The Arrival

This wordless graphic novel tells many stories through expressive sepia illustrations which depict a strange mix of the realistic and the surreal. A man travels to another country leaving his wife and child behind. Why does he go? What is this country where he finds it so hard to understand what is going on and to be understood? He gradually finds ways to communicate and other people start to tell him their own stories.

By not making the settings identifiable places and by adding many surrealistic touches, Shaun Tan allows this story to be simultaneously about a specific migrant and every migrant. A unique book to be puzzled over, discussed and made the reader’s own.