Describing Shaun Tan’s books as picture books for adults can’t be more true than in the case of The Lost Thing. I’m not sure how it far it could resonate with kids. For me it shook my soul a little bit, as his books always do.

Storyline is simple. From Shaun Tan’s description at his website:

The Lost Thing is a humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notice it’s presence. Each is unhelpful in their own way; strangers, friends, parents are all unwilling to entertain this uninvited interruption to day-to-day life. In spite of his better judgement, the boy feels sorry for this hapless creature, and attempts to find out where it belongs.

The Lost Thing itself I always knew would be red and big, so very noticeable, which makes us wonder why nobody really notices it (this is the key question of the story, for which there is no single answer).

The Lost Thing likes to eat Christmas decorations

Apparently there could be different interpretations of what the Lost Thing actually represents. While reading it though it seemed very clear to me that the Lost Thing is a thing that is important to us, so huge, so noticeable. It’s taking our entire world and yet you wonder why people just don’t see it the same way. That they just don’t care. Don’t you have things like that in your life? I do. Especially, perhaps, back when I was younger. Back when lots of things were important, to me, and people kept saying that they didn’t matter, not after you’ve grown older and learned more about the world. Annoying, but for most things, are sadly true.

In essence, The Lost Thing comments on the sense of being lost, of not belonging, which seems to be the recurrent theme I found in his works. Probably caused by experience as an Asian growing up in Australia many years ago?

The illustrations are stunning. There is no empty space within the pages. Even the gaps between panels that are usually white for normal comics are full of doodles and collages. The book is an absolute keeper. Love.

1999, 32pp

The Lost Thing @ shauntan.net

Before reading the book, I never had much impression of Alice. She was a rather dull observant in a wacky world. How pleasantly surprised I was to find that the character Alice in book has so much more! She is opinionated, she likes to daydream and talk to herself, she likes to assert everybody (which makes the creatures around her unhappy more often than not), she is adventurous, but also has impeccable manners. In short, she has personality! Which is really what is lacking in the movies.

And the language! How delightful, playful, and surprisingly, modern! It does not at all read like a classic (not that there’s anything wrong with classic). It just felt so familiar, as if it is written in our times. I could not believe the book is written in 1800s.

Then the world! We are all familiar with Alice’s world from various sources, but I was so happy to finally know how it was originally presented. There are a few creatures that never made the cut into the Disney movie, namely the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle. Though probably for a good reason as I thought it was the least exciting part of the book. Then the Duchess, her pig baby, and the excessive-pepper cook. And do you know that Tweedledee and Tweedledum are not in the original Alice? I was waiting for their appearance as they’re ones of my favorite characters, yet they never came up. Apparently they appear in the sequel (Through the Looking Glass), which is included in the same Vintage copy I have, but I’ve decided to save it for later and write a separate post as I loved the first one so much I can’t wait to talk about it here.

My favorite parts are the scene after Alice cries and falls into her own pool of tears and meet all the birds and mouse. The part where the Mouse starts to give what according to him is the driest speech and where they have running competition in circle almost made me fall off my chair laughing (figuratively speaking, as I read in bed). Then the trial in the last two chapters! My gosh the trial is just out-of-this-world hilarious! I don’t think it can get any funnier! My words can’t explain how funny the whole scene is!

I don’t know why it took me so long to pick up this book and why I missed it as a child (I’m guessing it never got translated in my birth country). But really, I have a feeling that it’s one of those books that you may appreciate more as an adult. For me it is anyway. Now I understand how the story could stand the test of time for so long (145 years this year). I honestly think Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is work of a genius.

1865, 150 pp

My Vintage copy of Alice contains the original illustrations by John Tenniel (above). I read it in conjunction with another copy of Alice I borrowed off the library which was published in 2009 by Walker Books (Australia), illustrated by Robert Ingpen (right). The new illustrations use colored pencils and look absolutely amazing. However Alice and everybody in it looks so grave to the point of looking sad, which seems like an odd decision. Why would you draw such solemn characters for such a funny tale? The contemporary illustrator gave such high praises for Tenniel, the original illustrator, and it warmed my heart. He stated that the creative partnership between Carroll and Tenniel is “unmatched in the history of our literature”.

