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Tales from Outer Suburbia
Breathtakingly illustrated and hauntingly written, Tales from Outer Suburbia is by turns hilarious and poignant, perceptive and goofy. Through a series of captivating and sophisticated illustrated stories, Tan explores the precious strangeness of our existence. He gives us a portrait of modern suburban existence filtered through a wickedly Monty Pythonesque lens. Whether it's discovering that the world really does stop at the end of the city's map book, or a family's lesson in tolerance through an alien cultural exchange student, Tan's deft, sweet social satire brings us face-to-face with the humor and absurdity of modern life.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
155 people are currently reading
11100 people want to read
About the author
Shaun Tan
70 books2,598 followersShaun Tan (born 1974) is the illustrator and author of award-winning children's books. After freelancing for some years from a studio at Mt. Lawley, Tan relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, in 2007. Tan was the Illustrator in Residence at the University of Melbourne's Department of Language Literacy and Arts Education for two weeks through an annual Fellowship offered by the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust. 2009 World Fantasy Award for Best Artist. In 2011, he won his first Oscar in the category Best Short Animated Film for his work The Lost Thing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,574 reviews
June 16, 2020
What would it be like to have a children's story-book without fairies, princesses and princes, dungeons and dragons and the usual haberdasheries known as the ingredients of a children's book?
What if there was a book of stories set in the urban concrete jungle about everyday things that made normal life look magical? With beautiful illustrations, and wordplay, Shaun Tan did just that.
In Tales from Outer Suburbia the stories revolve around the tiny elements of our daily lives that we barely give any credit but play a significant role nevertheless. Stories about loss, about kindness and empathy and the struggles of marriage. Adult themes written for children, to allow their inquisitive minds to face the reality of our existences.
Whether or not Shaun Tan has been successful in portraying the story of modern urban life to children is up to the readers and their parents to decide. No matter what, one has to admit that Tan's work does leave a mark on the mind of his readers, regardless of age.
Happy reading!
What if there was a book of stories set in the urban concrete jungle about everyday things that made normal life look magical? With beautiful illustrations, and wordplay, Shaun Tan did just that.
In Tales from Outer Suburbia the stories revolve around the tiny elements of our daily lives that we barely give any credit but play a significant role nevertheless. Stories about loss, about kindness and empathy and the struggles of marriage. Adult themes written for children, to allow their inquisitive minds to face the reality of our existences.
Whether or not Shaun Tan has been successful in portraying the story of modern urban life to children is up to the readers and their parents to decide. No matter what, one has to admit that Tan's work does leave a mark on the mind of his readers, regardless of age.
Happy reading!
July 1, 2021
is this really for children?? are children really this sad and dark and complicated emotionally?? i don't know, but i know that this book is outstanding. i think in a way it is harder to tell a story without words, like the arrival, but this shows that he is also an exceptional word-story-teller. and i am an exceptional word-hyphen-stringer.
come to my blog!
come to my blog! 
December 3, 2023
4.5★
“The house at number seventeen was only ever mentioned with lowered voices by the neighbours. They knew well the frequent sounds of shouting, slamming doors and crashing objects. But one sultry summer night, something else happened, something far more interesting: the appearance of a large marine animal on the front lawn.”
Where do you go from here in a story titled “Undertow”? Australian author/artist Shaun Tan has THE most interesting imagination. The stories are short and thought-provoking in the extreme. They are the sort of topics that are going to leave people with differing opinions and the urge to express them.
This is the delightful Table of Contents, which I was admiring as artwork before I realised what it really was. The stamp values are page numbers.
Illustration of contents page
I have a few favourites. “No Other Country” (“No other country is worse than this one.”) is about a family suffering extreme summer heat, so hot that the plastic Christmas tree in the attic has melted itself to the rafters. While trying to pry it loose, one of the kids puts a foot through the ceiling, but it doesn’t protrude into the room below.
They discover another garden with cool breezes, what they call the inner courtyard, where the seasons are reversed and the trees and walls and frescoes are straight out of the old country! A place to escape, a place of respite. What the?
Illustration of part of the inner courtyard
Another favourite is “Alert But Not Alarmed” (a phrase oft quoted to Australians by government). Ballistic missiles are increasingly parked at houses in the suburbs with instructions to look after them and paint them every couple of years, free grey paint provided, of course.
But they take up a lot of room, so gradually, people find other uses for them, hang lights on them at Christmas and generally get on with peaceful lives, knowing the missiles probably won’t work if ever need by the government.
“Deep down, most of us feel it’s probably better this way. After all, if there are families in far away countries with their own backyard missiles, armed and pointed back at us, we would hope that they too have found a much better use for them.”
Illustration of suburban ICBMs, dressed for peacetime.
A third favourite was “Our Expedition” where two brothers argue over the last page in their father’s street directory, page 268. One argues that because the streets and houses go right to the edge of the page, there are obviously pages missing. The other brother says if that were true, the edge of the page would say “joins Map 269”. And he bets $20 he’s right.
The boys ride a bus to the end of the line and then take off on foot with “backpacks with all the necessities for such a journey: chocolate, orange juice, little boxes of sultanas [raisins] and, of course, the contentious street directory. This is a scenario I can well imagine having been a part of. Guess who wins the bet?
There are many other stories, some completely graphic, some that look like newspaper clippings, or random sketches – an amazing variety.
Then there’s the very last page of the book. Again, I was enjoying the artwork, the drawing of a perfect old library card and even a pocket. These are drawn, not inserts. Just a normal page of a book. Gorgeous! And then I realised these were Tan's acknowledgements, thanks to the people who've helped him. So clever.
Illustration of last page
Note the tiny handwritten note at the bottom of the slip with all the names, saying “In Memory of Eddie”, followed by a title in fancy print ”budgie champion”.
You can read it online (an hour at a time) or borrow it for 14 days at the Open Library (Internet Archive).
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL16839...
For more of his work: https://www.shauntan.net/new-page-2
Also note my review of one of my favourite books ever, The Arrival, which I reviewed here.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
“The house at number seventeen was only ever mentioned with lowered voices by the neighbours. They knew well the frequent sounds of shouting, slamming doors and crashing objects. But one sultry summer night, something else happened, something far more interesting: the appearance of a large marine animal on the front lawn.”
Where do you go from here in a story titled “Undertow”? Australian author/artist Shaun Tan has THE most interesting imagination. The stories are short and thought-provoking in the extreme. They are the sort of topics that are going to leave people with differing opinions and the urge to express them.
This is the delightful Table of Contents, which I was admiring as artwork before I realised what it really was. The stamp values are page numbers.
Illustration of contents page
I have a few favourites. “No Other Country” (“No other country is worse than this one.”) is about a family suffering extreme summer heat, so hot that the plastic Christmas tree in the attic has melted itself to the rafters. While trying to pry it loose, one of the kids puts a foot through the ceiling, but it doesn’t protrude into the room below.
They discover another garden with cool breezes, what they call the inner courtyard, where the seasons are reversed and the trees and walls and frescoes are straight out of the old country! A place to escape, a place of respite. What the?
Illustration of part of the inner courtyard
Another favourite is “Alert But Not Alarmed” (a phrase oft quoted to Australians by government). Ballistic missiles are increasingly parked at houses in the suburbs with instructions to look after them and paint them every couple of years, free grey paint provided, of course.
But they take up a lot of room, so gradually, people find other uses for them, hang lights on them at Christmas and generally get on with peaceful lives, knowing the missiles probably won’t work if ever need by the government.
“Deep down, most of us feel it’s probably better this way. After all, if there are families in far away countries with their own backyard missiles, armed and pointed back at us, we would hope that they too have found a much better use for them.”
