Maus: A Survivors Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus, Bk 1)
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Paperback
6,000,000. 6 Million. Think about that number. How can an individual get their arms around a number of that magnitude? HOW can you describe the government-sponsored murder of 6 MILLION people? (And that number only includes the Jewish people killed by the Nazis. Roma, homosexuals, the disabled, and so many others almost DOUBLE that number! NOR does it include the number of people who were persecuted but managed to survive the war.)
In Maus, writer/artist Art Spiegelman doesn't attempt to deal with 6 million people. Instead, he tells the story of 2 people living through that horror â his parents. There are, of course, others around them â but all are ancillary to the tale of the Spiegelmans. Actually, Spiegelman tells TWO stories â the story of his father's dealings with the Nazis AND of his father's dealings with life today. It is easy to see from a reader's vantage point how the events of the war shaped Mr. Spiegelman's attitudes towards life and towards those around him, but the characters of this story cannot make the connection. This is especially true of his new wife â who ALSO lived through the Holocaust but emerged with different life lessons.
Why âMausâ? Because the characters in this graphic novel are depicted as animals. The Jewish people are drawn as anthromorphic mice, the Gentile Poles as pigs, and the Germans as cats. In fact, when Jews are attempting to pass as Gentiles, they wear a pig mask. This depiction may be troubling to some people, but I believe it allows the writer / artist to have a little more freedom in telling his tale. (I DID find it a bit ironic when the mice were talking about being in a basement with mice and rats â NON-anthropomorphic rodents.
This book takes us from the rise of the Nazis in Germany through their invasion of Poland, but comes to an end when the Spiegelmans are brought to Auschwitz . There is a sequel, which I MUST acquire and read at my earliest opportunity.
RATING: 5 stars. More if I was allowed to give them.
In Maus, writer/artist Art Spiegelman doesn't attempt to deal with 6 million people. Instead, he tells the story of 2 people living through that horror â his parents. There are, of course, others around them â but all are ancillary to the tale of the Spiegelmans. Actually, Spiegelman tells TWO stories â the story of his father's dealings with the Nazis AND of his father's dealings with life today. It is easy to see from a reader's vantage point how the events of the war shaped Mr. Spiegelman's attitudes towards life and towards those around him, but the characters of this story cannot make the connection. This is especially true of his new wife â who ALSO lived through the Holocaust but emerged with different life lessons.
Why âMausâ? Because the characters in this graphic novel are depicted as animals. The Jewish people are drawn as anthromorphic mice, the Gentile Poles as pigs, and the Germans as cats. In fact, when Jews are attempting to pass as Gentiles, they wear a pig mask. This depiction may be troubling to some people, but I believe it allows the writer / artist to have a little more freedom in telling his tale. (I DID find it a bit ironic when the mice were talking about being in a basement with mice and rats â NON-anthropomorphic rodents.
This book takes us from the rise of the Nazis in Germany through their invasion of Poland, but comes to an end when the Spiegelmans are brought to Auschwitz . There is a sequel, which I MUST acquire and read at my earliest opportunity.
RATING: 5 stars. More if I was allowed to give them.
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