4.45

5

Nov 05, 2011

oh my god.



This burrowed it's way deep into my heart. This made me feel so much. This was an experience, not just a "read". This was real and I can't even explain how this affected me because it was the most emotional thing I've ever read. Not made-up emotion. This was REAL and it affected me.

Vladek. He reminded me of my Grandfather, a little. I loved my Grandfather and I loved Vladek. His story, as told to his son Art Spiegelman, was one of the most powerful stories I've ever experienced.

This oh my god.



This burrowed it's way deep into my heart. This made me feel so much. This was an experience, not just a "read". This was real and I can't even explain how this affected me because it was the most emotional thing I've ever read. Not made-up emotion. This was REAL and it affected me.

Vladek. He reminded me of my Grandfather, a little. I loved my Grandfather and I loved Vladek. His story, as told to his son Art Spiegelman, was one of the most powerful stories I've ever experienced.

This was a story about survival and deep love. The love shown between Vladek and Anja mesmerized me and broke my heart seeing them go through so much cruelty and suffering.



The Complete Maus are two graphic novels combined to form the story of Vladek Spiegelman's life during World War 2. It is drawn masterfully in beautiful black and white. Jewish people are drawn as mice, German people are drawn as cats, Polish people are drawn as pigs and people from the U.S are drawn as dogs.

From Wikipedia:
"In making people of a single nationality look "all alike", Spiegelman hoped to show the absurdity of dividing people by these lines. In a 1991 interview, Spiegelman noted that "these metaphors... are meant to self-destruct in my book — and I think they do self-destruct."

One of my favourite parts of Maus was the relationship between Art and Vladek. Art has a lot of guilt over having such an easy life when his parents went through a hell he couldn't even imagine. Even so, Art and Vladek have a pretty normal father/son relationship. I felt so bad for Vladek at times with the way Art would treat him but it was a normal father/son relationship in the way that sons don't always treat their fathers the best.

Despite this, you could feel the love radiating from the pages. The love Art and Vladek had for each other. I loved the little funny moments in the novel, like when Vladek throws out Art's coat and gives him a "warm" coat, which Art hates because it isn't fashionable. Or when Vladek goes to the supermarket to return an open box of cereal, along with other used/opened groceries.

Just the way Art draws his disapproving father made me smile. It was done with such warmth and love. Art's father was definitely a very funny man, even if he didn't mean to be. I loved Vladek so much and in the last few pages, you are shown a picture of Vladek during World War 2. At that moment, I had to stop myself from crying because after reading his incredible story, I saw a picture of the actual Vladek. And it instantly broke my heart. I felt so much love for him, it was unreal.

This story is not a pleasant one but it is incredible. It's not easy to read at times but it's essential. It's about so many things. If you read this and it doesn't affect you, you are heartless.

I recommend it to everyone. Seriously. Even if graphic novels aren't usually your thing. This is my favourite graphic novel now. There is no way that can change now. This was unforgettable and deeply moving. I LOVED it with all my heart and can't even properly express the love.

Read it. Don't miss out on something so emotional and powerful. I hope you love it like I do.
...more

5

Aug 05, 2014

Wonderful example of the power of a graphic novel!


This is the “Complete” edition of “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” collecting both parts: “My Father Bleeds History” and “And Here My Troubles Began”.


OF MAUS AND MEN

But these damn bugs are eating me alive!

While it took long time of finally reading Maus,...

...I knew that it was a graphic novel referring about the Jew Holocaust, but using mice (Jews) and cats (Nazis) as the characters,...

...and even while I was sure that it will be a crude telling, Wonderful example of the power of a graphic novel!


This is the “Complete” edition of “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” collecting both parts: “My Father Bleeds History” and “And Here My Troubles Began”.


OF MAUS AND MEN

But these damn bugs are eating me alive!

While it took long time of finally reading Maus,...

...I knew that it was a graphic novel referring about the Jew Holocaust, but using mice (Jews) and cats (Nazis) as the characters,...

...and even while I was sure that it will be a crude telling, I didn’t expect that the only difference between “reality” and this graphic novel would be the choice of using “animals” as the characters in the story.

I mean, while I agree that Jew Holocaust isn’t a humorous matter, I supposed that it would be some “imaginative” use of places, tools, terms, etc… taking in account that the story was full of mice, cats and even pigs (with some frog or dog, here and there).

Actually, I don’t know why using “animals” as characters if everything else in the story will be keep as it happened. Even there are some odd moments of a “female mouse person” scared due the presence of regular rats.

Again, the Jew Holocaust is not a matter to take in comical way, but then, I think that the graphic novel could plainly use human beings (not necessarily too realistic, some cartoon style could work) and the graphic novel will be the same as good, the same as relevant.

You know, as in the movie Life is Beautiful where the horrors of the Holocaust are there, but still there is space for some humorous moments, that they help as tension relief without meaning any disrespect to the tragic historic event.

However, definitely the graphic format of this story makes possible for readers to be witness from the begining until the end (and even further) of the whole tragic and cruel process of what Jews endured (and not many were able to get out alive from it) during the World War II.

A titanic graphic story constructed during years of artistic effort to show, with detail and authenticity, one of the darkest episodes of human history.


LET MAUS WHO IS WITHOUT SIN...

Friends? Your friends?... If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week… then you could see what it is, friends!

The success of Maus obviously can tied to the reason of being a Jew Holocaust’s story, and almost any suc story receive a wide positive acceptance, but I think that what makes different Maus from many of similar stories is its bold honesty.

Here, you won’t have a partial view of the tragic event or spotless characters.

Obviously Nazis and Polish collaborators/sympathizers are shown doing their evil stuff, BUT also you will watch how Jews behaved with their own, robbing food from their fellow people, not doing any favor unless get paid with something (gold, food, cigarrettes, etc…), true, it was an extreme situation, but usually movies and other books don’t hesitate to show Nazi’s inhuman actions, but you have to realize that those were prisons, and life in prisons is tough and people will lose any humanity from them in the urge to survive.

Also, Art Spiegelman, the author, was bold showing how hard was to live with his father, Vladek Spielgelman (the main character in the Holocaust parts), Vladek wasn’t a saint (and after all, how many of us really is?) with not only crazy habits but even racist thinking against afro-american people. Art Spiegelman is a character in the story too, and while he is a whole better as person than his father, he doesn’t portrait himself as a saint and you can appreciate how even at some moments, he does some kinda unfair actions, since after all, he is human too. His family is as disfunctional as others, being Holocaust’s survivors didn’t turn it magically into “Norman Rockwell paintings”.

Anybody can create perfect heroes, only true writers are able to show the dark moments of his/her own family, in the middle of the storytelling of a book.