Illustration of suburban ICBMs, dressed for peacetime.
A third favourite was “Our Expedition” where two brothers argue over the last page in their father’s street directory, page 268. One argues that because the streets and houses go right to the edge of the page, there are obviously pages missing. The other brother says if that were true, the edge of the page would say “joins Map 269”. And he bets $20 he’s right.
The boys ride a bus to the end of the line and then take off on foot with “backpacks with all the necessities for such a journey: chocolate, orange juice, little boxes of sultanas [raisins] and, of course, the contentious street directory. This is a scenario I can well imagine having been a part of. Guess who wins the bet?
There are many other stories, some completely graphic, some that look like newspaper clippings, or random sketches – an amazing variety.
Then there’s the very last page of the book. Again, I was enjoying the artwork, the drawing of a perfect old library card and even a pocket. These are drawn, not inserts. Just a normal page of a book. Gorgeous! And then I realised these were Tan's acknowledgements, thanks to the people who've helped him. So clever.
Illustration of last page
Note the tiny handwritten note at the bottom of the slip with all the names, saying “In Memory of Eddie”, followed by a title in fancy print ”budgie champion”.
You can read it online (an hour at a time) or borrow it for 14 days at the Open Library (Internet Archive).
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL16839...
For more of his work: https://www.shauntan.net/new-page-2
Also note my review of one of my favourite books ever, The Arrival, which I reviewed here.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
December 18, 2020
Have you ever wondered
what happens to all the poems people write?
The poems they never let anyone else read?
– Shaun Tan, “Distant rain”
Tales from Outer Suburbia is my kind of book: eccentric characters and their naturally weird stories accompanied by gorgeous, bizarre and even heartwarming illustrations. Tan blends the ordinary and the fantastic so majestically that I’m grateful I found this book during a search for something quite different – that’s how the best books are discovered. In this one, I find traces of Tim Burton’s The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories (1997), which I read years ago and loved it. Tan’s book was published eleven years later and I found it now. What does that mean? It means I have an entire career to catch up with, which I’ll peruse as I try to keep my expectations low to avoid disenchantment – we all know how that is; thank you, Sylvia.
This book features a diverse cast.
This is the water buffalo that helps out with directions:
This is Eric, the foreign exchange student interested in everyday things others don't pay much attention to.
There’s also a family that lives in a land they dislike but finds something special in their house (one of my favorites, for personal reasons explained somewhere else), people made of sticks wandering the suburbs, mournful dogs, a reindeer with no name that forces people to practice detachment, and the list goes on. (In any case, that reindeer should take with it the label that says this is a book for children.)
Every short story is a little gem that puts emphasis on the obvious, the forgotten, the neglected. This book has been like going back to basics, a good feeling in the year of pandemics, massive destruction, deepening political idiocy and a sense of individualism that touches the sky and will likely feed four hungry horses.
It’s easily a 4-star book, but since I added my own emotional baggage to the equation, a 5-star rating it is.
One of my favorite short stories is the one I chose to open this sort of review with: "Distant rain". Anything unoriginal, like the title, becomes part of something memorable if there’s a skilled pen involved. You should take a look. This short story resembles a dual prose-poem: light and simple on the surface but heavy and perplexing if one digs deeper, as it carries the weight of unspoken emotions.
Oct. 12, 20
* Later on my blog.
** Credit: Illustrations from Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan.
January 3, 2019
This little book is a children's book for adults and it is a masterpiece! It consists of short stories written and illustrated by Shaun Tan who is a man with the wildest imagination ever.
My favourite of the stories tells the tale of two boys who argue over what happens when you reach the end of the street directory. Have you ever looked at that last page and wondered where the roads go next? The boys find out and there is a brilliant illustration of when they do.
I also loved Alert but not Alarmed where people are required to keep missiles in their gardens, just one each, ready in case they are needed. Residents are sent grey paint to help them in the upkeep but over time they start to use them for all sorts of purposes and decorate them in beautiful ways and many colours. There is a moral in this tale.
So much fun! Crazy but beautiful illustrations. Clever stories. I enjoyed it very much.
My favourite of the stories tells the tale of two boys who argue over what happens when you reach the end of the street directory. Have you ever looked at that last page and wondered where the roads go next? The boys find out and there is a brilliant illustration of when they do.
I also loved Alert but not Alarmed where people are required to keep missiles in their gardens, just one each, ready in case they are needed. Residents are sent grey paint to help them in the upkeep but over time they start to use them for all sorts of purposes and decorate them in beautiful ways and many colours. There is a moral in this tale.
So much fun! Crazy but beautiful illustrations. Clever stories. I enjoyed it very much.
July 6, 2016
এই-বইটা-সুন্দর! ❤
ছোট ছোট ১৫টা গল্প। লেখার মাধ্যমে গল্প বলা, ছবির মাধ্যমে গল্প বলা। ছবি এখানে অক্সিলারী নয় বরং সমান গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। কোনো কোনো ক্ষেত���রে অধিক গুরুত্বপূর্ণ।
কোথাও এক জায়গায় পড়েছিলাম পৃথিবীর সকল গল্প বলা শেষ, নতুন গল্প বলা সম্ভব নয়। হয়তো তাই। তবে অবশ্যই এবং অতি অবশ্যই নতুনভাবে বলা সম্ভব। যাদু বাস্তবতার প্রয়োগ মনে হয় এক্ষেত্রে খুব কাজে আসে, একটা গল্পকে সম্পূর্ণ ফ্রেশ মনে হয়। যে অনুভূতির কথা বলা হয়েছে অসংখ্যবার, সেই অনুভূতিই এমন কিছু থেকে উৎসারিত হয়ে, এমন ভাবে উঠে আসে যেভাবে আর কখনই আসেনি। তখন হয়তো সে অনুভূতির সাথে পূর্বেকার অনুভূতির কিছুটা পার্থক্য হয়েই যায় এবং তার বাহক গল্পগুলোকে 'অরিজিনাল' বলা সম্ভব হয়। তাই এই বইয়ের গল্পগুলো অরিজিনাল।
