The Arrival by Shaun Tan

[Yaya]

I've been reading comics for a long time. Most I find mediocre or worse. Some are good. Few are great.

And then there are some that come along, every once in a blue moon, that make such a strong impression on me, I remember them forever as something special, something to cherish and share with my friends. Something I feel could be taught at Harvard University. Something that says to those comic book naysayers branding us as pencil-pushing dweebs that "we know art".

The graphic novel The Arrival by Shaun Tan is such a work.

It's written and illustrated by Tan, a story told without words much akin to silent cinema, about the experiences of a immigrant looking to start a new life in a strange foreign land. The story itself is quite simple, but the way in which it is presented is simply genius.

I know I throw that word around quite a bit, but here, it is deserved. It's a tale so visually stunning and so cunningly crafted that Tan's abilities
rival the likes of a Dr. Seuss or a Jeff Smith (who actually praises the work on the back cover) in it's uniqueness.

The theme is much more mature than what one would find in most comics and graphic novels and the real impact of this story comes from it's resonance with real life experience.

I've never immigrated anywhere, and wouldn't have understood the experience, until I read this. It has accomplished more in making me understand what leaving one's land must be like from the immigrant's perspective than The Jungle ever did when I read it in high school.

Here's a review I read on Amazon that pretty much sums up my feelings on this work:

"There are some books that come across my plate that strike me as mildly amusing. There are some books I develop a passion for over time. But once in a very great while, one per year if I'm lucky, I will find a book that gives me a powerful shock. An almost electric, instantaneous passion. "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan is the most amazing thing I've had the pleasure to read in years. A silent story of sequenced panels, "The Arrival" tells the story of a man's immigration to a strange new land, and the people and places he discovers in the course of finding a place to call home. I have never read any book that puts the reader so perfectly into the shoes of someone who finds themselves somewhere that is completely and utterly bewildering to the senses. "

Again, Jeff Smith himself credits the book on the back cover. That's no light praise.

If someone clueless about comics ever asked me for a sample of why I read them, I would present three works to them. Bone by Jeff Smith, Marvels by Alex Ross, and The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

Get it in hardcover only.