In this way, with boldness and courage, Maus exposes us with a harsh truth: Survivors from a war aren’t necessarily good people, saved by their faith or spared due the purity of their souls. No. Survivors from a war (in most cases) is just because plain luck. Even some survivors got such bad luck of dying after the war ended and by non-military personnel.

War is a crazy thing (any war) and if you try to get some logic out of it,...

...you will end as crazy as it.


...more

4

Jun 22, 2015

The art style was a bit distracting at times, but I really enjoyed this!

5

Mar 09, 2012

It didn’t dawn on me until later that this brilliant piece of graphic artistry and fiction is actually a very clever allegory. On the face of it, we’re led to believe that it’s a story of the terrible suffering perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews in Poland and throughout Europe. But if you scratch beneath the surface, I think you’ll find that this particular holocaust story was made to symbolize something more pervasive and endemic. I speak of the horrific violence that persists to this It didn’t dawn on me until later that this brilliant piece of graphic artistry and fiction is actually a very clever allegory. On the face of it, we’re led to believe that it’s a story of the terrible suffering perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews in Poland and throughout Europe. But if you scratch beneath the surface, I think you’ll find that this particular holocaust story was made to symbolize something more pervasive and endemic. I speak of the horrific violence that persists to this day; that inflicted by cats on defenseless mice. Perhaps the most obvious clue that this is, in truth, the intended theme lies in the title itself: Maus. For those of you unfamiliar with German, this is their word for mouse. Beyond that, when you look carefully at the drawings, you see that the goose-steppers have distinctly feline features, while the persecuted Jews in the ghettos and camps have rodent-like proboscides and disproportionately small eyes.

Cat on mouse violence is so old and pervasive that, in a way, we’ve become desensitized to it. Countless depictions of it in the arts have made it a stale, clichéd topic; almost cartoonish at times. That’s why I thought it was particularly effective to tell the story allegorically. When seen through the lens of the Jewish experience, and with Spiegelman’s masterstroke of personalizing the story by laying bare the difficult relationship he had with his father (the survivor), the residuum of cat brutality that can literally tear mice families apart is brought home to us in a very different way.

Original: Mar 9, 2012

------------------------

Addendum: Aug 23, 2013

This still ranks as my top graphic novel of all time, but I just finished Chris Ware's Building Stories which gives it a pretty good run for the money. The suffering in that one may not be as extreme, but it's every bit as real. ...more

5

Jan 17, 2014

The young Adolf Hitler applied twice for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and each time was rejected. One may dream: had he been successful, he might have had a different fate, and, as a result, Europe’s history might have taken some other shape… Sixty years later, on another continent, the young Art Spiegelman applied to the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan and passed the exam. His parents, Vladek and Anja Spiegelman, were two Jews from Poland who survived through the The young Adolf Hitler applied twice for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and each time was rejected. One may dream: had he been successful, he might have had a different fate, and, as a result, Europe’s history might have taken some other shape… Sixty years later, on another continent, the young Art Spiegelman applied to the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan and passed the exam. His parents, Vladek and Anja Spiegelman, were two Jews from Poland who survived through the Nazi ghetto of Sosnowiec and the extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Maus, a massive graphic novel, thirteen years in the making, depicts the complicated relationship between Art and his father, the very process of creating Maus, and, in an interlocked way, Vladek’s experience, living in Poland during the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

Back in those days, Hollywood was producing its most celebrated films, and Mickey Mouse had become the cutest little mascot on the silver screen. At that very moment, the Allied troops carried movie cameras into the concentration camps. The films that remain from that time —the ones that were shown during the Nuremberg trial— are tough to watch, haunting, almost impossible to put into words. Art Spiegelman has managed to blend both pictures (Disney and the Red Army file footage) poetically, through flat, condensed and straightforward drawings. His old father, a bit soft in the head and speaking in a funny broken English, provides a deeply personal, honest, at times slightly Kafkaesque or Chaplinesque account of these dreadful years, of that constant fear and deprivation, so that we could make some sense of this inhuman, world-changing experience.

There’s a quote by Samuel Beckett somewhere in this book: “Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness”. This visual masterpiece is a refutation of this sentence. And it has left me both moved and dumbfounded.

Edit: Just watched Roman Polanski's film The Pianist, based on the harrowing experience of concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman during the war, in Warsaw Ghetto. Both Maus and Polanski's movie share this sense of gradually rising horror and convey the same utter stupefaction. A must-see. ...more

5

Jul 11, 2016

Until just a few weeks ago, the only reason for why I read graphic novels now and then was because of people's constant recommendations about the beauty and the value of those kinds of books. I will be honest; I am guilty of never believing those words. Most likely did I read graphic novels which didn't suit my personal tastes, but Art Spiegelman was capable of shattering my expectations and completely stunning me with the art of his writing and his illustrations.

But let's start at the Until just a few weeks ago, the only reason for why I read graphic novels now and then was because of people's constant recommendations about the beauty and the value of those kinds of books. I will be honest; I am guilty of never believing those words. Most likely did I read graphic novels which didn't suit my personal tastes, but Art Spiegelman was capable of shattering my expectations and completely stunning me with the art of his writing and his illustrations.

But let's start at the beginning. Maus is a collection of two graphic novels with autobiographical background about the author, Art Spiegelman, and his father's recollections about his experiences in the Second World War. Spiegelman constantly switches between present and past, between the time when he writes down what his father tells him and the time when all the horrible events in the concentration camps took place. But he doesn't only include information about his father Vladek Spiegelman's tale of survival; the personal and very conflicted relationship between Art and Vladek also turns out to be a central part of the story, including controversy about Vladek's second wife and Art's personal approach to the success he had as an author when the first installment in his series of graphic novels was published.

Obviously, memoirs or autobiographies always include potential to let their author shine in a bright light, to let them appear heroic and exemplary. You have to rely on what the author tells you about himself and the people surrounding him, on which layers of his own character he presents. Art Spiegelman did so in a very convincing way, pointing out not only the horrible crimes which were committed during the Nazi period, but also the flaws he and his father had themselves, as human beings with all their faults and mistakes. Art and his father appear in such a realistic way that you can't help but care for them; something which never happened to me before in a book with autobiographical content. Of course, some parts of the novels were shocking, which you need to expect before reading something about such an important subject. Feelings of despair and fear overshadowed Vladek Spiegelman's recollections of his experiences during the Second World War, from his family's decline and his marriage to his transport to Auschwitz.

Perhaps the most memorable thing about those graphic novels is the way Art Spiegelman used animal heads in the place of recognizable human ones. The completely black-and-white illustrations vividly underline the feelings Spiegelman wanted to express with his books. And still now, almost two months after finishing them, am I stunned.