আর ছবিগুলো। মাই গুডনেস। সাধারণত অল্প কিছু বই থাকে যেখানে আঁকা ছবিগুলো সত্যিকার 'শিল্পকর্ম' হয়ে ওঠার সুযোগ পায়। অনেক ভাল টেকনিক, অনেক ভাল ফিনিশিং সত্ত্বেও খুব খুব কম বইয়ের ছবি শিল্পের মানদণ্ডে উত্তীর্ণ হয়। এই বইয়ে বেশ কিছু ছবি আছে যা স্ট্যান্ড এলোন ছবি হিসাবেও 'শিল্পকর্ম' হিসেবে আখ্যা পেতে পারে। এছাড়া শ্যন ট্যান যেভাবে পৃষ্ঠার জায়গাগুলো ব্যবহার করেছেন তাতে মুখ হা হয়ে যায়। লো রেজুলেশনের পিডিএফ পড়েই এই অবস্থা। হার্ডকপি হাতে পড়লে কেমন অবস্থা হতো তাই ভাবছি। এছাড়াও একেকটা গল্পে একেক মিডিয়া ব্যবহার করে প্রত্যেকটা গল্পের ছবিগুলো ভিন্ন থিম দেয়া হয়েছে। কোনো গল্প পেন্সিল স্কেচ, কোনোটা তেল রং, কোনটা কালিতে আঁকা, কোনোটা হয়তো কাঠের উপরে আঁকা (বা উডকাট এফেক্টে আঁকা) আরও কত কী। কিছু গল্পে একাধিক মিডিয়ার ব্যবহারও রয়েছে। দু'একটা ছবি দেয়ার ইচ্ছা ছিল, কিন্তু আমার সবচেয়ে প্রিয় ছবিটাই স্পয়লার, তাই দিলাম না।
সবগুলো গল্প অবশ্য সমান স্ট্রং নয়। এই অজুহাতে একখানা তারা কম দিয়ে পারা যেত। কিন্তু প্রত্যেক ধাপে ধাপে যেভাবে বিস্ময়ে মুখ ঝুলে গেছে তা আর উচিত হবে না বলেই মনে হলো। ট্রিট টু আইজ এন্ড সোল।
ছোট ছোট ১৫টা গল্প। লেখার মাধ্যমে গল্প বলা, ছবির মাধ্যমে গল্প বলা। ছবি এখানে অক্সিলারী নয় বরং সমান গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। কোনো কোনো ক্ষেত���রে অধিক গুরুত্বপূর্ণ।
কোথাও এক জায়গায় পড়েছিলাম পৃথিবীর সকল গল্প বলা শেষ, নতুন গল্প বলা সম্ভব নয়। হয়তো তাই। তবে অবশ্যই এবং অতি অবশ্যই নতুনভাবে বলা সম্ভব। যাদু বাস্তবতার প্রয়োগ মনে হয় এক্ষেত্রে খুব কাজে আসে, একটা গল্পকে সম্পূর্ণ ফ্রেশ মনে হয়। যে অনুভূতির কথা বলা হয়েছে অসংখ্যবার, সেই অনুভূতিই এমন কিছু থেকে উৎসারিত হয়ে, এমন ভাবে উঠে আসে যেভাবে আর কখনই আসেনি। তখন হয়তো সে অনুভূতির সাথে পূর্বেকার অনুভূতির কিছুটা পার্থক্য হয়েই যায় এবং তার বাহক গল্পগুলোকে 'অরিজিনাল' বলা সম্ভব হয়। তাই এই বইয়ের গল্পগুলো অরিজিনাল।
আর ছবিগুলো। মাই গুডনেস। সাধারণত অল্প কিছু বই থাকে যেখানে আঁকা ছবিগুলো সত্যিকার 'শিল্পকর্ম' হয়ে ওঠার সুযোগ পায়। অনেক ভাল টেকনিক, অনেক ভাল ফিনিশিং সত্ত্বেও খুব খুব কম বইয়ের ছবি শিল্পের মানদণ্ডে উত্তীর্ণ হয়। এই বইয়ে বেশ কিছু ছবি আছে যা স্ট্যান্ড এলোন ছবি হিসাবেও 'শিল্পকর্ম' হিসেবে আখ্যা পেতে পারে। এছাড়া শ্যন ট্যান যেভাবে পৃষ্ঠার জায়গাগুলো ব্যবহার করেছেন তাতে মুখ হা হয়ে যায়। লো রেজুলেশনের পিডিএফ পড়েই এই অবস্থা। হার্ডকপি হাতে পড়লে কেমন অবস্থা হতো তাই ভাবছি। এছাড়াও একেকটা গল্পে একেক মিডিয়া ব্যবহার করে প্রত্যেকটা গল্পের ছবিগুলো ভিন্ন থিম দেয়া হয়েছে। কোনো গল্প পেন্সিল স্কেচ, কোনোটা তেল রং, কোনটা কালিতে আঁকা, কোনোটা হয়তো কাঠের উপরে আঁকা (বা উডকাট এফেক্টে আঁকা) আরও কত কী। কিছু গল্পে একাধিক মিডিয়ার ব্যবহারও রয়েছে। দু'একটা ছবি দেয়ার ইচ্ছা ছিল, কিন্তু আমার সবচেয়ে প্রিয় ছবিটাই স্পয়লার, তাই দিলাম না।
সবগুলো গল্প অবশ্য সমান স্ট্রং নয়। এই অজুহাতে একখানা তারা কম দিয়ে পারা যেত। কিন্তু প্রত্যেক ধাপে ধাপে যেভাবে বিস্ময়ে মুখ ঝুলে গেছে তা আর উচিত হবে না বলেই মনে হলো। ট্রিট টু আইজ এন্ড সোল।
October 14, 2020
çok yaratıcı hikayelere eşlik eden harika çizimler..
January 12, 2025
This is a beautifully and artfully illustrated book by the author of the short story, “The Arrival.” The same story that was made into a movie in 2016 and starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker.
But this isn’t about that short story. Although the cover of the book, gives you the same “out-there” feelings. As if someone is walking around in a space age suit, when it really is just a deep sea diver walking on dry land in your neighborhood. Still, even that may be odd trying to look rather normal.
Keeping that picture of the deep sea diver in mind as an example of just one story, this is a collection of short stories set in the Australian suburbs, about how the most outlandish things can appear normal or commonplace.
But this is more than a collection of stories.
The author’s greatest asset is his artwork. His images remind us of Japanese woodcut prints or Renaissance frescoes or sepia photographs. Whatever the vision being presented, they are stunningly beautiful.
One story has children following a map to the end of the world. Literally. They sit with their feet hanging over the edge. Who does that in storytelling? What an extraordinary image. The author allows our own imagination to take us beyond the words and visual image as the reader. Is the world really flat? Or did we just read a charming collection of imaginative art?
But this isn’t about that short story. Although the cover of the book, gives you the same “out-there” feelings. As if someone is walking around in a space age suit, when it really is just a deep sea diver walking on dry land in your neighborhood. Still, even that may be odd trying to look rather normal.
Keeping that picture of the deep sea diver in mind as an example of just one story, this is a collection of short stories set in the Australian suburbs, about how the most outlandish things can appear normal or commonplace.
But this is more than a collection of stories.
The author’s greatest asset is his artwork. His images remind us of Japanese woodcut prints or Renaissance frescoes or sepia photographs. Whatever the vision being presented, they are stunningly beautiful.
One story has children following a map to the end of the world. Literally. They sit with their feet hanging over the edge. Who does that in storytelling? What an extraordinary image. The author allows our own imagination to take us beyond the words and visual image as the reader. Is the world really flat? Or did we just read a charming collection of imaginative art?
October 9, 2018
This is a different story for Shaun Tan. He has a lot of words in this one. There are 15 short stories in this collection. Each, a little vignette. Shaun Tan sees the world differently and he has an artistic gift to share it with the world.
His stories always create a mood and encourage us to think about something a little differently or deeper. It is an amazing gift he has.
I love the little story of 'Eric'. The little figure reminds me of another story about Eric. I wonder if someone else took the character and made a story with him. I can't put my finger on what the story was. I love the last page of that story.
There is only one picture for 'Broken Toys' and that was an interesting story. Check it out.
'Grandpa's Story' was cool. It's about what the wedding ritual used to be back when it was tough to get married.
What a brilliant idea 'the Other Country' is. What if there was a secret room in your home that lead to a whole huge world all your own? This is one of my favorites.
Those were my favorite stories of the collection, but I have enjoyed reading and looking at the art of this book. It has been a great experience. Shaun Tan does not disappoint. More, more MOre.
His stories always create a mood and encourage us to think about something a little differently or deeper. It is an amazing gift he has.
I love the little story of 'Eric'. The little figure reminds me of another story about Eric. I wonder if someone else took the character and made a story with him. I can't put my finger on what the story was. I love the last page of that story.
There is only one picture for 'Broken Toys' and that was an interesting story. Check it out.
'Grandpa's Story' was cool. It's about what the wedding ritual used to be back when it was tough to get married.
What a brilliant idea 'the Other Country' is. What if there was a secret room in your home that lead to a whole huge world all your own? This is one of my favorites.
