Author: Shaun Tan
Ages: 6+ to 100+
"What draws so many to leave everything behind and journey alone to a mysterious country, a place without family or friends, where everything is nameless and the future is unknown? This silent graphic novel is the story of every migrant, every refugee, every displaced person, and a tribute to all those who have made the journey." - Blurb of "The arrival".
The blurb says it all. This is the story of one such immigrant who leaves his family to go and seek a living in a strange place. So alien, so full of strange structures, weird plants and animals, everything so foreign. It is the story of how he tries to communicate with the locals, not knowing their language. How he finds a place to live, a pet, a series of basic jobs, how he learns the new way of life, meets refugees and immigrants and learns of their stories, makes friends, saves up and finally calls his family over to settle down with him.
This book is very emotional. I ended up holding it and reading it for quite a long time. Which is amazing, given the fact that this is a picture book. With no printed story, not even a word. And any letters and words that do come in the drawings of the strange place are even more stranger, so this book is a story told with nothing but art. In black and white with that worn-out effect so beautifully created, it is a masterpiece.
So very daunting, isn't it! That feeling of being far away from family, missing that familiarity and warmth that is home, trying to fit in and belong in a strange place full of busy people and their busy lives. I can't even imagine how it would feel for people displaced because of war, poverty and homelessness, moving away with nothing but meagre belongings and leaving behind everything that must have meant the world to them, sometimes even loved ones, forever. People trying desperately to forget, to remember, to find hope and move on. People trying to feel accepted, people trying to live.
Throughout the story are people who take the time to step out of their routine and offer help to a complete stranger, be it with the directions, tickets on transport, or even inviting him home for dinner. They befriend the immigrant, talk about how they ended up in this place and try to help him with their knowledge of the place ( have you ever had a flashback story rendered just with still life pictures?! unbelievable work!!).
The immigrant works really hard, he finally settles down well and his family becomes so at-home in the new place that they even start helping other new comers.
The best books are those that give you a mental picture so vivid that you even remember it long after finishing the book. Shaun Tan has somehow managed to bring out these mental pictures to life so well with his illustrations that I almost felt like I was watching a motion picture. It transported me to a world so far away, roused so many deep memories and feelings from my sub-conscious and affected me in a very profound way.
The children have been sitting with this book for days together, making out their own meanings from the pictures and noticing so many unspoken feelings. I realized this must be a wonderful book to discuss in a class. Imagination, creativity, sensitivity, war, life, compassion, displacement, hard work, value of family and love, there is so much that this book has to offer as classroom material.
Here's what Shaun Tan has to say about the book.
And here's the book ( most of it) on Youtube. (although it isn't as intense as it would feel when you actually read the book).
And that immigrant in the story, it is actually the author's drawing of himself.
The Arrival. Disturbingly strange, yet so familiar.
Ages: 6+ to 100+
"What draws so many to leave everything behind and journey alone to a mysterious country, a place without family or friends, where everything is nameless and the future is unknown? This silent graphic novel is the story of every migrant, every refugee, every displaced person, and a tribute to all those who have made the journey." - Blurb of "The arrival".
The blurb says it all. This is the story of one such immigrant who leaves his family to go and seek a living in a strange place. So alien, so full of strange structures, weird plants and animals, everything so foreign. It is the story of how he tries to communicate with the locals, not knowing their language. How he finds a place to live, a pet, a series of basic jobs, how he learns the new way of life, meets refugees and immigrants and learns of their stories, makes friends, saves up and finally calls his family over to settle down with him.
This book is very emotional. I ended up holding it and reading it for quite a long time. Which is amazing, given the fact that this is a picture book. With no printed story, not even a word. And any letters and words that do come in the drawings of the strange place are even more stranger, so this book is a story told with nothing but art. In black and white with that worn-out effect so beautifully created, it is a masterpiece.
So very daunting, isn't it! That feeling of being far away from family, missing that familiarity and warmth that is home, trying to fit in and belong in a strange place full of busy people and their busy lives. I can't even imagine how it would feel for people displaced because of war, poverty and homelessness, moving away with nothing but meagre belongings and leaving behind everything that must have meant the world to them, sometimes even loved ones, forever. People trying desperately to forget, to remember, to find hope and move on. People trying to feel accepted, people trying to live.
Throughout the story are people who take the time to step out of their routine and offer help to a complete stranger, be it with the directions, tickets on transport, or even inviting him home for dinner. They befriend the immigrant, talk about how they ended up in this place and try to help him with their knowledge of the place ( have you ever had a flashback story rendered just with still life pictures?! unbelievable work!!).
The immigrant works really hard, he finally settles down well and his family becomes so at-home in the new place that they even start helping other new comers.
The best books are those that give you a mental picture so vivid that you even remember it long after finishing the book. Shaun Tan has somehow managed to bring out these mental pictures to life so well with his illustrations that I almost felt like I was watching a motion picture. It transported me to a world so far away, roused so many deep memories and feelings from my sub-conscious and affected me in a very profound way.
The children have been sitting with this book for days together, making out their own meanings from the pictures and noticing so many unspoken feelings. I realized this must be a wonderful book to discuss in a class. Imagination, creativity, sensitivity, war, life, compassion, displacement, hard work, value of family and love, there is so much that this book has to offer as classroom material.
Here's what Shaun Tan has to say about the book.
And here's the book ( most of it) on Youtube. (although it isn't as intense as it would feel when you actually read the book).
And that immigrant in the story, it is actually the author's drawing of himself.
The Arrival. Disturbingly strange, yet so familiar.