“It is for these reasons that my pictorial collection of Alice through her dream underground for these modern times, is dedicated in awe to John Tenniel, whose skill and imagination made his work shine out at a time when black and white engraving from drawings was the only practical means of print reproduction for the illustrator.” ~ Robert Ingpen

I rarely quote a dedication, but this one just touched me. Such a humble man.

Alice and the Caterpillar, by John Tenniel

Some interesting facts about Alice. Lewis Carroll is the pen name used by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for three daughters of a Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford, one of them named Alice Pleasance Liddell, the middle of three sisters. Carroll was a mathematician and worked as mathematics lecturer until his death. When Caroll first wrote the story by hand, he purposely left space for 37 illustrations which were added later by John Tenniel. After coming out of copyright in 1907, 42 years after its publication, over 200 illustrators other than Tenniel have interpreted the story, many paid homage to the original visions of Carroll and Tenniel through their depictions of Alice and the other characters. Carroll realized that the book’s illustrations were as important as his words, for, as Alice herself muses in the opening paragraph of the book, “… what is the use of a book… without pictures or conversation?”

Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel

Also check out First Tuesday Book Club episode on Alice in Wonderland. They were all over it!

First line
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?”

Challenges/Projects
Once Upon a Time IV (book #5), Read the Book See the Movie (pair #4), 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Disney Literature Challenge

Also reviewed by
Loved! Ready When You Are, C.B. | Sasha & The Silverfish (with illustrations by Camille Rose Garcia)
Didn’t :(. su[shu]

The Films

I watched Tim Burton’s Alice months ago, but I think I’m going to talk about that one after I read Through the Looking Glass. This time around hubby and I were curious about the other adaptations of Alice apart from the Disney cartoon. So we tried two versions: the 1972 and 1999 (there are an incredible amount of movie adaptations of Alice!)

We tried the 1999 version first (right), the one with Whoopi Goldberg and Ben Kingsley, but quickly got bored. So after 20 minutes or so we tried the 1972 one (left), which we liked more and watched until the end. It stays quite true to the story, with the appearance of the Gryphon, Mock Turtle, the Duchess and Pepper-woman (who are missing in the Disney cartoon).

But you see, the problem is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one hell of a book to turn into a movie. I do think it is quite impossible to adapt the book, no matter how many times people try. The humour and the deft language is completely lost. Sure the world is full of strange creatures, but that’s about it.

I haven’t watched all the adaptations ever made (and I don’t think I will), but I will bet a good money that the Disney version is probably the best of the lot and as best as you can get for Alice. Though it surely has not beaten the book, nuh-uh. I haven’t re-watched the Disney version for this round of my Disney Literature Challenge (mostly because I just realized I don’t own the DVD. How can that be? I thought I owned all Classic Disney DVDs.) but I don’t need to. We have a clear winner.

Disney Literature Challenge Round 2

Disney vs. Carroll
on Alice Adventure’s in Wonderland

Well, what do you know? Carroll won the battle. (What, you mean I wasn’t clear enough?)

Current Score
Disney – 1 vs. Authors – 1

If you have been a reader of my blog for .. oh.. about 5 minutes, you’d know that I luurrvv Shaun Tan. After the amazing Tales from Outer Suburbia and The Arrival, I have intended to go through all his back catalogue, even if that means I need to venture into the children’s section of my library, towering like a gigantic being among the little young uns’.

Shaun Tan’s books are classified as Picture Books, though according to him:

They are best described as ‘picture books for older readers’ rather than young children, as they deal with relatively complex visual styles and themes, including colonial imperialism, social apathy, the nature of memory and depression.

The Rabbits, written by John Marsden, is partly allegorical fable about colonisation, told from the viewpoint of the colonised. It features the weirdest looking rabbits I have ever seen. Like always, Tan’s illustrations left me breathless.

I’ll let you soak in the glory of Shaun Tan’s world.

1998, 32 pp

Shaun Tan’s The Rabbits

First line
The rabbits came many grandparents ago.