Those were my favorite stories of the collection, but I have enjoyed reading and looking at the art of this book. It has been a great experience. Shaun Tan does not disappoint. More, more MOre.
August 12, 2017
This is truly spectacular...a collection of wildly imaginative very short stories accompanied by artwork that clearly demonstrates Shaun Tan's remarkable artistic range. He employs many different techniques and seems to use every available space inside the covers to spread his magic in a way that is fresh and fun. From the table of contents to the acknowledgements to the oodles of doodles on the inside covers, this is something to
marvel.
Shelved as YA Graphic, this is better than that. It requires its own label. And though the stories are a bit offbeat and the language is beautifully rich, I will read this with my children. I know they will notice and appreciate pieces that I have missed or misunderstood. I can't wait to see this through their eyes.
My favorite story begins: "my brother and I could easily spend hours arguing about the correct lyrics to a TV jingle, the impossibility of firing a gun in outer space, where cashew nuts come from, or whether we really did see a saltwater crocodile in the neighbor's pool that one time."
5 stars
marvel.
Shelved as YA Graphic, this is better than that. It requires its own label. And though the stories are a bit offbeat and the language is beautifully rich, I will read this with my children. I know they will notice and appreciate pieces that I have missed or misunderstood. I can't wait to see this through their eyes.
My favorite story begins: "my brother and I could easily spend hours arguing about the correct lyrics to a TV jingle, the impossibility of firing a gun in outer space, where cashew nuts come from, or whether we really did see a saltwater crocodile in the neighbor's pool that one time."
5 stars
April 15, 2025
4,5*
É extraordinária a imaginação de Shaun Tan e a forma como a transpõe para o papel com técnicas de ilustração que nunca se repetem. Se pela sua inocência podem parecer contos infantis, a melancolia e a soturnidade que o autor lhes incute torna-os muito mais profundos e intensos, às vezes até mesmo subversivos.
Umas janelas abriam mal e não deixavam as moscas sair, outras fechavam mal e deixavam entrar as moscas. As árvores de fruto recém-plantadas morriam na terra arenosa do quintal abrasado de sol, lembrando estelas funerárias sob as cordas descaídas do estendal – um pequeno cemitério de frustrações. (...) – Só neste país! – suspirava muitas vezes a mãe, e ninguém se sentia capaz de discordar.
É extraordinária a imaginação de Shaun Tan e a forma como a transpõe para o papel com técnicas de ilustração que nunca se repetem. Se pela sua inocência podem parecer contos infantis, a melancolia e a soturnidade que o autor lhes incute torna-os muito mais profundos e intensos, às vezes até mesmo subversivos.
Umas janelas abriam mal e não deixavam as moscas sair, outras fechavam mal e deixavam entrar as moscas. As árvores de fruto recém-plantadas morriam na terra arenosa do quintal abrasado de sol, lembrando estelas funerárias sob as cordas descaídas do estendal – um pequeno cemitério de frustrações. (...) – Só neste país! – suspirava muitas vezes a mãe, e ninguém se sentia capaz de discordar.
January 9, 2009
On the face of it, I’m an inadequate reviewer for Shaun Tan. When you review a book for kids, what do you do? You take that little book, you pick apart its layers (if you’re lucky enough to find any), then you box up each and every one of those layers, a paragraph apiece, and voila! Instant review. Having a format to follow makes everything so simple. It’s as if you’re simply filling in the blanks on a Mad Libs sheet. "Pronoun has written an adjective book that will adverb verb you each and every time you verb it." Shaun Tan messes everything up for me. His books don’t read like other books. His text (now that I’ve seen it for the first time) doesn’t bloody read like the text of other people. He’s not just writing new kinds of stories, but reinventing the very nature of short story collections, personal histories, sketchbooks, suburban metaphors, and on and on they go. Would you believe me if I told you that I’ve tried several times to cut apart a couple layers of this book for boxing up purposes, only to find myself staring for several minutes at some small detail, font, or turn of phrase on a given page? You know what? Don’t go asking me who this book is for. Don’t ask me what the age range is, or how you’re going to catalog it, or what kind of person you could give it to for a birthday present. You want an easy book that slots into your preconceived notions of what constitutes children’s literature? Well forget it, sister. This isn’t it. Tales from Outer Suburbia is a book for every human being you know, from the age of nine and up. It’s heartbreaking, and funny, and weird, and smart, and unlike any other book you’ve read up until this point in time. It’s what happens when someone tells you a dream they just had and you end up crying and laughing at the description all at once. It’s brilliant, and I’m inadequate to describe it to you, though I’ll do my best to try.
Okay. Rather than go through my standard first paragraph opening, second paragraph description, third and onward paragraph critique, I’m going to follow my old pattern, but shake things up a little. If you hold a copy of Tales from Outer Suburbia in your hand you’ll see that it’s just 96 pages or so long. A relatively thin book, but the language is more advanced than your average early chapter book. The endpapers are tiny sketches. Tons of them. But I’ll get to those later. The Table of Contents shows a range of tiny stamps on a brown paper package, each one with the title of its chapter writ small. And then you get to the stories themselves and it’s about here that I start to break down. I mean, do you want the general gist of what you’ll find here? In brief, each tale takes place (to some extent) in suburbia. Where people have lawns and bus stops and playgrounds. But it’s a suburbia where the peculiar is almost commonplace (though anything that shakes up the neighbors takes on a special glow). There are tales of water buffalos, rescued turtles, marriage quests, and a single nameless holiday. It’s the stuff that crawls around in your head when you're half asleep, and you could maybe even chalk it all up to subconscious ramblings if the stories didn’t make so much sense and didn’t linger in your head for quite so long. It doesn’t quite do to pick this book apart, but I really can’t resist doing so. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.
The most obvious thing to compare to this, if comparisons are something we have to make, is The Twilight Zone. The last time suburbia got this skewered with the unknown, it was in that post-war Rod Serling era. Maybe history repeats itself. Maybe our new era with our new president and our new hope in the American dream means that suburbia will once again take on those mythic qualities it was once thought to have. In the past Shaun Tan has said that the notion of suburban communities has always fascinated , why not? Suburbia is a state of safety and collective agreement that can go terribly wrong when left to its own devices. There’s a kind of insanity to it, and Tan has very delicately placed a finger on that insanity’s pulse. He will give you a sense of it, but you will never quite see the whole.
And there is only one story in this collection that I read over and over and over and over again, trying to make sense of what I’d just experienced. It’s a story that sounds like a Ray Bradbury tale. Thinking about it, Bradbury’s suburban science fiction is like an older, darker brother of Tan’s. Both enter the impossible into the seemingly mundane, but when Bradbury did it you were sometimes left feeling contented or chilled. In comparison, even the happiest story in Tan’s collection has a bittersweet aftertaste to it. The “Make Your Own Pet” sequence is a good example of this. But in one case Tan veers dead-on into Bradbury territory. “The Amnesia Machine” demands that you read it yourself, so I will simply say that of all the tales here, it was the only one that left me feeling a bit chilled. Essentially, if you need a story for a bookgroup discussion, and I include all ages in that statement, this here’s your best bet.