Do I need to mention that I'd recommend these graphic novels to everyone? ...more

4

May 24, 2018

Maus was more than I expected. I knew it would be about World War II and the Holocaust with the charaters being anthropomorphic mice, cats, pigs, dogs, etc. What I didn't realize was it would expand even farther in to the specific lives of the Spiegelmans before, during, and after the war.



Throughout the book the artist/author is a featured character struggling with his curmudgeonly father while he tries to document the story of his father's time in 1930s and 40s Poland and Germany. His Maus was more than I expected. I knew it would be about World War II and the Holocaust with the charaters being anthropomorphic mice, cats, pigs, dogs, etc. What I didn't realize was it would expand even farther in to the specific lives of the Spiegelmans before, during, and after the war.



Throughout the book the artist/author is a featured character struggling with his curmudgeonly father while he tries to document the story of his father's time in 1930s and 40s Poland and Germany. His experiences with his father are as much a part of the book as the stories he is trying to document.



Another viewpoint of life under Nazi oppression is always riviting. I have read and seen both fiction and non-fiction accounts of life during WWII. I have been to the Dachau concentration camp. These stories are important, but are not always easy to read or tell. I applaud Spiegelman for this creative approach that hopefully brings these stories to those who might not be inclined to read a big novel or watch a documentary.



Basically everyone should read this or at least some stories of the war. They say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. ...more

5

Sep 19, 2012

MAI PIÙ JAMAIS PLUS NEVER AGAIN
Un bellissimo fumetto?
Uno splendido romanzo?
E perché non un ottimo film?
(In fondo le dimensioni delle vignette di Spiegelman fanno davvero venire in mente i fotogrammi di un film 35 mm).



I nazisti descrivevano gli ebrei come immondi parassiti, portatori di peste e corruzione, che invadono l’Europa (qualcuno adesso prova a usare la stessa immagine per chi arriva d’oltremare): Spiegelman disegna gli ebrei come topi, i nazisti come gatti, i polacchi come maiali.
MAI PIÙ JAMAIS PLUS NEVER AGAIN
Un bellissimo fumetto?
Uno splendido romanzo?
E perché non un ottimo film?
(In fondo le dimensioni delle vignette di Spiegelman fanno davvero venire in mente i fotogrammi di un film 35 mm).



I nazisti descrivevano gli ebrei come immondi parassiti, portatori di peste e corruzione, che invadono l’Europa (qualcuno adesso prova a usare la stessa immagine per chi arriva d’oltremare): Spiegelman disegna gli ebrei come topi, i nazisti come gatti, i polacchi come maiali.
Animali parlanti per esprimere condizioni umane profonde difficili da esprimere altrimenti (Esopo, Fedro, La Fontaine). E perché no, anche il Mickey Mouse disneyano.

Spiegelman figlio intervista Spiegelman padre sulla Shoah (la madre è morta suicida, il fratello maggiore è morto avvelenato dalla zia, anche lei suicida, per evitargli l’orrore del campo di sterminio).
Il racconto del padre è storia nota e stranota?
A me sembra di sentirla per la prima volta, l'approccio di Spiegelman è unico e irripetibile.



Una storia straziante?
Sì, ma anche tanto tenera, romantica.

Uomini topi più umani degli umani.
In ogni caso, è una storia che bisogna continuare a raccontare, che non bisogna dimenticare.

Che sorpresa la parte moderna, che regalo.
Un rapporto padre e figlio che nella sua peculiarità è tuttavia paradigmatico.

A Spiegelman è stato chiesto se non gli sembrava di cattivo gusto mettere in fumetti la tragedia dell’Olocausto. La sua risposta è stata: Di cattivo gusto è Auschwitz.

...more

3

Aug 08, 2019

This Review Blog Twitter Instagram

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

This cover has been on my radar for a looooong time and it usually is on the most bought books in my country when I check the online bookstores. I am not a fan of history and so I avoided it for the longest time possible. A book I was reading did mention that it was a graphic novel about Jew people and what they went through and I became interested and found myself a copy!

I like what the author did, he is very smart, Jew people are This Review ✍️ Blog ???? Twitter ???? Instagram ????

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

???? This cover has been on my radar for a looooong time and it usually is on the most bought books in my country when I check the online bookstores. I am not a fan of history and so I avoided it for the longest time possible. A book I was reading did mention that it was a graphic novel about Jew people and what they went through and I became interested and found myself a copy!

???? I like what the author did, he is very smart, Jew people are the mice and the Germans are the cats and this is a sneaky way to reduce tension! The author tells us what happened IRL through his father and the book is divided into 2 parts. I loved how the author stayed genuine and showed us positives and negatives and he was not biased! I think this rawness and honesty added a lot to the story.

???? The graphics were not the best and there was much dialogue and it was a bit crammed and a bit hard to read! But at the end of the say, I learned from this book more than years in school did to me!

You can get more books from Book Depository ...more

5

Feb 10, 2013

Reseñar Maus supone una de las experiencias más gratificantes de mi vida porque es el segundo libro en 2015 al que le doy la nota máxima. Pues verán, desde hace muchos años siempre he sentido profunda fascinación por los temas históricos y sobre todo en torno a la segunda guerra mundial. Es un tema recurrente en mis lecturas y siempre me gusta aprender cosas nuevas sobre esta época terrible de la humanidad. Así que cuando conocí esta obra sabía que debía leerla en algún punto de mi vida y Reseñar Maus supone una de las experiencias más gratificantes de mi vida porque es el segundo libro en 2015 al que le doy la nota máxima. Pues verán, desde hace muchos años siempre he sentido profunda fascinación por los temas históricos y sobre todo en torno a la segunda guerra mundial. Es un tema recurrente en mis lecturas y siempre me gusta aprender cosas nuevas sobre esta época terrible de la humanidad. Así que cuando conocí esta obra sabía que debía leerla en algún punto de mi vida y gracias a la biblioteca de la universidad he podido hacerlo.

¿Cómo se pueden calificar las memorias y recuerdos personales de alguien más? ¿Es acaso posible? Cuando una experiencia como esta es trasladada al papel es cuando a quien le pertenece deja de hacerlo. En 1992 Art Spiegelman ganó el primero y hasta ahora único premio Pulitzer que se le ha otorgado a un cómic en la historia. Y es precisamente la historia de su padre Wladek Spiegelman, un judío polaco sobreviviente del holocausto.