Awards
1999 Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year
1999 Spectrum Gold Award for Book Illustration
1999 Aurealis Conveners’ Award for Excellence

Challenges
Aussie Author (book #2), Book Awards IV (book #6), Once Upon a Time IV (book #1)

Also reviewed by
Beth Fish Reads

Like all good adventure story, Bone is ended with a great battle between good and evil ala The Lord of the Rings (not that I’ve read or watched LOTR). Bone series has been such a fun journey and I’m sad that it has ended, though the ending is pretty open to possibility of a sequel. But really, Jeff Smith has spent almost 10 years to complete Bone, so let’s give the guy a break.

To recap, I wrote some sort of reviews for almost every single volume, except no 2: (Well, if not full review, it’d be an exclamation “Hey, another great volume!”)

1. Bone Vol 1: Out from Boneville
2. Bone Vol 2: The Great Cow Race
3. Bone Vol 3: Eyes of the Storm
4. Bone Vol 4: The Dragonslayer
5. Bone Vol 5: Rock Jaw Master of the Eastern Border
6. Bone Vol 6: Old Man’s Cave
7. Bone Vol 7: Ghost Circles
8. Bone Vol 8: Treasure Hunters
9. Bone Vol 9: Crown of Horns

If I can encourage you to read one post, it’d be the first one! I wrote a rather lengthy post when I first read Bone in late 2008, in which I compared the Bone brothers with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy (I’m so surprised nobody else has!), the comparison between graphic novels and comics, and Bone the game.

It’s hard to give rating for individual volumes at this late stage of a series, but as a whole I would give it:

Took half a star off, just because some parts of storyline left me confused near the end. But the humour and characters are great, the drawings are always amazing. It’s a fantastic series and very well worth reading!

I guess this means goodbye to Bone for now… *sob*

Challenges
Graphic Novels 2010 (book #2, 3)

Also reviewed by
Beth Fish Reads: Treasure Hunters | Crown of Horns (I’m so impressed that Beth managed to properly review each volume!)
Things Mean A Lot | nothing of importance (the entire series)

The holiday time is coming closer and I find myself just want to indulge in light reading. I came back from the library last week with heaps of graphic novels. I heard a couple of times before how people who never read comics can get confused about where to look on the pages, since there are many panels and text floating all over the place. That amused me. For me comics are my comfort reads. I often have to hold myself not to go nuts over them, otherwise I can just keep reading days after days, forgetting to do anything else.

But it’s (almost) holiday time, I finished almost all of my challenges, and I’m giving myself a break over serious reading.

I started with Bone Vol 6: Old Man’s Cave and Vol 7: Ghost Circles. Good old adventure story with light humour. I quickly reserved the next and last two volumes from the library and they’re on my bedside now. (There are 9 volumes of Bone altogether, and there are a couple of standalones based on the series.)

In Old Man’s Cave we get to know more of Lucius and Grandma Ben’s past and who the Lord of the Locust is. More of that in Ghost Circles. I still don’t quite get what Ghost Circles are. Some parts of storyline get a bit confusing.

The references to Moby Dick is endearing like always. The part where the Bone brothers turn into characters from Moby Dick is so funny!

for both
1999, 2001

Challenge: Graphic Novels 2009 (book #18, 19)

I’m halfway through The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. The Classics Circuit is going to enter the third week of Wilkie Collins tour. I’ve been enjoying the first and second week of the tour. Go check them out if you haven’t! My stop of the tour would be on the 9th of December. I have spared pretty much all November for this tome of a book, so I’m strolling along just nicely without any unnecessary added pressure.

The next tour in January/February would be Edith Wharton. I love the compilation of author information and their works by Rebecca and friends. They’re so thorough and informative! I voted for John Steinbeck at the poll (there were 4 authors, including Mark Twain and Willa Cather) and Wharton won. I’m interested to read The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck and The Age of Innocence by Wharton, but I think I’ll pass this time around just so I have more room to read for my other challenges and projects.

I haven’t read Children books since… forever, but I read TWO this week! I prepared them for Dewey’s read-a-thon but didn’t get around to read them then. Well I should’ve because they only took about 5-10 minutes each (mostly looking at pictures too).

They are Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and The Great Escape from City Zoo by Tohby Riddle.

