A review by lmurray74
Eric by Shaun Tan

5.0

I've been catching up on Shaun Tan's work while reading China Miéville's Railsea. The world/s Shaun Tan depicts and the quirkiness of his creations work at times feel like almost parallel universes to the one Miéville creates. It's almost impossible to put their work in a specific genre. Both Tan and Miéville take me places I've never been before. Eric is a very sweet, short tale. Tan's work often deals with the theme of living in a world where communication can be difficult but an understanding of sorts usually eventuates. Eric tells the story of an exchange student coming to live probably somewhere in Australia. It's told from the point of view of the child in the host house. Tan's illustrations never cease to amaze me. They are less complex here than in some of his other works but are just as appealing. What draws me in to books by Tan and Miéville are that they are able to address complex emotional and political issues without knocking you over the head like some fictional novels do. The worlds Tan creates are worlds that I revisit time and time again and probably will do for many years to come.