Todd’s Blog

© Shaun Tan.

This wordless graphic story fits in well with the current resurgence in interest in graphic novels at bookstores and online sellers, but in fact it is closer in feel to the work of artist Lynd Ward, whose wordless novels in pictures were an unexpected success in the early to mid 20th century.

Everything about this book is beautifully conceived and executed. The cover uses the faux “old, battered scrapbook” approach to great effect, and the title pages follow that theme equally well. The type on the covers, two title pages, and afterword is the only type in this entire book that is in readable English, though Tan has worked out an alphabet of his own made from pieces of type alphabets and other rarely used characters. Some can be seen in this picture:

Whether it can be translated or not I don’t know, but it adds to the theme of the book, which is essentially one of a “stranger in a strange land.” And what a strange land it is! The protagonist of THE ARRIVAL is an immigrant from a dark, foreboding country looking for work in another land far from his home. We follow his departure from a loving family, a sea voyage with other immigrants, a landing in a fantastically-ornate city harbor, his search for a place to live and a job. The wordless pages vary nicely from stunning full-page images as above, to pages with a few panels, and pages with many small panels, all telling the story in appropriate ways.

Here’s one of the latter. Adding to the strangeness of everything in this new land for the immigrants are fantasy elements like the creatures of all sorts that seem to attach themselves to people, something like the animal familiars in Philip Pullman’s “The Golden Compass,” though of course without language. On the book’s cover you can see the delightful critter that befriends the protagonist, and on this page a creature attached to a friend he makes.

There is much to enjoy is this book, and one could spend lots of time looking at each image, as they are full of great details and wonderful artistry. The work has been nominated for many awards, perhaps already won some, and no wonder. I can’t recommend it highly enough!