Where the Wild Things Are was made into a movie and though it’s not out here in Australia yet, I’d like to be prepared since it looks great! Some people in my company worked on some of its special effects too, so the more reason for me to watch it. The book is super simple. Boy goes to some strange land with strange creatures (love the fuzzy creatures, they’re so cute!) then goes back home. That would give the movie so much freedom to write their own script!

The Great Escape from City Zoo is about 4 animals who escaped from the zoo. Sounds familiar? (I haven’t watched Madagascar but some birds said that Tohby talked to people from Hollywood about his book, the deal didn’t go, but Madagascar the movie soon came after that.) Looks like the four animals there are giraffe, zebra, lion, and hippo. In The Great Escape the animals are elephant, flamingo, turtle, and anteater. I met Tohby Riddle at Sydney Writers’ Festival earlier this year and have wanted to read one of his books since then. I love his illustration. In this book the illustration is all in sepia shade watercolour, which looks quite subtle for normally vibrant colored children books.

A sudden turn from children books, I watched Fight Club this week. I never read Chuck Palahniuk‘s books before and I don’t know if I want to after watching Fight Club. Do you have any to recommend?

For some weird reason, I mixed Palahniuk and Orhan Pamuk on Fight Club so I quietly wondered during the movie: why does a Turkish novelist write about a depressed white collar American who started underground fighting club? To my enlightenment, Palahniuk is indeed an American, and he’s no way related to Pamuk who is indeed a Turkish.

While we’re on the topic of Orhan Pamuk, would you highly recommend any of his books? He intimidates me a bit, but that’s probably because I thought he wrote Fight Club, or of the fact that he’s a Turkish professor and from what I read his books are quite difficult to read.

Fight Club (1999)

Going back to the movie. To summarize, it’s dark psychological thriller. I love the beginning: Edward Norton as a desperate everyday American who suffers insomnia and finds solace in visiting various support groups. (I have loved Edward Norton since the Illusionist and the Painted Veil. Hubby knew him from the Incredible Hulk. *roll eyes*) But then he meets Brad Pitt. While I love some Brad Pitt’s movies, I always see him acting his character, not becoming his character. So I always see Brad Pitt, not whichever character he’s supposed to be. If that makes any sense.

There’s definitely some graphic violence in the movie, sort of expected with a title like that. I was dissatisfied and confused with the ending so that didn’t make it a very good movie for me. But it’s not bad overall.

Rating: 7/10

It’s like talking to a person out of this world — wacky, interesting and unpredictable. The book takes you to journey you’d never guess (and probably shouldn’t try to). It’s fun. I’m sure you’d laugh a lot along the way. I did.

“They’ve got as much sex appeal as a road accident.” ~ Ford, p60

Note: I just knew that the term Babel Fish came from this book. Cool. (Babel Fish is a small yellow fish that you put in your ears to translate. Of course there’s a “scientific” explanation for it in the book. Today, Babel Fish is a translation engine.)

Note 2: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a trilogy that consists of 5 books. Eoin Colfer (of Artemis Fowl) is writing the 6th book (titled And Another Thing…) which will be out in October 2009.

1979, 224 pp

First line
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Last line
‘We’ll take in a quick bite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.’

Also reviewed by

She Treads Softly | Bibiolatry | Book Nut (a conversation)

The Arrival has no words, it’s all pictures (must be the easiest book to translate). And I almost have no words to describe it, because it’s so overwhelmingly good. The drawings, the imagination, it’s so out of this world that you feel you are transported to this magical majestic place.

Amazing amazing work.

The Arrival is a story about a man who leaves his family to a foreign place, to a new world for, like most if not all immigrants, a better life. ‘Strangers in strange lands’ is best to describe the theme.

The foreign-ness of the place, the sense of not belonging, the awe of seeing a different world, the strangeness of everyday’s details. It’s captured very well.

In fact, the wordlessness strengthens it.

I felt like I was watching a foreign movie with no subtitle. Or reading a book in a language I don’t understand. This is something I can really relate to– trying to find meanings in gesture, expression and body language. And that’s what the man in the story is trying to do too. I can understand his hardships. It’s like we’re trying to find our way together and are equally surprised with the unfamiliar.

