Review – The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Poetry
Length: 128 pages
Publisher: Rob Weisbach Books
Release Date: October 22, 1997
ISBN-13: 978-0688156817
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars
“From breathtaking stop-action animation to bittersweet modern fairy tales, filmmaker Tim Burton has become known for his unique visual brilliance — witty and macabre at once. Now he gives birth to a cast of gruesomely sympathetic children — misunderstood outcasts who struggle to find love and belonging in their cruel, cruel worlds. His lovingly lurid illustrations evoke both the sweetness and the tragedy of these dark yet simple beings — hopeful, hapless heroes who appeal to the ugly outsider in all of us, and let us laugh at a world we have long left behind (mostly anyway).”
This was a collection of poetry with illustration by Tim Burton. The poems are all very off the wall, some are slightly disturbing, and most are darkly humorous. I would recommend for older teen to adult because of the content (there are a few poems with explicit sexual themes). I am a huge Tim Burton fan and ended up enjoying this a lot.
The majority of poems talk about strange and troubled children and the weird ailments or situations that haunt them. All in all they were well done, occasionally made me laugh out loud, and were definitely unique. The sketches are very Burtonesque and their style matches the poems well.
While I did enjoy this, it might be something that’s better read bit by bit over time. I sat down and read it all in one sitting and the poems (despite their quirkiness) actually got to be a bit repetitive.
Overall this is a must for all you Tim Burton fans out there. It’s a beautifully put together book and is full of strange and quirky poetry and illustration by Burton.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