En el cómic Wladek le cuenta a su hijo como después de que le liberaran de Bergen-Belsen pasó por un estudio fotográfico y se hizo este retrato usando un uniforme que representaba al usado en los campos de concentración. Paradójicamente lo hizo meses después de haberse despojado él mismo de un uniforme real, donde la estrella lo marcaba como un Jude (judío) para los alemanes.

Wladek vivió en Auschwitz, trabajó en muchos oficios, vio de lejos los hornos crematorios, lo vio casi todo. En Bergen-Belsen estuvo incluso, donde tiempo antes murió Ana Frank y su hermana a manos de la tifus, que el mismo padeció y casi lo mata. Muchas cosas terribles sucedieron en esta época, pero Wladek vivió para contarlas.

Art Spiegelman era un artista joven, casado con una francesa y residía en Nueva York. En los años setenta decidió volver a casa de su padre y lo llevó allí una necesidad de su vida: que él le contara su pasado antes y durante el holocausto. Por muchos meses Art habló y grabó las charlas con su padre, ese hombre enfermo, sumamente tacaño y por su puesto, solitario.



Maus es una obra parte autobiográfica parte biográfica. Porque tanto Art como Wladek son protagonistas en la historia. La novela gráfica se divide en dos tomos: I Mi padre sangra historia y II Aquí comenzaron mis problemas. Art acude a la casa de Wladek y éste le va contando los recuerdos de a pocos mientras también se cuenta el momento actual de la familia Spiegelman. Es una narración a dos tiempos y a dos voces. Esta historia es distinta cuando te das cuenta que Art nunca tuvo una buena relación con Wladek. Los remordimientos también están presentes por ser un mal hijo para su madre Anja y eso le pesa. Toda su vida estuvo a la sombra del holocausto hudío y como esa experiencia dejó marcados a sus padres y fue un determinante en sus vidas. Art se desahogó al dibujar Maus, puede deducirse claramente.



Maus abarca una gran cantidad de tiempo desde antes de la guerra e incluso después. Wladek Spiegelman y Anja Zybelberg son los padres de Art, judíos nacidos en Polonia que tuvieron una vida tranquila hasta la invasión del Tercer Reich a su país. Desde ahí el sufrimiento no hacia sino empezar. En la historia los judíos son representados como ratones, los polacos no judíos como cerdos, los alemanes como gatos y los estadounidenses como perros. Simbología que considero representativa porque a pesar de todos ser humanos en esta época eso ya no importaba, si eras judio ya eras algo muy distinto. La "raza" volvía a ser motivo de crueldad.

Poco a poco vamos presenciando como Wladek evoca la progresión de la vida polaca desde la invasión hasta lo más cruel, lo más terrible. Primero perder la casa, el trabajo, luego la familia y posteriormente la libertad. En medio de la desesperanza, Wladek destaca por tener una suerte increíble a pesar de la tragedia. El talento para muchas cosas y una gran dosis de buena suerte salvaron al padre de Art de desgracias peores. ¿Cómo puede Art llevarse mal con su padre a pesar de todo lo que sufrió?


Arbeit Macht Frei "El trabajo libera" a la entrada de Auschwitz I

Es una de las lecciones que nos deja leer esta novela gráfica. Que a pesar de todo lo que suframos seguimos siendo seres humanos. Que muchas veces las experiencias sufridas no nos cambian como somos. Art no soportaba que su padre fuera tan tacaño y mezquino, pero es como si Wladek no dejara de recordar los días donde dos personas peleaban hasta sangrar por un pedazo de pan rancio y muchos morían de hambre frente a sus ojos.

Pero Maus no es sólo la conflictiva relación de un hijo y su padre, sino que también es la historia de un superviviente que a pesar de todo tuvo mucha suerte. Los recuerdos de Wladek nos trasladan a la Polonia oprimida y donde los judíos lo perdieron todo para luego ser llevados a trabajar hasta la muerte. La novela gráfica no se corta en mostrarnos de buena mano todas las atrocidades cometidas no sólo contra los judíos que si bien fueron la mayoría, también contra disidentes del gobierno, prisioneros de guerra entre otros. El temible campo de trabajo y exterminio Auschwitz-Birkenau se ve retratado en la historia, siendo el lugar donde murieron la mayoría de los judíos durante todo el holocausto y siendo el campo más famoso hoy en día.



El azar, el talento y algo de colaboración de muchas personas hicieron que Wladek y Anja sobrevivieran a años de terror. Pero sobrevivir también tiene un peso terrible y es la carga de los que se fueron, los que no volvieron a ver. Familias enteras perecieron en los campos y la compasión era una palabra desconocida por el régimen nazi. Los Spiegelman perdieron a casi todos sus familiares pero sobrevivieron para contarlo.



¿Entonces que puede decir u opinar uno sobre una historia tan personal? ¿A caso el horror se puede valorar? Leer Maus me dejó esa sensación, de dolor, de horror y de impotencia. Art hizo un inmenso trabajo al honrar a su padre a pesar de su mala relación. Porque a pesar de todo es un sobreviviente y los que sobreviven hacen bien en contar lo que los muertos ya no pueden. ...more

5

Apr 02, 2018

“The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human.”
- Adolf Hitler

This a graphic novel told from two timelines. In the narrative present, Art Spiegelman (author) is interviewing his father Vladek about his experiences as a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor. The narrative past depicts these very experiences from the mid 1930s to the end of the Holocaust in 1945. Spiegelman has utilised different species of animals to portray different nationalities and races - Jews as mice, Germans as “The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human.”
- Adolf Hitler

This a graphic novel told from two timelines. In the narrative present, Art Spiegelman (author) is interviewing his father Vladek about his experiences as a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor. The narrative past depicts these very experiences from the mid 1930s to the end of the Holocaust in 1945. Spiegelman has utilised different species of animals to portray different nationalities and races - Jews as mice, Germans as cats, Poles as pigs and French as frogs.

I was actually inspired to read this after visiting a war museum with my friend. Though I had a lot of fun that day, the Holocaust Exhibition was one of the most harrowing and tragic things I have ever seen. During the exhibition, I realised how ignorant I had been to the extent of brutality, inhumanity and pain that was inflicted on Jews during WW2.

“And we came here to the concentration camp Auschwitz. And we knew that from here we will not come out anymore... We knew the stories - that they will gas us and throw us in the ovens. This was 1944... we knew everything. And here we were.”

Maus is an incredible tale that has so much to give to its reader. It was both insightful and addictive with its illustrations and style of storytelling. It allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding of how the camps were run and what it was like for the prisoners. I am so glad that this is how Mr. Spiegelman chose to write his father’s story and the story of those who didn’t live to tell it.

“The biggest pile of bodies lay right next to the door where they tried to get out.” (from the gas chambers) ...more

5

Feb 02, 2014

The Complete Maus
Art Spiegelman

Probably the most informative and intimate journal of the holocaust I have ever read.

