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
Maus was just a great story. I really was amazed by how much I liked Maus after reading it. It's almost unbelievable to think that it's based off of a true story. I really cared for the main characters in this book. I thought Maus would be good, but I didn't expect it to be great. Other than Schindler's List, I can't think of a Holocaust story that was as effective and had more impact than Maus. Overall, just a great book.
writes,
I can't say enough about how great Spiegelman is at creating this story. It's a graphic novel (historical autobiographical comic book) that depicts not only his parents' struggles before and after the Holocaust, but it's a phenomenal sketch of his own efforts to make sense of it all.
He struggles to find the right images and words to tell his father's story and...his own. The reader is drawn into Art's struggle to understand his own fears, anger and apprehension about being the son that didn't die in the Holocaust (he would've had an older brother). I don't wanna give clues away if you haven't read it but it's great. I read it myself in college and use it with my 10th grade humanities students that are weary of Anne Frank being the only story.
It goes great with other books (I've used Friedrich, Night and Number the Stars as precursors), documentaries (like, "the Genocide Factor" or the MTV special about youth diaries of the holocaust), films (I use Schindler's list) and of course, field trips to your area holocaust museum.
As a special treat for students, when students write him...he writes back!
writes,
Not just a comic. A very compelling and amazing story is illustrated in the book.