It is significant, don’t you think, that I’ve not really mentioned Tan’s art up until this point? Anyone who read The Arrival cover to cover would know that as an artist Tan is without compare. Of course, The Arrival didn’t really give the man a chance to explore his range. It was sort of an all-sepia, all-the-time showing. There’s nothing wrong with that, but one of the reasons I like Tales so much in comparison is that it really allows Mr. Tan a chance to bust a move when he feels like it. As a result you have the woodblock/scratchboard technique of “The Nameless Holiday” alongside the Chris Van Allsburg-like use of mixed media and graphite in “The Amnesia Machine”. He employs a distinctly Japanese-inspired painting technique for “Broken Toys” whereas “Alert But Not Alarmed” uses bold colors to display light when it’s directly above your head in the middle of the day. And I could on naming the other techniques or cooing over his use of light (he really is quite good with it) but it’s all for naught unless you see it for yourself. Which you should. You really should. And for the record I’m glad the publisher didn’t go the crazy route and get tactile with this book. I like seeing little stamps in lieu of chapters in the Table of Contents, but I wouldn’t actually want to be able to pluck them out. There’s sense behind the design here.
And now we go about dedicating one whole paragraph to the endpapers. Now, I don’t actually know the story behind Tales of Outer Suburbia but it seems pretty clear to me that these stories didn’t happen overnight. Some of them probably were written and drawn over the course of several years. In the Advanced Readers Galley (I cannot vouch for the final copy) you will find that in “Make Your Own Pet”, in the lower right hand corner of the second page is the faintest possible white ink reading “Tan 2001”. Now look at the endpapapers of this book. Aren’t they beautiful? They look like Mr. Tan’s sketchbook. A place where he randomly included any tiny thought or idea that popped into his head. A couple of the critters here made it into the book too. There’s Eric (in both the front and the back of the book). There’s the mouthless creature that sports a single huge lashless eye. There’s what looks like one of the rabbits from the book he did with John Marsden called The Rabbits. And there’s that snakey dragon tail so prominent at the beginning of The Arrival. You’re left wondering if this is from his actual sketchbook. Did he write a story for every image here? Could someone else? I like to imagine a classroom somewhere where a teacher hands this book to the students and encourages them to write a short story to accompany one of the hundreds of tiny pictures found here. I know which one I’d do. It would be the picture of a grumpy old man with a cheery, possibly caped, sprite on his shoulder that cries out, “Carpe diem!”
When The Arrival came out it was unmistakably brilliant but caused some people no end of trouble. Where do you put it? Is it a children’s book? Is it for teens? Adults? Bookstores were baffled beyond belief. Libraries just cataloged him as everything and threw his books up willy-nilly on their shelves. Because it is a much quieter book than The Arrival and can’t glom onto an existing community like the graphic novel advocates, my suspicion is that Tales from Outer Suburbia will make a relatively smaller splash. This is not to say that the book is any less inventive. If I wanted to I could write a review where I carefully and closely examined each and every story here piece by piece. Tempt me not. There are only so many hours in the day, and I should let you find the other remaining surprises on your own. I hope this book reaches as many kids, teens, and adults as possible. After all these words I still don’t think I’m the right reviewer for it. But if I can make anyone even slightly curious about its content then I’m happy. Inadequate, sure, but content.
Ages 9 and up.
Okay. Rather than go through my standard first paragraph opening, second paragraph description, third and onward paragraph critique, I’m going to follow my old pattern, but shake things up a little. If you hold a copy of Tales from Outer Suburbia in your hand you’ll see that it’s just 96 pages or so long. A relatively thin book, but the language is more advanced than your average early chapter book. The endpapers are tiny sketches. Tons of them. But I’ll get to those later. The Table of Contents shows a range of tiny stamps on a brown paper package, each one with the title of its chapter writ small. And then you get to the stories themselves and it’s about here that I start to break down. I mean, do you want the general gist of what you’ll find here? In brief, each tale takes place (to some extent) in suburbia. Where people have lawns and bus stops and playgrounds. But it’s a suburbia where the peculiar is almost commonplace (though anything that shakes up the neighbors takes on a special glow). There are tales of water buffalos, rescued turtles, marriage quests, and a single nameless holiday. It’s the stuff that crawls around in your head when you're half asleep, and you could maybe even chalk it all up to subconscious ramblings if the stories didn’t make so much sense and didn’t linger in your head for quite so long. It doesn’t quite do to pick this book apart, but I really can’t resist doing so. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.
The most obvious thing to compare to this, if comparisons are something we have to make, is The Twilight Zone. The last time suburbia got this skewered with the unknown, it was in that post-war Rod Serling era. Maybe history repeats itself. Maybe our new era with our new president and our new hope in the American dream means that suburbia will once again take on those mythic qualities it was once thought to have. In the past Shaun Tan has said that the notion of suburban communities has always fascinated , why not? Suburbia is a state of safety and collective agreement that can go terribly wrong when left to its own devices. There’s a kind of insanity to it, and Tan has very delicately placed a finger on that insanity’s pulse. He will give you a sense of it, but you will never quite see the whole.
And there is only one story in this collection that I read over and over and over and over again, trying to make sense of what I’d just experienced. It’s a story that sounds like a Ray Bradbury tale. Thinking about it, Bradbury’s suburban science fiction is like an older, darker brother of Tan’s. Both enter the impossible into the seemingly mundane, but when Bradbury did it you were sometimes left feeling contented or chilled. In comparison, even the happiest story in Tan’s collection has a bittersweet aftertaste to it. The “Make Your Own Pet” sequence is a good example of this. But in one case Tan veers dead-on into Bradbury territory. “The Amnesia Machine” demands that you read it yourself, so I will simply say that of all the tales here, it was the only one that left me feeling a bit chilled. Essentially, if you need a story for a bookgroup discussion, and I include all ages in that statement, this here’s your best bet.
It is significant, don’t you think, that I’ve not really mentioned Tan’s art up until this point? Anyone who read The Arrival cover to cover would know that as an artist Tan is without compare. Of course, The Arrival didn’t really give the man a chance to explore his range. It was sort of an all-sepia, all-the-time showing. There’s nothing wrong with that, but one of the reasons I like Tales so much in comparison is that it really allows Mr. Tan a chance to bust a move when he feels like it. As a result you have the woodblock/scratchboard technique of “The Nameless Holiday” alongside the Chris Van Allsburg-like use of mixed media and graphite in “The Amnesia Machine”. He employs a distinctly Japanese-inspired painting technique for “Broken Toys” whereas “Alert But Not Alarmed” uses bold colors to display light when it’s directly above your head in the middle of the day. And I could on naming the other techniques or cooing over his use of light (he really is quite good with it) but it’s all for naught unless you see it for yourself. Which you should. You really should. And for the record I’m glad the publisher didn’t go the crazy route and get tactile with this book. I like seeing little stamps in lieu of chapters in the Table of Contents, but I wouldn’t actually want to be able to pluck them out. There’s sense behind the design here.
And now we go about dedicating one whole paragraph to the endpapers. Now, I don’t actually know the story behind Tales of Outer Suburbia but it seems pretty clear to me that these stories didn’t happen overnight. Some of them probably were written and drawn over the course of several years. In the Advanced Readers Galley (I cannot vouch for the final copy) you will find that in “Make Your Own Pet”, in the lower right hand corner of the second page is the faintest possible white ink reading “Tan 2001”. Now look at the endpapapers of this book. Aren’t they beautiful? They look like Mr. Tan’s sketchbook. A place where he randomly included any tiny thought or idea that popped into his head. A couple of the critters here made it into the book too. There’s Eric (in both the front and the back of the book). There’s the mouthless creature that sports a single huge lashless eye. There’s what looks like one of the rabbits from the book he did with John Marsden called The Rabbits. And there’s that snakey dragon tail so prominent at the beginning of The Arrival. You’re left wondering if this is from his actual sketchbook. Did he write a story for every image here? Could someone else? I like to imagine a classroom somewhere where a teacher hands this book to the students and encourages them to write a short story to accompany one of the hundreds of tiny pictures found here. I know which one I’d do. It would be the picture of a grumpy old man with a cheery, possibly caped, sprite on his shoulder that cries out, “Carpe diem!”
