"The Arrival" by Shaun Tan

This beautifully detailed graphic novel leads it's "readers" through the fears, struggles and triumphs of people who have had to leave the country of their birth due to oppression, war or poverty and immigrate to another country for a better life. The stories are told through the eyes of the main character, who the artist dedicated to his father. Without the use of written words, the artist Shaun Tan masterfully blends the use of fantasy to illustrate the unknown or unfamiliar, with realistic drawings of the actual people and places in the main character’s life. This is not a graphic novel that you will just want to thumb through; there is so much detail in each frame that you will be afraid that you might miss something. Through the contrast of fantasy and realism, you are able to experience what the people in each story must have felt when coming to a new country where they did not speak the language, know the customs or have any money to provide for their own basic needs. The artist's choice of using an aged looking paper with sepia toned or black and white drawings adds to the reader's overall impression that these stories are really the main character's memories which took place many years ago. Shaun Tan demonstrates through his illustrations in this novel that these recollections of immigration are not unique to one family or one country, but that they transcend borders and ethnicity. These stories are excellent examples of the indomitable human spirit to overcome adversity regardless of ethnic background or country of origin. The reader is sure to enjoy Shaun Tan’s artistic talent throughout the entire novel as each frame within The Arrival is such a beautifully detailed illustration, that it could stand alone as a framed work of art in any gallery.