I was so excited when we were asked to read excerpts from Shaun Tan's "The Arrival." I was first introduced to his storytelling in middle school, and have been a huge fan ever since. Although we did not have a chance to discuss the reading in class, I think it is relevant to our class theme of "reading and seeing." In many of his works, but most notably in "The Arrival," Tan perfectly depicts what it is like to be in a foreign environment: he illustrates not only the oddities of the new land the main character finds himself in, but also his feelings of astonishment, bewilderment, isolation, and dozens of other emotions someone experiences when in a radically new place. Although there are no words in the entire book, I feel as if I understand exactly what the main character is thinking and why he acts as he does. Just as Annie Dillard paints a picture with words, Shaun Tan fills my head with words through pictures.
If given the time, I would really like to discuss the passage we read and see what others think about it. I am always mesmerized by Tan's work, and I think discussing it would further open my eyes to the capabilities of visual storytelling. I believe everyone should read "The Arrival," especially in this class!
Brooks, I too talked of Shaun Tan's "The Arrival" in my post because I felt that it deserved to be discussed more. I feel that you perfectly describe the emotional experience of reading, or rather looking at his work as just like you mentioned, I too could gauge exactly what the protagonist of the book was thinking despite the book not using any words. Though most graphic novels hardly use words to get their plot and characters across, "The Arrival" stands out in that it focuses on an issue which I would not expect to be expressed in a visual way. I also love how you compare Annie Dillard and Shaun Tan with the "word-picture" juxtaposition!
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