When The Arrival came out it was unmistakably brilliant but caused some people no end of trouble. Where do you put it? Is it a children’s book? Is it for teens? Adults? Bookstores were baffled beyond belief. Libraries just cataloged him as everything and threw his books up willy-nilly on their shelves. Because it is a much quieter book than The Arrival and can’t glom onto an existing community like the graphic novel advocates, my suspicion is that Tales from Outer Suburbia will make a relatively smaller splash. This is not to say that the book is any less inventive. If I wanted to I could write a review where I carefully and closely examined each and every story here piece by piece. Tempt me not. There are only so many hours in the day, and I should let you find the other remaining surprises on your own. I hope this book reaches as many kids, teens, and adults as possible. After all these words I still don’t think I’m the right reviewer for it. But if I can make anyone even slightly curious about its content then I’m happy. Inadequate, sure, but content.
Ages 9 and up.
April 1, 2024
دوس ندارم بگم اینا داستان کودک نیستن، ولی نیستن واقعا
و خب من باهاشون حال میکنم
و خب من باهاشون حال میکنم
October 21, 2019
I did enjoy reading this one. It just didn't blow my mind completely. The short stories had echoes of the Little Prince in how it goes about telling truths about our reality, but also being fun and friendly stories.
My favourite: The first one about the bison. I immediately read it as if the bison were God, and it was an interesting interpretation.
WHAT I LIKED:
- Hello, beautiful illustrations. I love how sometimes the illustrations told parts of the story.
- The stories were clever and creative, especially in how they connected to reality. It made you think about our world in a different light. It showed some of the good and a lot of the bad and even how it could change, at times.
- It was well written.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
- Some stories felt like they ended a bit too abruptly for my liking.
- Some stories felt a little bit too short.
- I liked some more than others. Some just... didn't make me care at all. But then we had amazing ones too, so in the end I felt lukewarm on the whole.
My favourite: The first one about the bison. I immediately read it as if the bison were God, and it was an interesting interpretation.
WHAT I LIKED:
- Hello, beautiful illustrations. I love how sometimes the illustrations told parts of the story.
- The stories were clever and creative, especially in how they connected to reality. It made you think about our world in a different light. It showed some of the good and a lot of the bad and even how it could change, at times.
- It was well written.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
- Some stories felt like they ended a bit too abruptly for my liking.
- Some stories felt a little bit too short.
- I liked some more than others. Some just... didn't make me care at all. But then we had amazing ones too, so in the end I felt lukewarm on the whole.
December 28, 2016
Uma das vantagens que os adultos têm em relação às crianças é gostarem de ler livros infantis (só porque elas não gostam dos livros para adultos); a outra é não serem obrigados a comer sopa. Não me lembro de mais nenhuma...
Contos dos Subúrbios é um encanto de livrinho; são quinze histórias mágicas, contadas através de texto e ilustrações, que nos enternecem e surpreendem. Muito lindo.
Contos dos Subúrbios é um encanto de livrinho; são quinze histórias mágicas, contadas através de texto e ilustrações, que nos enternecem e surpreendem. Muito lindo.
May 19, 2018
چقدر دوست داشتم این کتاب رو. پر از خرده ریزه های رنگی و موجودات قشنگ و دوست داشتنی بود
January 17, 2016
Extremely beautiful. Leaves you with a pretty clear feeling of why and how love, poetry and understanding are basically the same thing. (Although "to leave" cannot be less appropriate for a book that so much stays with you.)
Read it 10 times and 10 times fell in love.
Read it 10 times and 10 times fell in love.
July 11, 2017
চমৎকার সব গল্প। খুব ভালো লেগেছে "এরিক", "ব্রোকেন টয়জ", "ডিসট্যান্ট রেইন", "গ্র্যান্ডপা'জ স্টোরি", "স্টিক ফিগারস"।
ছবিকে গল্পের অংশ করে তোলার ব্যাপারটা খুব পছন্দ হয়েছে, নইলে চার তারা দিতাম।
সহপাঠকদের জন্যে নোট: এতগার কেরেতের গল্প হয়তো খুব উপভোগ করবেন, যদি এ বইটা ভালো লেগে থাকে।
ছবিকে গল্পের অংশ করে তোলার ব্যাপারটা খুব পছন্দ হয়েছে, নইলে চার তারা দিতাম।
সহপাঠকদের জন্যে নোট: এতগার কেরেতের গল্প হয়তো খুব উপভোগ করবেন, যদি এ বইটা ভালো লেগে থাকে।
May 21, 2016
В една любима книга - The Gift - авторът Lewis Hyde казва така: “Прекосяването на мистерия винаги освежава. Ако, докато работите, можете поне веднъж на ден да се натъкнете на лицето на някоя мистерия, работенето ще си е заслужавало.”
Шон Тан е именно енигматик. Преди години, когато за първи път гледах късометражния му филм “The Lost Thing” (и се разбръмчах да открия повече от този автор), си казах: “Брех, не разбирам нищо и разбирам всичко?!” Толкова ми харесва да обитавам и да анализирам това чувство. То не ме напусна и при четенето на приказките от крайните квартали. Как всъщност действа енигматичното у Шон Тан? Когато се озовеш в центъра на мистерия, всичките ти предзнания рухват. Не можеш да си кажеш “Аха, той иска да ме води натам.” или пък “О, да, това ми е ясно, значи оттук насетне вероятно ще стане така.” Мистериозните сюжети на Шон Тан правят тъй, че да се отърсиш от тежестта, от сковаността на собствената си логика и въображение (защото личното въображение, освен развихряне, е също и граница). Така всъщност добре измайстореното Неразбираемо снема от теб товар, олекотява те и ти помага да извървиш непознат път, в протежение на който забелязваш куп поновому построени неща. И в крайна сметка, извървявайки една негова история, излизаш с усещането за пределно ясно разбиране, за почти сетивна свързаност с онзи отсреща, автора. Много е особен и рядък този талант - да съумееш да преведеш някого до точката на вникване, но не чрез постъпателно обясняване, а чрез прекосяване, приемане и сближаване с неразбираемото.
Обичам всички истории в тази книга, но най-много: Ерик; Нащрек, но не и в смут; Празник без име (О, Празник без име!); Отлив; Клечовците; Историята на дядо; Бдение; Водният бивол; В никоя друга страна…
Изпитвам благодарност към всички, които са довели за ръка Шон Тан до моя роден език.
Шон Тан е именно енигматик. Преди години, когато за първи път гледах късометражния му филм “The Lost Thing” (и се разбръмчах да открия повече от този автор), си казах: “Брех, не разбирам нищо и разбирам всичко?!” Толкова ми харесва да обитавам и да анализирам това чувство. То не ме напусна и при четенето на приказките от крайните квартали. Как всъщност действа енигматичното у Шон Тан? Когато се озовеш в центъра на мистерия, всичките ти предзнания рухват. Не можеш да си кажеш “Аха, той иска да ме води натам.” или пък “О, да, това ми е ясно, значи оттук насетне вероятно ще стане така.” Мистериозните сюжети на Шон Тан правят тъй, че да се отърсиш от тежестта, от сковаността на собствената си логика и въображение (защото личното въображение, освен развихряне, е също и граница). Така всъщност добре измайстореното Неразбираемо снема от теб товар, олекотява те и ти помага да извървиш непознат път, в протежение на който забелязваш куп поновому построени неща. И в крайна сметка, извървявайки една негова история, излизаш с усещането за пределно ясно разбиране, за почти сетивна свързаност с онзи отсреща, автора. Много е особен и рядък този талант - да съумееш да преведеш някого до точката на вникване, но не чрез постъпателно обясняване, а чрез прекосяване, приемане и сближаване с неразбираемото.