Maus is really two parallel stories, not one. It jumps back and forth between the two stories, one set in the past (Poland), the other set in the present (NYC).

Story 1: 1940’s Poland: Vladek Spiegelman tells how he survived the holocaust as a Polish-Jew. From the invasion, to the spread of Naziam, to his time in Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp as a tin worker at the gas The Complete Maus
Art Spiegelman

Probably the most informative and intimate journal of the holocaust I have ever read.

Maus is really two parallel stories, not one. It jumps back and forth between the two stories, one set in the past (Poland), the other set in the present (NYC).

Story 1: 1940’s Poland: Vladek Spiegelman tells how he survived the holocaust as a Polish-Jew. From the invasion, to the spread of Naziam, to his time in Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp as a tin worker at the gas chambers. Vladek is one of the only surviving camp survivors who had intimate knowledge of how the gas chambers facilities worked, because he worked there and lived to tell the tale. He saw how pesticide (Zyklon B) was dropped into the hollow columns to gas screaming victims and how they were burned in crematoriums afterwards. Most Jewish inmates who worked near the gas chambers and crematoriums were executed so they could not give testimony to the horrors they witnessed.

Story 2: 1980’s New York City. Art details his creative process of composing his book about his dad's holocaust experiences. Art has a very antagonistic relationship with his father, Vledeck. We see Art trying to interview his reluctant father, pushing his father to recount his experiences. The holocaust permeates the Spiegelman's daily life, even though it took place many years ago.

There is this need in our society to push the Holocaust into the past and keep it there, but we see throughout this novel that this is impossible. Survivors and their children don't have the luxury of just forgetting about it and moving on. You can stop talking about it, you can try to pretend it never happened, but the recollections of those horrible experiences never go away. You can't erase them. They haunt their victims.

A predominant theme in the book is how traumatic events like the Holocaust continue to distort and shape people generations later, long after they are over. Children of Holocaust survivors are also affected by holocaust, secondhand, through their parents. They often feel guilty about leading such pampered lives, compared to their parents horrific experiences. So, survivor’s guilt stems from first hand experience (holocaust survivors who feel guilty for surviving when so many loved ones did not) and it reverberates down through generations (children of holocaust survivors). Vledeck's parenting style is warped by the long-term psychological effects the holocaust has on his behavior. In turn, Art's childhood is warped by Vledeck’s post-holocaust world view, a secondary repercussion of the Holocaust.

Why Graphics?
The graphics add power, context and tone to the text, providing deeper insight into the mixed feelings and thoughts of the characters. You can hear (read) a character say one thing in the text, but you might also see them thinking/doing something very different, which is expressed in graphics.

Most of the text in the book are direct quotes from Art Spiegelman's father, Vladik. Sometimes the graphics will reflect the same mood and message expressed in the text. Other times the graphics might reflect Art's interpretation of what his dad is saying. This way the reader sees two very different interpretations of the same exact incident or story simultaneously. How brilliant is that?

Art Spiegelman also uses animals to represent different races and nationalities. It's a very effective metaphor. Jews are drawn as mice, which reflects back to the anti-Semitic stereotype of Jews being subhuman rats. Germans are cats; they prey on Jewish mice. Americans are dogs, they fight the German cats. The French are frogs. The Polish are pigs; Nazis considered the Polish people to be pigs. Jewish Mice sometimes pretend to be Polish pigs to hide from the German Cats. They do this by wearing pigs masks.

While creating the book, Art struggles with how he should draw his French wife who converted to Judaism to please his father. It encourages the reader think about the roles of race, ethnicity, nationality and religion. Is Art's wife a frog that transforms into a mouse? But she's still French. So is she half frog, half mouse? Is she a frog in a mouse mask?

When can we stop talking about the Holocaust?:
I understand that the holocaust can sometimes seem like a ghastly but impersonal genocide of countless, faceless victims. The magnitude and horror of it all can be so hard to stomach. But each of those six million people was an individual with their own personal story. Individual stories may not seem as important when compared to famous, historical figures like Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, but learning about each individual story is critical to understanding the magnitude of the Holocaust. Recorded memories are the only way Holocaust survivors can maintain a connection to the stolen lives of those who were erased from the face of the earth by the Holocaust.



...more

5

Sep 13, 2016

One of the most influential literary works ever...in or out of comics.

5

Apr 19, 2019

I feel like anything I could say about this book is going to sound woefully inadequate, but I guess I'll give it a shot anyway. Maus had obviously been on my radar for ages as a critical piece of Holocaust literature as well as being the only graphic novel to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, so I was certainly expecting it to be good, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for how utterly harrowing of a read this ended up being. And again, yes, I did know that its subject matter was the I feel like anything I could say about this book is going to sound woefully inadequate, but I guess I'll give it a shot anyway. Maus had obviously been on my radar for ages as a critical piece of Holocaust literature as well as being the only graphic novel to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, so I was certainly expecting it to be good, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for how utterly harrowing of a read this ended up being. And again, yes, I did know that its subject matter was the Holocaust, but I also knew that Spiegelman made the famous stylistic decision to depict Jews as mice and Nazis as cats in this book, so I guess I was expecting something altogether more abstract? Instead it's a rather literal depiction of Spiegelman's father's experiences throughout WWII, culminating in his release from Auschwitz in 1945.

There's also an added dimension where Spiegelman chooses to depict the scenes in which he interviewed his father and came to hear these stories. In this present-day timeline we learn about Spiegelman's complex relationship with his father, and all the tension and resentment that's built up between them through the years, often due to the fact that his father's life was shaped so significantly by this atrocious thing that Spiegelman struggles to make sense of, as he was born after the end of the war. Spiegelman also lost his mother to suicide decades earlier, a tragic event from which his father had never fully recovered, though he did go on to remarry. In one particularly devastating panel, Spiegelman laments to his wife that he wishes he could have been in Auschwitz with his parents so he could understand what they had to go through, so he could bridge that gap between generations. That's this book in a nutshell: raw, unfiltered, uncompromising. It takes a strong stomach to get through this, and I think I spent the better part of it in tears, but if you're able to read this, I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is the best graphic novel I've read, the best piece of Holocaust literature that I've read, and strangely enough, the best love story that I've read. The final panel shattered me. ...more

