The Arrival by Shaun Tan

From classic literature of Ancient Greece to Shakespeare's The Tempest to more recent sci-fi fare such as Star Wars, some of the most powerful stories of our time are framed by epic journeys. Australian illustrator Shaun Tan's latest work, The Arrival, is a wordless picture book that follows the progress of an immigrant escaping from his native land to plant his roots in a new country. Appearing much like old sepia-toned photographs, Tan's drawings are gloomy and glossy, and reading The Arrival is not unlike going through an old picture album without any captions. Readers follow the protagonist as he packs his suitcase and walks to the foggy docks accompanied by his wife and young daughter. The vague reasons for his departure are suggested by sinister and threatening shadows that swirl like dragons' tails among the buildings and empty streets. After a long boat journey, the man arrives with countless other immigrants at his destination: a city both familiar and strange, sort of like Dr. Seuss in the land of Oz. Surreal monuments commemorate unknown events, small boys sell newspapers written in an indecipherable script that looks something like a blend of Arabic and Cyrillic. The public transport system involves weird hot-air balloon taxis and even the wildlife--strange reptilian creatures--seem alien, yet somehow recognizable. To communicate with others, the traveler is obliged to use the language of pictures by drawing sketches of what he needs in a small notebook. He encounters other immigrants who through various means tell their own stories of how they came to be there. The book exudes an aura of quiet loneliness; the refined detail of the images and the absence of any words to explain them compels the reader to identify with this outsider in a foreign land who is himself forced to interpret everything by sight. Tan is a remarkable artist, and when the protagonist of The Arrival resorts to sketching in order to communicate , you get the impression that this is what Tan himself has been doing all along – using art in its most primitive historic role as a way of telling stories.

A copy of The Arrival is available at SMS Library, and even though this book is being marketed as a graphic novel for youth, it is really a book for adults that children will enjoy and then grow into. The story may seem a bit desolate at times, but it has a sweet ending which I won't spoil. Read it and find out for yourself.