Обичам всички истории в тази книга, но най-много: Ерик; Нащрек, но не и в смут; Празник без име (О, Празник без име!); Отлив; Клечовците; Историята на дядо; Бдение; Водният бивол; В никоя друга страна…
Изпитвам благодарност към всички, които са довели за ръка Шон Тан до моя роден език.
April 12, 2009
In the spirit of honesty, I have to admit that I was already biased to like this book because of my intense love for Shaun Tan's The Arrival. I was hoping this book, which unlike the wordless THE ARRIVAL pairs words and art, would live up to his previous work.
The answer is an unabashed yes. Inside TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA is a collection of related short stories that explore the absurdity, sadness, and joy of suburban life (in this case, Australian suburban life). As always, Tan's art is filled with a kind of bizarre wonder punctuated with extraordinary subtle oddities to reward the careful reader.
From a short story which remarks on the taciturn, wise water buffalo who lives down the street (who is really a water buffalo) to a story about beautiful ancient worlds hidden inside suburban homes, the collection explores the idea of what we give up in a modern world. My favorite story, the bittersweet "Stick Figures," embodies the entire book: stick figures with tumbleweed heads stand in for the bits of wildness that still manage to creep into our sterile suburbs.
As a writer, I love finding books that humble me, and Shaun Tan's books always seem to manage that. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.***
The answer is an unabashed yes. Inside TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA is a collection of related short stories that explore the absurdity, sadness, and joy of suburban life (in this case, Australian suburban life). As always, Tan's art is filled with a kind of bizarre wonder punctuated with extraordinary subtle oddities to reward the careful reader.
From a short story which remarks on the taciturn, wise water buffalo who lives down the street (who is really a water buffalo) to a story about beautiful ancient worlds hidden inside suburban homes, the collection explores the idea of what we give up in a modern world. My favorite story, the bittersweet "Stick Figures," embodies the entire book: stick figures with tumbleweed heads stand in for the bits of wildness that still manage to creep into our sterile suburbs.
As a writer, I love finding books that humble me, and Shaun Tan's books always seem to manage that. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.***
October 27, 2018
Shaun Tan ormai è diventato di diritto il mio autore di graphic novel preferito. Autore davvero particolare, originale, eclettico, visionario.
In questo libricino, una chicca il solo oggetto in sè, è una raccolta di storie dove il surreale si miscela col reale e con l'onirico, in modo perfetto. Ogni storia ha un suo stile grafico, stupendo per la vena immaginifica espressa in queste pagine.
L'autore di solito mi ha abituato ad opere perlopiù a disegni, dove questi ultimi davano vita al racconto senza l'ausilio delle parole o poche sparse qua e là. Qui invece di parole ce ne sono ed i racconti sono molto evocativi, poetici...
"Un enorme quantitativo di intelligenza può essere investito in ignoranza quando il bisogno di illudersi è profondo." (Saul Bellow)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cqQs...
In questo libricino, una chicca il solo oggetto in sè, è una raccolta di storie dove il surreale si miscela col reale e con l'onirico, in modo perfetto. Ogni storia ha un suo stile grafico, stupendo per la vena immaginifica espressa in queste pagine.
L'autore di solito mi ha abituato ad opere perlopiù a disegni, dove questi ultimi davano vita al racconto senza l'ausilio delle parole o poche sparse qua e là. Qui invece di parole ce ne sono ed i racconti sono molto evocativi, poetici...
"Un enorme quantitativo di intelligenza può essere investito in ignoranza quando il bisogno di illudersi è profondo." (Saul Bellow)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cqQs...
July 6, 2018
This book is so wonderfully illustrated by Shaun Tan himself! I am still drooling over the graphic works of Tales from Outer Suburbia.
However, I don't think this book belongs to Children genre. To be honest, I didn't get all the short stories from this book. Poor me! I wonder, since when my sense of understanding become so poor!! 😞
However, I don't think this book belongs to Children genre. To be honest, I didn't get all the short stories from this book. Poor me! I wonder, since when my sense of understanding become so poor!! 😞
December 30, 2017
وقتی این کتاب رو باز میکنید، اتفاقی که میفته درست مثل قصه هاس... با باز شدن کتاب یه نور قشنگ ازش بیرون می زنه، و شما رو همراه خودش وارد دنیای فانتزیش می کنه. انگار که دیگه کتاب توی دست هاتون نباشه؛ بلکه شما میون کتاب باشید. انگار که همه چیز رو فراموش کنید و حتی متوجه گذر زمان توی دنیای واقعی نباشید... فقط قراره گم بشید لابلای قصه های این کتاب؛ و صد البته لابلای تصویرسازی های چشم گیر و فوق العاده قشنگش.
قصه ها یکی از یکی خاص تر و متفاوت تر هستن، هرکدوم شما رو وارد یه دنیای دوست داشتنی میکنن، و شاید یاد تک تک خیال بافی های بچگیتون بیفتید، لبخند بزنید، و دلتنگ بشید. یه گرمای قشنگی لابلای این قصه ها هست، که تقریبا حس نکردنش غیرممکنه؛ حتی اگه سال هاست از درون یخ زدید.
اونقدر از خوندنشون لذت بردم، اونقدر کیف کردم از غرق شدن میون تصاویر جذابش؛ که حالا تنها سوالی که دارم از خودم میپرسم اینه: من چرا تا امروز از شان تن چیزی نخونده بودم؟
دی نود و شش
قصه ها یکی از یکی خاص تر و متفاوت تر هستن، هرکدوم شما رو وارد یه دنیای دوست داشتنی میکنن، و شاید یاد تک تک خیال بافی های بچگیتون بیفتید، لبخند بزنید، و دلتنگ بشید. یه گرمای قشنگی لابلای این قصه ها هست، که تقریبا حس نکردنش غیرممکنه؛ حتی اگه سال هاست از درون یخ زدید.
اونقدر از خوندنشون لذت بردم، اونقدر کیف کردم از غرق شدن میون تصاویر جذابش؛ که حالا تنها سوالی که دارم از خودم میپرسم اینه: من چرا تا امروز از شان تن چیزی نخونده بودم؟
دی نود و شش
November 1, 2021
”Истината е, че непрочетената поезия почти винаги си остава непрочетена - обречена да потъне в онази буйна, невидима река от смет, която бълват предградията…”
“…но понякога броди по улиците и дири отломки от забравени прозрения и чувства….”
“…носи се плавно над покривите на предградията, докато всички спят…”
Поезията на австралийските предградия и техните фантастични и/или нефантастични обитатели е предадена с много топлота, с много любов и с леко намигване и малко тъжна усмивка в изящните, кратки разкази в книгата. Илюстрациите са неразривна част от сюжетите, често дори оформят микро-разказче или пък обхващат в разкошна рамка тъй или иначе немногословните словесни миниатюри.
Както детето във възрастния плюс самият възрастен във възрастния (две в едно!), така и бъдещият възрастен в детето еднакво биха се насладили както на сладкодумието на Шон Тан и пъстрите, странни и многозначни картинки, така и на пресъздаването им на роден език от Нева Минчева.
“…но понякога броди по улиците и дири отломки от забравени прозрения и чувства….”
“…носи се плавно над покривите на предградията, докато всички спят…”
Поезията на австралийските предградия и техните фантастични и/или нефантастични обитатели е предадена с много топлота, с много любов и с леко намигване и малко тъжна усмивка в изящните, кратки разкази в книгата. Илюстрациите са неразривна част от сюжетите, често дори оформят микро-разказче или пък обхващат в разкошна рамка тъй или иначе немногословните словесни миниатюри.