What else can I say? Shaun Tan is a genius in expressing himself with visual art. I’m a huge fan. The Arrival is perfect for its kind.

I gave my dad the book to read. He finished it and said, spot on. This comes from a real live immigrant.

From shauntan.net:

The Arrival is a migrant story told as a series of wordless images that might seem to come from a long forgotten time. A man leaves his wife and child in an impoverished town, seeking better prospects in an unknown country on the other side of a vast ocean. He eventually finds himself in a bewildering city of foreign customs, peculiar animals, curious floating objects and indecipherable languages. With nothing more than a suitcase and a handful of currency, the immigrant must find a place to live, food to eat and some kind of gainful employment. He is helped along the way by sympathetic strangers, each carrying their own unspoken history: stories of struggle and survival in a world of incomprehensible violence, upheaval and hope.

If you have read the book (or even if you haven’t), I encourage you to read Tan’s comments on The Arrival (it’s at the bottom after the series of pictures).

2006, 128 pp

I also reviewed another of his book: Tales from Outer Suburbia just last month, which I also gave perfect score. How biased am I?

Awards
2007 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award for Book of the Year and Community Relations Commission Award
Nominated for 2008 Hugo Award Best Related Book and Best Professional Artist

Also reviewed by

Tripping Toward Lucidity | Ready When You Are, C.B. | OF Blog of the Fallen | ReadingAdventures | Blogging for a Good Book | Ticket to Anywhere | Stuff As Dreams Are Made On | Library Queue (with the most comprehensive awards list!) | avidbookreader.com | Rebecca Reads | 1morechapter.com

It’s for the better. Before I reduce my readers to only my mom. (That’s a joke. My mom doesn’t read my blog.)

Back to Bone!

This volume has so many funny moments that made me almost topple down from my seat. I LOVE IT! The last 2 volumes before this have gone darker, but Bone Vol 5 for me represents the real Bone, the funny cute Bone creatures and their friends.

Here we meet Rock Jaw, who calls himself Roque Ja, the giant cat (okay, tiger). Fone and Smiley meet him on their way to return the Bartleby the rat creature cub back to where it belongs.

I like Rock Jaw. He’s trying so hard to be graceful and dignified. Yet for me he just looks funny. On the other hand, I never like the art concept of Kingdok, the rat creature King. I think he’s pure ugly. And why doesn’t he look like the rest of the rat creatures?

Bartleby is, again, the star, since he’s so cute. Even though he doesn’t talk he seems to understand what everybody’s talking about :). I also notice that Smiley Bone doesn’t stick his tongue so much anymore like the first two volumes in the series. So everyone’s getting more serious, but still it’s sprinkled by a lot of comic reliefs.

My favorite scene:

Smiley Bone: Will you read us some Moby Dick? I wanna teach th’ little guy how to take a nap after lunch..

Fone Bone: Hey! This is a work of art, not a sleeping aid!

Smiley: Ooh! Debating its merits! Even better! Okay, we’re ready!

Then when the rat creatures attack:

Smiley: Quick! Read ‘em some of this!! (pointing to Moby Dick)

Fone: What?

Smiley: Call me Ishmael! (to the rat creatures)

Fone: What are you doing?!

Smiley: It’s not working! Here! You try! Go on! Read it!

Fone: Um.
“Call me Ishmael, Some years ago.. never mind how long precisely.. having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore…”
“… I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery parts of the world..”

Smiley: There! I think that did it!

Rat creatures fall down dizzy and possibly asleep.

HILARIOUS! LOL!

1998, 128pp

Also reviewed by

Beth Fish Reads | Things Mean A Lot (all at once)

Phoney Bone annoyed me, but mostly because he made Lucius all defeated. I hate to see the big guy beaten down. Apart from that, he’s adoringly annoying or annoyingly adorable.

The highlight for me is the appearance of the rat creature cub who gets attached to Fone and Smiley Bone, especially Smiley. Aawww. So cute! We need him in this war time.

The peaceful time has come to and end

1997, 184 pp

Also reviewed by

Beth Fish Reads | Things Mean A Lot (all at once)