5

Dec 26, 2016

M A R A V I L L O S O.
Me ha gustado muchísimo esta novela. Para empezar, nunca había leído una novela gráfica y tenía miedo de que no me gustara, pero al leer esta, me he dado cuenta de que me encantan. Ver ilustrado cada cosa que ocurre me ayuda a acercarme más a la historia.
La forma en la que está contada la historia de Vladek Spiegelman también me ha gustado mucho. Vemos como él le va contando la historia a su hijo y también vemos la relación que tiene con su hijo y la vida que siguió M A R A V I L L O S O.
Me ha gustado muchísimo esta novela. Para empezar, nunca había leído una novela gráfica y tenía miedo de que no me gustara, pero al leer esta, me he dado cuenta de que me encantan. Ver ilustrado cada cosa que ocurre me ayuda a acercarme más a la historia.
La forma en la que está contada la historia de Vladek Spiegelman también me ha gustado mucho. Vemos como él le va contando la historia a su hijo y también vemos la relación que tiene con su hijo y la vida que siguió llevando después.
Es una historia que me ha atrapado, de hecho, siempre que cogía este libro me costaba mucho soltarlo. Me ha impactado ver por todas las situaciones tan horribles que tuvo que pasar este señor y una gran cantidad de judíos. Por muchas pelis/libros que lea sobre esto, me sigue horrorizando.
Para terminar sólo decir que este libro es una obra de arte y creo que todo el mundo debería de darle una oportunidad.
Le doy 5 estrellas, ya que lo único malo que veo es el hecho de no haberlo leído antes. ...more

4

Jul 05, 2017

I never knew that a graphic novel could be so moving, so haunting and so phenomenally powerful.

The complete Maus tells the tale of Hitler's Europe and the experiences of one Jewish man, the author/illustrator Art Spiegelman's father Vladek. It is a book that doesn't hold any punches and is jaw dropping in its exploration of humanity through both the atrocities and ethnic cleansing of that time and of how this moulds a man forever.

I don't have the words to fully express all I'm feeling right I never knew that a graphic novel could be so moving, so haunting and so phenomenally powerful.

The complete Maus tells the tale of Hitler's Europe and the experiences of one Jewish man, the author/illustrator Art Spiegelman's father Vladek. It is a book that doesn't hold any punches and is jaw dropping in its exploration of humanity through both the atrocities and ethnic cleansing of that time and of how this moulds a man forever.

I don't have the words to fully express all I'm feeling right now so please read these two reviews by AMANDA and FABIAN to fully grasp what this graphic novel is about.

I don't read graphic novels. I haven't read a comic since I was a little kid reading the Beano. So maybe you might think this isn't for you...
You'd be wrong.
Everyone should read this.

Highly recommended

four and a half stars ...more

4

Jan 19, 2015

THE COMPLETE MAUS is, to date, the hardest, most emotionally draining novel I have read in my adult life. It was a heart-wrenching, but really necessary read for me, and I’m proud of myself for deciding to read something so far outside my comfort zone (I tend to shy away from both history and memoir/true story novels).

The book is a story within a story. Art shows himself interviewing his father, Vladek, and his time spent with his father for part of this book, and the rest of the story is THE COMPLETE MAUS is, to date, the hardest, most emotionally draining novel I have read in my adult life. It was a heart-wrenching, but really necessary read for me, and I’m proud of myself for deciding to read something so far outside my comfort zone (I tend to shy away from both history and memoir/true story novels).

The book is a story within a story. Art shows himself interviewing his father, Vladek, and his time spent with his father for part of this book, and the rest of the story is Vladek's experiences and survival of Auschwitz and how he survived throughout all of the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Nazis. Both sides shown in this felt completely honest and real.


The art, while definitely not my favorite style, worked incredibly well for this story. There were times where it was just the art in panels, and I really felt like those were some of the stronger panels. The art was black and white, thick lines, and just overall felt really heavy. Most of the time, the panels felt really cramped, but I have a feeling this was intentional.

I absolutely loved Art Spiegelman’s decision to depict the different people within this story as animals (Mice=the Jewish people, Pigs=the Polish people, and Cats=the Germans/Nazis).



Also intentional, and something I really appreciated, was how honest and true to Vladek’s narration Art Spiegelman seemed to stay. In the book, you find out that Art recorded his father’s story, and I think he wrote Vladek’s words verbatim. There were times where the sentence structures were just a little off, and I could hear Vladek's voice so strongly during those times. It just really added another depth to this book.



I wasn’t able to read this in one sitting and I also wasn’t able to pick up another book while taking a break from THE COMPLETE MAUS. But I’m really OK with that. I was able to really digest and contemplate on what I was reading, and I think taking my time helped me understand and fully immerse myself in Vladek’s experiences.

If you decide to read this, just know that it didn’t seem like Vladek held back telling Art anything that he experienced. All the pain and loss that he went through at the hands of the Nazis was extremely haunting to read about.

Vladek’s story will definitely stick with me for the rest of my life. ...more

5

Dec 09, 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Reading this book was like having an echo of a conversation with my husband's grandfather. Dziadek could be Vladek's twin brother if any of Vladek's poor family had survived the war.

This book's most horrifying moment came, for me, at the loss of their two year old son, Richeu. I tried to imagine a world where my decision to keep my son with me and hope for a better future, cost him his life and considered how I would live with that for the rest of my life.

I don't have the answer to that. All I Reading this book was like having an echo of a conversation with my husband's grandfather. Dziadek could be Vladek's twin brother if any of Vladek's poor family had survived the war.

This book's most horrifying moment came, for me, at the loss of their two year old son, Richeu. I tried to imagine a world where my decision to keep my son with me and hope for a better future, cost him his life and considered how I would live with that for the rest of my life.

I don't have the answer to that. All I know is that my son got away with a helluva lot more bad behaviour that day then he normally would.

I have no commentary to make on the war, the holocaust, the devestation or destruction because I have nothing intelligent or worthwhile to add other than the recognition that the crimes committed there were truly horrifying and disgusting.

Though I hardly want to consider the type of human being I would be if I didn't feel that way. ...more

5

Sep 19, 2016

“To die, it’s easy…but you have to struggle for life!” The only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, this brings the Holocaust home in a fresh way. Like Animal Farm, it uses the conceit of various animal associations: the Jews are mice, Poles are pigs, Nazis are cats, and Americans are dogs. Spiegelman draws what, from a distance of decades, his Polish father Vladek narrates about his almost unbelievable series of escapes, including time in Auschwitz. It’s often the minor stories that really “To die, it’s easy…but you have to struggle for life!” The only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, this brings the Holocaust home in a fresh way. Like Animal Farm, it uses the conceit of various animal associations: the Jews are mice, Poles are pigs, Nazis are cats, and Americans are dogs. Spiegelman draws what, from a distance of decades, his Polish father Vladek narrates about his almost unbelievable series of escapes, including time in Auschwitz. It’s often the minor stories that really bring the atmosphere of deprivation to life: getting sick in the ghetto from a cake made of scrounged ‘flour’, some of it actually soap powder; bartering with a Polish guard to give his friend a uniform that fits properly; keeping a spare lice-free uniform shirt carefully wrapped up to present at inspection times. “It’s a miracle he survived,” Spiegelman thinks of his father: some combination of good luck and cunning.

