BOOK. Going through the pages of “The Arrival” you realise that you are not only reading a story about migration - you are actually visiting a mini art exhibition.
At the end of last year I stumbled on Shaun Tan’s graphic novel “The Arrival” at a bookstore in London - for the second time. Its detailed, surreal fairytale-like drawings captured me again, just like it had done the first time I flipped through its pages.
So this time I decided to buy it.
The book was first published in 2006, and has been reissued too, and I believe that it’s on its way to becoming a classic…which is why I wanted to present it to you here, should you not know it already.
Poverty, war, curiosity, love
So what is this book with its special drawings all about? Well, overall it circles around the theme of migration, an ‘activity' people all over the world always have been practicing - and probably always will be practicing now and forevermore.
Yes, people migrate, and for many different reasons. Poverty. War. Persecution. Adventure. Curiosity. Love. Somewhere else than where you live seems more attractive. So you pack up your things and you travel.
However, very often it turns out that it’s not an easy task you’ve given yourself - or have been forced to carry out.
Dragons live in the streets
The story of “The Arrival” is put together from the experiences of many different migrants, we are told in the back of the book. From different countries and from different historical periods, including the story of Shaun Tan’s own father who came to Australia from Malaysia in 1960. And who knows, perhaps Tan’s memories of his own childhood is somewhat reflected in the happenings we see unfold before our eyes?
The story is about a family of three, a man, his wife and their young daughter who live in a place where something - or someone - is threatening them. ‘Dragons’ live in the streets, danger lurks around every corner.
To change the situation for the better the man travels to a new country, leaving his little family behind temporarily. He boards a ‘Titanic’-like steamer and sails off to a foreign country, a more fitting place. However, when he arrives at the new place everything looks strange and scary.
Down the road he manages to find himself a job at a factory. He meets other migrants and they share their stories and become friends, tied together by their common destiny. You can see from the expressions in their faces that because of just that they truly understand each other.
After a while the man has saved up enough money to send for his wife and daughter, and finally the little family is reunited. The new place now begins to look more pleasant - brighter colours and smiles are added to the pictures, and you sense that the family has good hopes for the future.
It’s like watching a silent movie
All through the book the story is told in drawings only. Going through the pages is kind of like watching a silent movie, and you give each picture an intense look, in order to read all the details. And let me just say that Shaun Tan is excellent at describing emotions and moods through the skilfully made pictures and the visual timing.
Like when the father of the family unpacks his suitcase. He is all alone in the new foreign place, and he doesn’t know anyone or anything. When you see him you have no doubt just
h o w lonely he feels - and how far away from his wife and daughter he is in all kind of ways.
And when a fellow migrant tells the father about why he decided to leave his country, you are convinced that what this man experienced before arriving at the new place was truly terrifying.
A mini art exhibition
When going through “The Arrival” you realise that you are not only reading a story - you are being given a tour through a mini art exhibition. ‘Cause the illustrations are in fact small pieces of brilliance themselves. And if you don’t mind taking your book apart you could cut out the pages, put them in frames and hang them on your wall.
Shaun Tan’s story about the little family is straight forward and easy to comprehend, however you have to pay attention to the details to get the full experience. ‘Cause it is in the details of his drawings that he shows the world how migrating to a foreign place - especially if you are forced to do so - is a tough job. So many new things to learn, so many uncertainties.
Imagine what it's like to be an immigrant
According to Tan himself he made “The Arrival” in order to build a kind of empathy in readers, and to make them stop and imagine what it’s like to be a migrant. After reading the book I feel I understand at least a little more about the hardships and hopes of people who leave everything they know and move to a foreign place. And I will certainly take the book from my bookshelves from time to time and look through the amazing illustrations. Or…perhaps I will cut them out and hang them on my wall.
In My Opinion
⭐ What I really like about “The Arrival"
The drawings, the graphics…the whole look of the book with its mix of old yellowed-scrapbook-style. And of course the abstract fairytale-like figures too.
I like that it’s a book filled with hope. The family succeed, and even though you understand that it’s a difficult and scary situation, they care a lot for each other. As if to tell us that in difficult times you tend to stick closer together.
In the front and back of the book there are 60 faces drawn in passport photograph size and they are all looking straight at you. All types are represented - men, women, boys, girls, old and young. From countries all around the world, and from different historical periods too. I couldn’t help but searching for a face that looked just like mine. We could all be immigrants, right?
📝 Some notes I made
Shaun Tan writes in the back of the book that his story is partly based upon his own father’s experiences as a migrant from Malaysia. Why did his father migrate? I’m curious. I’d love if the notes told us just a little more about this. (If you are curious too then go to Tan’s website - shauntan.net - and find “The Arrival”. Here’s an article where he gives some details on his father’s story).
We mainly follow the story of the father - but what happened to the wife and daughter after he had left? A few snapshots from their side of the story would be interesting.
“The Arrival” is listed as a children’s book and placed in the children’s book’s department. At least at the bookstore where I bought it. However, I rather see this graphic novel as a book for adults. Or at least for young adults and beyond. ‘Cause you need the mind of a grown up to understand the details in the drawings and what is happening all in all, I’d say. Also many of the illustrations are rather scary.
F U N F A C T S
🇦🇺 Shaun Tan is born in 1974 in Perth, Western Australia.
✏️ In school he was known as a good drawer - which, he says, compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class.
👨🎨 He works as an artist and author in Melbourne.
📚 “The Arrival” is made in a big edition and as a small pocket book.
🏆 In 2011 Shaun Tan received Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Sweden for his body of work.
🎭 Shaun Tan has made a number of picture books, paintings, film and theatre and other interesting projects. You can see all of it here www.shauntan.net
🎥 Watch this animated version of “The Arrival” where you get to see some of the fine drawings👇
See you next time
Majken xx
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P.P.S. I would love to hear from you! Comments on this blog post, recommendations in the historical non-fiction department...anything you like to share. Please send me a message
This book review is based on The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Lothian Books, Australia, 2014.
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