Imperial Purple

Shaun Tan
The Arrival
Lothian 2006

I cannot find enough good things to say about this book but I’ll give it a try. Shaun Tan’s book is a masterpiece. It is the only book for a long time where, having finished it, I went straight back to the beginning and read it again.

There are no words in this book. The story is told through a series of pictures, each of which is a work of art in its own right.

It is the story of one man’s arrival in a foreign country. He has left the hardships of his own country and gone ahead to build a new life so that he can send for his wife and child. Although the artist says the book reflects his own parents’ arrival in Australia, he has cleverly made the main character a westerner. The new world has strange customs, language, culture, animals and flowers. Everything is alien.

And yet this world contains people too and the hero discovers kindness and compassion from those who have made the journey before him. He is adopted by a pet - a beautiful and alien creature who comes up to him like a stray cat and decides he needs a companion.

Words are just not adequate to describe this book without words. Buy, beg or steal a copy or, if all else fails, borrow one and refuse to give it back.

A genuine five star work of art.

Thomas de Quincy
Confessions of an English Opium Eater
First published: 1821
Second edition: 1856
Penguin edition: 1979

Confessions of an English Opium Eater was the most successful work of Thomas de Quincy, English academic and writer. It had a powerful influence at the time as it detailed de Quincy’s experiences with laudanum, a tincture of opium. I’ve never taken the stuff myself so I was interested to get a first-hand narrative.

Well, I was disappointed. Although there are some descriptions of the effects of opium the vast majority is de Quincy expounding on the topic nearest his heart - Thomas de Quincy. Unfortunately, he is not in and of himself very interesting.

If you are interested in his influence as a writer it is worth reading. If you are interested in de Quincy himself it is worth reading. If, however, you are after a good description of the effects of opium, or even the ravings of a drug-ravaged madman, you are out of luck.

One and a half stars only. For me, its fame is unwarranted.