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Savor it slowly and really appreciate its beauty. It is the story of immigration, of entering a foreign world and trying to fit in there, told through a fantastic conceit. Shaun Tan's The Arrival is beautiful. There are no words in this story, instead it is told in a series of intricate, unbelievably lovely pictures. Go get this one, you won't regret it.
this book is amazing from the first second.technically brilliant, it's also a deep work on emotions. A Must-Have.
It's a story of fear and hope, loss and gain, adventure and home. Shaun Tan captured that so well in this book and through a story of pictures managed to tell a more captivating immigration story then I've ever actually read through written word. This is the story of a man leaving his family and his country behind (a country besot with terrors of its own) and finding a new place for them to live. At first I thought this might be science-fiction because there were so many strange elements.
There is one moment - one set of pictures in this book that made me choke up and tears filled my eyes. Alien looking creatures (as evidenced by the cover), strange methods of transportations. Then, just last week I fell in love with The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. and then as I got into the book I realized that the story being told here is how our country must look to those arriving in it. Even the notes and signs are in a made-up language. I was first surprised by them when I began to read a Korean Manhwa named Goong.
And then yesterday I picked up The Arrival by Shaun Tan and didn't put it down until I'd finished it. The entire story is told in pictures - beautiful, sepia colored pictures. When the man arrives in the strange country and opens his suitcase, an image appears that made me think of opening my suitcase for the first time after leaving home. The sights, sounds, smells - everything assaulting our senses is different, new, amazing, thrilling and terrifying. If someone had told me a year ago that I'd be branching out into graphic novels this year I would have laughed. Unlike Goong and Hugo Cabret, this book does not have words.
That scent, the memories all seem to collide and you picture your family right there , for a moment it's captured and then it fades and just the items remain.
I would encourage all to pick up this wonderful book and place it out for everyone to see. Traveling from the safety and security of his home and family into the unknown abyss of a new life the loneliness jumped off the page as the man searched for a job and made new acquaintances.Though I've not had much experience with this genre, I imagine that this is what any great graphic novel should do. I could feel the emotions so clearly displayed on the young father's face. If this is the case than Tan has certainly done so with The Arrival.All in all, I'm excited to have been introduced to the world of graphic novels in such an exemplary way. Immediately taken by the beauty of the story he'd presented I'd say my favorite pieces were those that showed the other-worldy almost ethereal feel of the locale.
I'm looking forward to not only reading more of Tan's work but also other authors as well. From the trepidation of leaving his family behind to the jubilation of their arrival to meet with him in a new land I felt every beat he did. A land of sweeping loveliness the buildings and creatures that comprised it's inhabitants weren't to be feared but rather adored. Stunningly illustrated I was awestruck by Tan's artistic ability. Which is exactly what I did.Not to be outdone, the story Tan wrote in accompaniment is wonderful as well.
Move the reader to feel and experience.
This appears to be familiar territory but in the same breath also very strange and different. Our hero has to deal with a culture which is strange and different and we learn how he copes with dealing with people in a new land. Shaun Tan's art is not impressionistic, however the theme and structure of his story in the world of graphic literature is indeed impressionistic. One gets the sense that this planned migration has been instigated by a government of totalitarian ilk as evidenced by the Artist's drawing of a shadow of a "tale of a dragon" which gives evidence of sinister governance.The Author takes us into a world of epic art deco like scenery which is neither totally western nor eastern; in fact I see traces of Native American Indian influence.
5 Stars. In reality it is the art of mime in the world of graphic imagery which in and of itself creates its own unique genre. It uses advanced imagery and a high level nuanced story line using no prose. Upon further thought as you think about your recent dream episode, things were not as they should be. Such aberrations as flying boats and buildings that seems to be in New York City but possess a strange combination of oriental and occidental architecture. The artist goes into an explicit graphic narrative to describe the strangeness of immigrating to a new land. His final hope is to finally reunite with his family in a land which he finds to be a refuge to many people from far and away.This graphic depiction shows how an artist can convey an idea using simple pencil drawings and not using one word.
Fanastic. Have you ever wakened from a dream so real that you were actually shocked when you woke up. Welcome to Shaun Tans' epic dreamlike journey in "The Arrival" a story of a man leaving his home and family to migrate to a new world. This novel should never be thought of as a child's picture book.
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