Както детето във възрастния плюс самият възрастен във възрастния (две в едно!), така и бъдещият възрастен в детето еднакво биха се насладили както на сладкодумието на Шон Тан и пъстрите, странни и многозначни картинки, така и на пресъздаването им на роден език от Нева Минчева.
July 10, 2019
I am a big Shaun Tan fan. Blame it on The Arrival because once I experienced that illustration only story, I have been a goner. As I sipped my afternoon coffee, I perused the illustrations and read the fifteen pieces of writing found within. If I had to pick a favorite, I just couldn't because they're all quite amazing.
Goodreads review published 10/07/19
Goodreads review published 10/07/19
August 27, 2019
این هم مثل سایر کتاب های شان تن عالی بود. این کتاب مجموعه داستان بود. بعضی از داستان هاش فوق العاده بودن. بعضی هاشون معمولی تر بودن. ولی همه شون، اون حس و حال عجیب و غریب مخصوص شان تن رو داشتن.
نکته ی مهم راجع به این کتاب اینه که این، به خلاف دو کتاب دیگه ای که ازش خوندم
(The Rabbits و Arrival)
بیشترش متنه و تصویرها، فقط مکمل هستن. به خلاف اون دوتا که یکیشون اصلاً متن نداشت و اون یکی، تلفیقی از متن و تصویر بود.
به هر حال، تجربه ی خوبی با کتاب های این مرد داشتم. اگه کتاب های بیشتری ازش پیدا کردم، با کمال میل می خونم.
لینک دانلود:
http://s5.picofile.com/file/837070078...
نکته ی مهم راجع به این کتاب اینه که این، به خلاف دو کتاب دیگه ای که ازش خوندم
(The Rabbits و Arrival)
بیشترش متنه و تصویرها، فقط مکمل هستن. به خلاف اون دوتا که یکیشون اصلاً متن نداشت و اون یکی، تلفیقی از متن و تصویر بود.
به هر حال، تجربه ی خوبی با کتاب های این مرد داشتم. اگه کتاب های بیشتری ازش پیدا کردم، با کمال میل می خونم.
لینک دانلود:
http://s5.picofile.com/file/837070078...
December 29, 2018
Tales from Outer Suburbia is a graphic novel for young readers by award-winning Australian illustrator and author, Shaun Tan. There are fifteen tales, each illustrated with Tan’s wonderfully evocative artwork. The endpapers are filled with intricate drawings; the contents page is in the form of an envelope whose stamps list the tales, their denomination denoting the page number, whose addressee forms the dedication, whose sticker credits the publisher, all so clever! The second-last page is basically an acknowledgements page, but in the form of a library sticker.
The tales are many and varied: some quirky and strange, some funny, some very moving. The illustrations are, of course, wonderful and careful examination of each page reveals many more items than are apparent at first glance. Tan has a talent for descriptive prose too: “The newly planted fruit trees died in the sandy soil of the too-bright backyard and were left like grave-markers under the slack laundry lines, a small cemetery of disappointment.”
Different tales are likely to appeal to different readers, but favourites are likely to be “no other country” (a mysterious inner courtyard), “alert but not alarmed” (backyard ICBMs) and “our expedition” (a trek to the limits of Dad’s street directory). Marvellous!!
The tales are many and varied: some quirky and strange, some funny, some very moving. The illustrations are, of course, wonderful and careful examination of each page reveals many more items than are apparent at first glance. Tan has a talent for descriptive prose too: “The newly planted fruit trees died in the sandy soil of the too-bright backyard and were left like grave-markers under the slack laundry lines, a small cemetery of disappointment.”
Different tales are likely to appeal to different readers, but favourites are likely to be “no other country” (a mysterious inner courtyard), “alert but not alarmed” (backyard ICBMs) and “our expedition” (a trek to the limits of Dad’s street directory). Marvellous!!
October 14, 2016
This is the kind of book that should be at your aunt's house, so that every Thanksgiving, while the women are gossiping, the men are watching the game, and the little kids are raising a ruckus, you can retreat into these pages and have a good think.
So, check out the endpapers. Does Tan doodle first, and then develop stories when a sketch lights a bulb of inspiration? Oh, and this isn't exactly a kids' book, you know. My library has it shelved as Juvenile, but I'm not sure how many 6-9 yo's are ready for it. But then again, if they reread it over time....
So, check out the endpapers. Does Tan doodle first, and then develop stories when a sketch lights a bulb of inspiration? Oh, and this isn't exactly a kids' book, you know. My library has it shelved as Juvenile, but I'm not sure how many 6-9 yo's are ready for it. But then again, if they reread it over time....
May 8, 2014
There's something about Shaun Tan's books that are so ethereal and otherworldly it's like sitting at the edge of a very high cliff and quietly watching the clouds as they move past your feet. Tales from Outer Suburbia is no different, and it's like I want to absorb the book into my skin.
That sounds weird. I can't explain it. I just want to.
So very obviously definitely recommended.
That sounds weird. I can't explain it. I just want to.
So very obviously definitely recommended.
April 2, 2022
Sadly
a big ball of paper, no matter how large and buoyant, is still a fragile thing.
Sooner or LATER,it will be surprised by a sudden gust of wind Beaten by
driving rain and REDUCED in a matter of minutes to a billion soggy shreds.
درکودکی دوجلد کتاب داستان به نام " افسانه ها " به روایت "صبحی " داشتم . بسیاری ازداستانهایش فکروروح مراباترس عجین میکرد ولی چندین وچندباره می خواندمشان . قصه ها اینطوربود یامن مستعد حال بدبودم ؟ نمیدانم .
قصه ها و رویا ها گاهی پناهی برای فرارازواقعیت های نادلچسب هستند .گاهی هم کابوس و ترس . این مجموعه قصه کودکان و نوجوانان همین طوراست .چه بسا مفیدتربرای بزرگسالان . نقاشی ها و طراحیهای زنده وخوب . بعضی قصه ها بهتر و بعضی ضعیف ترند.
یکی از داستانها به نام " کشوری دیگر " از وجود کشوری خوب داخل کشوری بد روایت می کند. مگرنه اینکه سالهاست ما نمونه کشورو زندگی ایده آل خیالی درخانه ها ومغزهایمان داریم ودرهمان حال درکشوری با شرایط و قوانینی دیگرزندگی می کنیم ؟
a big ball of paper, no matter how large and buoyant, is still a fragile thing.
Sooner or LATER,it will be surprised by a sudden gust of wind Beaten by
driving rain and REDUCED in a matter of minutes to a billion soggy shreds.
درکودکی دوجلد کتاب داستان به نام " افسانه ها " به روایت "صبحی " داشتم . بسیاری ازداستانهایش فکروروح مراباترس عجین میکرد ولی چندین وچندباره می خواندمشان . قصه ها اینطوربود یامن مستعد حال بدبودم ؟ نمیدانم .
قصه ها و رویا ها گاهی پناهی برای فرارازواقعیت های نادلچسب هستند .گاهی هم کابوس و ترس . این مجموعه قصه کودکان و نوجوانان همین طوراست .چه بسا مفیدتربرای بزرگسالان . نقاشی ها و طراحیهای زنده وخوب . بعضی قصه ها بهتر و بعضی ضعیف ترند.
یکی از داستانها به نام " کشوری دیگر " از وجود کشوری خوب داخل کشوری بد روایت می کند. مگرنه اینکه سالهاست ما نمونه کشورو زندگی ایده آل خیالی درخانه ها ومغزهایمان داریم ودرهمان حال درکشوری با شرایط و قوانینی دیگرزندگی می کنیم ؟
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