Review of Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman

Series: Maus: A Survivor's Tale
Author:  Art Spiegelman
Book in a series: 1 and 2
Name of book:  My Father Bleeds History (I); And Here My Troubles Began (II)
Pages: 160 (I); 136 (II)
Goodreads Excerpt:
(I) A story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself.

(II) Acclaimed as a quiet triumph and a brutally moving work of art, the first volume of Art Spieglman's Maus introduced readers to Vladek Spiegleman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist trying to come to terms with his father, his father's terrifying story, and History itself. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), succeeds perfectly in shocking us out of any lingering sense of familiararity with the events described, approaching, as it does, the unspeakable through the diminutive.

This second volume, subtitled And Here My Troubles Began, moves us from the barracks of Auschwitz to the bungalows of the Catskills. Genuinely tragic and comic by turns, it attains a complexity of theme and a precision of thought new to comics and rare in any medium. Maus ties together two powerful stories: Vladek's harrowing tale of survival against all odds, delineating the paradox of daily life in the death camps, and the author's account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. At every level this is the ultimate survivor's tale - and that too of the children who somehow survive even the survivors.

Review:
Maus: A Survivor's Tale is a two part graphic novel series.  In the first, the author describes his father's life leading up to his father and mother being imprisoned in Auschwitz, the German Nazi concentration camp.  In the second, we see life inside of the camp as well as his parent's release.  They also deal with the author's strained relationship with his father.  I don't normally pick up graphic novels.  They remind me of anime, which I generally dislike (and that's a bad reason!), but this one seemed intriguing.  I love to read about the concentration camps, Nazi Germany, and WWII.  I have kept it kind of at the back of my mind for a while now and finally decided to pick it up on my trip to the library this past month.  Thankfully they had both so I could read them back to back.


Overall, I liked these books.  I found the perspective of Vladek Spiegelman to be tough and gritty to read at times because he had experienced these things first hand.  I found it to be easier to visualize, as a reader, more of what he was saying rather than it feeling as though you are just looking in on the situation.  I don't just mean because there were pictures, but being able to visualize better because of his perspective itself.  The first graphic novel centered more around life right before they were imprisoned, which I liked because I have read so many books that focus more on life within the walls of the camps, which is so scary by itself.  However, this one focused on how scary life was for Jews before they even got to that point.  The hiding, the food rationing, the families being split up, knowing that there were actually people out to get you.  The second dealt with Art's mother and father being imprisoned separately.  He described the horrible conditions within the camp and how hard it was for them to keep track of each other.  In short, they are lucky to have made it out of there.  It makes my heart heavy to think about it.


I was less interested in the strained relationship the author had with his father.  I can see how it played into the story, in that the author couldn't really relate to his father (or any of his family that went through the holocaust) because he had been lucky enough to be born after the fact.  I know that was an important part of the story for him and I know why it was included.  In all honesty, though, I just found the author to be a prick.  His father lived through the HOLOCAUST, and he acted like that towards him?  Ugh.

On the other hand, I LOVE how the author depicted the Jews and the Nazis.  The Jews were drawn as mice and the Nazis as cats.  I thought the cat and mouse analogy fit perfectly with the theme and content of these books.  The Nazis, or cats, could easily destroy the Jews, or mice but the mice, being small and less noticeable, can also outwit the cats.

Rating:  5 of 5.

Warning!  Spoilers:
I don't know what it is about me reading books where I just can't stand one of the main characters.  Art Spiegelman, that is your FATHER.  Yes, he seemed to be a very hard person to get along with, but you didn't want to deal with his annoying behaviors, and you can't relate to him, and you think someone else should do it?  Well let me say this.  WHO CARES?  Everyone has annoying parents.  Yours just had an accent to go with it.  Deal.  Who cares if being in the Holocaust (!!!) affected your father differently than anyone else you know who went through it?  What does that matter?  You should have helped him more and been more supportive, regardless.  Jesus.  If the interactions you put into these books between you and your father actually happened, then shame on you for being a complete brat.

I could rant all day.  What did you think of Maus: A Survivor's Tale I and II?