"The Arrival"

By El Random Hero on January 28, 2009 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm a passionate reader of comic books, if it that wasn't obvious from my last post. A lot of the books I read relate to personal experiences I have lived through as an undocumented resident. The last book I bought is hard to describe if you haven't seen it, "The Arrival," by Shan Tan. When I first heard about the book I was immediately intriged because the book is complely wordless, it's 128 of beautiful pictures that will amaze and draw you in to the story. "The Arrival" is about the immigrant experience, the ideas, emotions and tribulations involved in moving to another country.

I got the book on a whim because the way things are right now, spending money on books is a luxery, but I don't regret it one bit. This book is not something that can just be looked at and tossed aside, you have to take time in noticing all of the small details in each and every page. I looked through the book as soon as I got on the bus admiring the beautifil art by Tan. It's hauntinly romantic, gothic and dark all at the same time. Looking through the book, I felt as if I was looking through an old family album from an immigrant family that came her in the 1900s. That's the kind of vibe and emotions the book envokes.

As an immigrant I related to this book instanly and felt as if my life was put into this book through someone else's eye's and hands. The book touches on a lot of the aspects that make people want to immigrate and leave their home country such as poverty, persecussion, oppression and violance. At one point in the the book I was almost brought to tears as the books main character, a father who has traveled to another country to give his family a better life, ends up achieving his families dreams after enduring extreme hardships and trials.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you buy it or check it out from a library. The thing I loved the most in the book was how Tan romanticizes the immigration expirience in such a broad way that anyone will be able to relate to it.

Click here for an interview Tan did discussing his book, the ideas behind it and his inspiration for it.