this is my first ever encounter of actually READING a book by Tim Burton I found it quite strange, yet altogether fascinating at the same time. I almost felt as though Jack, pumpkin king was reading the text. Tim Burton writes as well in books as in his films and I am now a dedicated fan! A lot of my friends have commented on the books adult humour and it's 'sickness', but I found it amusing, heartwarming, dark and macabre, all the things you would expect from a Tim Burton book. A fabulous book!!!!!!
Just go and read it a hundred times! December 27, 2006
C.G. (Amsterdam, NL)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: And Other Stories" is a book for which you can say "I have read it more than a hundred times!".
br /And indeed you will.
br /Sometimes simple is more complicated, it also leads the art to be more everlasting in our minds.
br /The simplicity and harmony I find in Tim Burton's creations is one of that kind.
br /Every single word echoes in my mind.
Morbidity at its best May 25, 2004
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
If you're like me and have a morbid sense of humour then 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy' is something you really should have bought already. If not, and you don't share my passion for the wierd and darkly comic then you should still buy it!pTim Burton is one of my favourite directors and this book shows a side that just concludes the theory of what a creative genius he is. The drawings are delicate and beautifully grusome and the stories/poems are funny and touching. It's just something you really cannot put into words. You have to see it for yourself. pI love this book enormously. It's like a little piece of treasure to me! If you are a fan of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' then you will love this book and you will be able to see some likenesses between the characters in this book and that film. I love it also because you feel like you're getting a look into the imagination of Tim Burton himself and how the hell he comes up with his ideas!
Well wicked book! February 10, 2001
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was great, i couldn't put it down, I know that's what they all say but I really couldn't. I love Tim Burton's stuff he really has a vivd imagination, very abstract. Buy this book now.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 32
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