Spiegelman gives the book an extra dimension by including his recording sessions with his father as a framing story for most chapters. On visits to his father and his second wife out in Rego Park, when he can get a word in edgewise over the couple’s bickering and his father’s complaints about his health and finances, he elicits Vladek’s memories. The narration is thus in Vladek’s own broken English, and we see how exasperating Spiegelman finds him – for being a penny pincher and racist against blacks, for instance – even as he’s in awe of his story. “No matter what I accomplish, it doesn’t seem like much compared to surviving Auschwitz,” he tells his shrink.

The drawing style is fairly simplistic. It’s interesting to take as a counterpoint the four-page comic “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” (included in this volume) that Spiegelman wrote before any of the installments of Maus came out. From 1972, it’s about his release from a mental hospital and his mother Anja’s suicide – family tragedies that don’t get much space in a book already overloaded with sadness and loss. I prefer the style of these panels – ornate with cross-hatching, almost like woodcuts – yet it’s clear why, to get through the sheer mass of material, Spiegelman had to streamline things to accomplish Maus.

You can see how this paved the way for comic artists like Roz Chast and Alison Bechdel. Their works share the same psychological depth when the artist is examining his/her relationship with parents. I’d recommend this to absolutely anyone, graphic novel fan or no. As Vladek’s second wife Mala observes, “It’s an important book. People who don’t usually read such stories will be interested.” (Vladek pipes up: “Yes. I don’t read ever such comics, and even I am interested.” Mala: “Of course you are interested. It’s your story!” / Vladek: “Yes. I know already my story by heart, and even I am interested.”) ...more

5

Aug 31, 2015

Reto 12 libros - 12 meses del grupo Sangre de tinta
Noviembre: Una Novela gráfica

No deja de sorprenderme como las historias que muestran las mas grandes crueldades, son a veces las mas realistas, las mas humanas.


La historia quizás les sea familiar, Judíos, Segunda guerra mundial, Alemanes, campos de concentración, Polacos, y Estadounidenses; Maus nos relata la historia biográfica de de Vladek Spiegelman, con el giro de ser contada a través de los dibujos de su hijo Art en el formato del Reto 12 libros - 12 meses del grupo Sangre de tinta
Noviembre: Una Novela gráfica

No deja de sorprenderme como las historias que muestran las mas grandes crueldades, son a veces las mas realistas, las mas humanas.


La historia quizás les sea familiar, Judíos, Segunda guerra mundial, Alemanes, campos de concentración, Polacos, y Estadounidenses; Maus nos relata la historia biográfica de de Vladek Spiegelman, con el giro de ser contada a través de los dibujos de su hijo Art en el formato del Cómic,y para las personas que no les gusta este formato, o tienen sus dudas con respecto a su seriedad o importancia, sepan que es el único cómic hasta la fecha que ha ganado el premio Pulitzer, algo digno de mención.

Vladek es uno de los pocos Judíos polacos sobreviviente a la guerra, podríamos decir que sobrevivió por su inteligencia, o su disposición a trabajar en lo que sea, a hacer lo que sea, a buscar amistades donde sea, y muchas cosas mas, pero lo cierto es que tuvo suerte, porque muchos mas, quizás mejores personas o ratones, ya les hablare de eso, no lo lograron.

Art, el hijo de Vladek, nos cuenta sin tapujos la vida de su padre, que en la historia el mismo esta compartiendo con su hijo, Vladek esta muy lejos de ser un héroe o un personaje perfecto, es un viejo cascarrabias, avaro, mezquino y racista, pero hizo todo lo que pudo por sobrevivir, y porque su familia sobreviviera, lo que mas llama la atención del cómic es que los personajes son animales antropomórficos, divididos según su religión o país de origen, así los Judíos son ratones, los alemanes son gatos chiste cruel, los Estadounidenses son Perros, los Polacos son cerdos y así sucesivamente.

Las paginas del cómic te atrapan desde el primer momento, cuadro a cuadro la historia florece con una narración a dos tiempos lograda, y con hechos históricos impactante que no aburren para nada.

Definitivamente lo recomiendo a todos ...more

4

Sep 27, 2018

4.5

Na minha primeira incursão no mundo das graphic novels optei por ler Maus, sendo que, como todos nós, estava familiarizada com diversos relatos sobre o Holocausto, e inúmeras histórias verídicas. No entanto, tenho a dizer que esta em especial me tocou profundamente e vai ser sem dúvida, uma que vou recordar por muito tempo.

A particularidade na obra de Spielgelman é a relação que cria entre o leitor e o pai, através dos seus olhos e a sua própria auto-culpabilização, por, sem ter experienciado 4.5

Na minha primeira incursão no mundo das graphic novels optei por ler Maus, sendo que, como todos nós, estava familiarizada com diversos relatos sobre o Holocausto, e inúmeras histórias verídicas. No entanto, tenho a dizer que esta em especial me tocou profundamente e vai ser sem dúvida, uma que vou recordar por muito tempo.

A particularidade na obra de Spielgelman é a relação que cria entre o leitor e o pai, através dos seus olhos e a sua própria auto-culpabilização, por, sem ter experienciado o Holocausto por si, estar a expor a sua (a do seu pai, mas pela sua voz) versão dos acontecimentos. Quantos de nós não sentiram já uma pontada de culpa, por sentirmos que nunca saberemos verdadeiramente compreender estes relatos, por muito que possamos dizer que estas histórias nos perturbam?

Penso que a decisão de retratar fielmente o pai como uma pessoa complicada e conflituosa e a sua própria difícil relação com o filho, torna a personagem mais próxima ao leitor e a sua história mais visceral e palpável. Recomendo Maus a todos os leitores. ...more

4

Jun 15, 2019

Θέλετε να κάνετε το όνομά σας γνωστό στον κόσμο των κόμικς? Δημιουργήστε ένα ασπρόμαυρο graphic novel.
Θέλετε να προκαλέσετε εντύπωση στους κύκλους της λογοτεχνίας? Γράψτε για το ολοκαύτωμα.
Συνδυάστε, δε, τα δύο παραπάνω και το όνομά σας θα μνημονεύεται στους αιώνες της βιβλιοφιλικής ιστορίας.

