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Loading... Maus a Survivors Tale: My Father Bleeds Historyby Art SpiegelmanSeries: Maus: A Survivor's Tale (book 1)
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. One of the best accounts of the Holocaust I've ever read. A genius way to present the story as well. (  ) Anagarika | Oct 30, 2009 |  Vladek Spiegelman's tale of surviving the Holocaust was written by his son, Art, through unique comic graphics depicting the Jews as mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs. The book is told in the form of Art interviewing his father, Vladek. A Holocaust story is heartbreaking no matter how it is told and comic form does not change that fact. Vladek's story is very familiar, yet it still has its own nuances. Understandably so, the aftermath of such terror is ingrained in his being, thus affecting his relationships. This was another positive experience in graphic novels for me, however, I was distracted by the characters. I understand the use of such characters and they may have added an aspect to the story that wouldn't be achieved by using something else, but I still would have preferred people. Vladek's relationships are edgy and somewhat awkward to watch. That certainly attests to Art's ability to convey his thoughts through comics and a few words. (4.25/5) Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy (  ) ThoughtsofJoyLibrary | Aug 25, 2009 | Absolutely amazing book! Takes the graphic novel form to another level. ( ) scottsemegran | Aug 12, 2009 | I read both Maus I and Maus II during a literature of the holocaust class. These were the first graphic novels I've ever read. These books left a huge impact on me. I would strongly recommend these books to anyone interested in the holocaust. They are educational and highlight the survivor guilt that followed World War II - and the impact that had on the children of holocaust survivors. ( )1  LiterateHousewife | Jul 28, 2009 | The strength of this story is the true account of the elder Spiegelman’s struggles to survive the Holocaust as a Polish Jew in Warsaw. It is interspersed with the author’s troubled relationship with his father and the strength of the two to tell the story. The father because he has never before spoken of his experiences and the son to understand the pain and suffering his father endured. All the characters in this work of art are represented as ethnological animals, an insightful and creative machination on the part of the artist. The Jews, for example, are depicted as scrawny mice (thus Maus, German for “mouse”), the Nazi’s as plump over-fed cats, and the Polish military officers as prodigious pigs. The only humanistic renderings in the book take place during the back story of the suicide of the author’s mother. But these graphic depictions do not distract from the powerful demonstrative story of the struggle to survive not only the worst war of our time but the worst moments in human history. In fact, they serve only to enhance it. Wonderful storytelling and exceptional art make this a must read for the historians as well as the emotionalists among us. This book is a unique combination of docu-drama, biography, and comic-strip all rolled into one and it works on a grand scale. ( ) TheAlternativeOne | Jul 16, 2009 | 
 Making a Holocaust comic book with Jews as mice and Germans as cats would probably strike most people as flippant, if not appalling. ''Maus: A Survivor's Tale'' is the opposite of flippant and appalling. To express yourself as an artist, you must find a form that leaves you in control but doesn't leave you by yourself. That's how ''Maus'' looks to me - a way Mr. Spiegelman found of making art.
Amazon.com (ISBN 0394541553, Hardcover)Some historical events simply beggar any attempt at description--the Holocaust is one of these. Therefore, as it recedes and the people able to bear witness die, it becomes more and more essential that novel, vigorous methods are used to describe the indescribable. Examined in these terms, Art Spiegelman's Maus is a tremendous achievement, from a historical perspective as well as an artistic one.Spiegelman, a stalwart of the underground comics scene of the 1960s and '70s, interviewed his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor living outside New York City, about his experiences. The artist then deftly translated that story into a graphic novel. By portraying a true story of the Holocaust in comic form--the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs--Spiegelman compels the reader to imagine the action, to fill in the blanks that are so often shied away from. Reading Maus, you are forced to examine the Holocaust anew. This is neither easy nor pleasant. However, Vladek Spiegelman and his wife Anna are resourceful heroes, and enough acts of kindness and decency appear in the tale to spur the reader onward (we also know that the protagonists survive, else reading would be too painful). This first volume introduces Vladek as a happy young man on the make in pre-war Poland. With outside events growing ever more ominous, we watch his marriage to Anna, his enlistment in the Polish army after the outbreak of hostilities, his and Anna's life in the ghetto, and then their flight into hiding as the Final Solution is put into effect. The ending is stark and terrible, but the worst is yet to come--in the second volume of this Pulitzer Prize-winning set. --Michael Gerber (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:02 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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