Week 01: The Arrival by Shaun Tan

When I first read the first two pages knowing that this story would be textless, I hadn't expected to understand the story so quickly. The second I saw the first page with illustrations of diverse faces I had already assumed 'the arrival' would be a tale of immigration. What I hadn't expected was the fantastical way Shaun Tan turned the reasons for immigration into physical monsters. As someone who's favorite genre is fantasy and tries to somewhat keep up with political injustices in the world, this graphic novel really combined two things I am interested in beautifully. Even without text and the fantasy aspect, this story of immigration and starting a life in another place was perfectly easy to understand. This story was more impactful than I'd even initially thought and I ended up rereading it multiple times afterward just to appreciate the illustrations themselves.