Και μετά τα παραπάνω, που έπρεπε οπωσδήποτε να τα γράψω, να πω ότι το Maus είναι ένα εξαιρετικό ανάγνωσμα, που δίνει με τον καλύτερο τρόπο τη φρίκη εκείνης της περιόδου της ανθρώπινης ιστορίας.
Συνιστώ Θέλετε να κάνετε το όνομά σας γνωστό στον κόσμο των κόμικς? Δημιουργήστε ένα ασπρόμαυρο graphic novel.
Θέλετε να προκαλέσετε εντύπωση στους κύκλους της λογοτεχνίας? Γράψτε για το ολοκαύτωμα.
Συνδυάστε, δε, τα δύο παραπάνω και το όνομά σας θα μνημονεύεται στους αιώνες της βιβλιοφιλικής ιστορίας.

Και μετά τα παραπάνω, που έπρεπε οπωσδήποτε να τα γράψω, να πω ότι το Maus είναι ένα εξαιρετικό ανάγνωσμα, που δίνει με τον καλύτερο τρόπο τη φρίκη εκείνης της περιόδου της ανθρώπινης ιστορίας.
Συνιστώ οπωσδήποτε να το διαβάσετε, δεν θα χάσετε.

Απλώς κι εμένα ορισμένες φορές με ενοχλεί η μυθολογική διάσταση που παίρνουν κάποια βιβλία, χωρίς απαραίτητα να το αξίζουν. ...more

5

Mar 05, 2018

Πεντάστερο αριστούργημα!
Χωρίς πολλά λόγια, μια εικονοιστορία που αξίζει να διαβαστεί από όλους, έτσι ώστε να μην ξεχνάει κανείς μας τις θηριωδίες των Ναζί στον ΒΠΠ.
Δικαίως βραβεύτηκε, δικαίως αγαπήθηκε και δικαίως φιγουράρει στα graphic novels με τις πιο υψηλές βαθμολογίες.

To σχέδιο δεν είναι κάτι το ιδιαίτερο αλλά η όλη ιστορία και η δυναμική των χαρακτήρων πραγματικά με έκαναν να μην θέλω να σταματήσω να διαβάζω. Η εξουσία του ανθρώπου πάνω σε συνανθρώπους του μπορεί να εξαλείψει τελείως την Πεντάστερο αριστούργημα!
Χωρίς πολλά λόγια, μια εικονοιστορία που αξίζει να διαβαστεί από όλους, έτσι ώστε να μην ξεχνάει κανείς μας τις θηριωδίες των Ναζί στον ΒΠΠ.
Δικαίως βραβεύτηκε, δικαίως αγαπήθηκε και δικαίως φιγουράρει στα graphic novels με τις πιο υψηλές βαθμολογίες.

To σχέδιο δεν είναι κάτι το ιδιαίτερο αλλά η όλη ιστορία και η δυναμική των χαρακτήρων πραγματικά με έκαναν να μην θέλω να σταματήσω να διαβάζω. Η εξουσία του ανθρώπου πάνω σε συνανθρώπους του μπορεί να εξαλείψει τελείως την ανθρώπινη φύση και την λογική.

ΥΓ: Οι ΕΒραίοι είναι ποντίκια, οι Γερμανοί γάτες, οι Πολωνοί γουρούνια, οι Αμερικάνοι σκύλοι, οι Γάλλοι βάτραχοι και οι τσιγγάνοι ακρίδες...
Χρειάζεται να γράψω κάτι παραπάνω;; ...more

5

Dec 22, 2014

Art Spiegelman warns of 'dangerous' outcome as Russian shops ban Maus

This has been on my wishlist forever -looks like this is a good time to read it. "My father pulled out 14 of his teeth to escape. If you missed 12 teeth they let you go."
- page 45, book I

"The guards, it was Jews with big sticks, they acted so, just like the Germans"
- page 106, book I

5

Aug 11, 2015

Абсолютно приголомшлива річ. Історія Владека Шпіґельмана, батька автора цього графічного роману, про його перебування в Аушвіці врізається настільки глибоко, що довго не відпускає опісля. Це історія виживання, яка посилюється ще й тим, що люди тут в образі звірі: євреї - це миші, а німці - коти. Наглядна метафора, але Арт закладає ще й глибший, культурний підтекст, адже нацисти справді асоціювали євреїв із мишами, тому й Мікі Маус був утіленням єврейсько-американського домінування. Зрозуміло, що Абсолютно приголомшлива річ. Історія Владека Шпіґельмана, батька автора цього графічного роману, про його перебування в Аушвіці врізається настільки глибоко, що довго не відпускає опісля. Це історія виживання, яка посилюється ще й тим, що люди тут в образі звірі: євреї - це миші, а німці - коти. Наглядна метафора, але Арт закладає ще й глибший, культурний підтекст, адже нацисти справді асоціювали євреїв із мишами, тому й Мікі Маус був утіленням єврейсько-американського домінування. Зрозуміло, що миша - це й дивовижно витривала тварина, яка завдяки своїй кмітливості, обережності оминає перешкоди.

Здається, Арт Шпіґельман використовує ці стереотипи, щоб підсили протистояння між націями, окремими народами й водночас показати абсурдність цього протистояння. Так, між рисами однієї раси існує дуже умовна відмінність, тому мимоволі на густо роздробленій панелями сторінці важко ідентифікувати їх, відрізнити мишу-тата від миші-мами. Навіть більше, відмінність між усіма расами теж відносна завдяки схематичному, дещо грубому стилю автора. Можливо, ідея в тім, що принцип вирізнення завжди стереотипний і штучний, адже реальної відмінності між людьми нема: повинно бути тільки спільне, людське, що й визначає нас як окремий вид. В іншому контексті така гуманістична складова видавалась би дещо пафосною, але не тут. Історична правда повністю знімає можливий пафос, адже результатом штучного й абсолютно безглуздого розрізнення між расами, ґендерами й культурами стали газові камери й печі в концтаборах.

Водночас такий підхід цікавий тим, що Шпіґельман швидше пропонує архетипи, матриці, які працюють універсально в будь-якій іншій історії Аушвіцу. Зрештою, таких Владеків - мільйони. Питання в тім, що робити з цими історіями, як з ними жити наступним поколінням. Це дуже незручна тема для усіх учасників, тому й комікс, скажімо, з певною дратівливістю сприйняли у Польщі. Росіян нема в коміксі, але чомусь вони теж зняли продаж "Мауса" з магазинів. Не тому, що їхня сучасна історія дуже нагадує історію котів? Так чи так, це дуже емоційне, завжди актуальне й наповнене сенсами полотно людських трагедій, де обраний медіум завдяки своїм виражальним засобам ідеально передає увесь біль нашого століття. ...more