Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Maus, historia de un sobreviviente: Y aquí comenzaron mis problemas by Art Spiegelman

70 reviews

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, Violence, Death, Murder, and War

Moderate: Hate crime, Torture, and Grief

Minor: Racial slurs and Racism

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Racism, Torture, Child death, Animal death, War, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide

courtneyivaska's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Maus 1-2 should absolutely be required reading for everyone.  This biographical story of how Spiegelman's parents survived the atrocities of WWII and the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau and sheds lights on the depravity of man and the horrifying choices that people are forced to make during war.  Readers may need to pace themselves (I had to take breaks) but should know that it is worth reading.  In addition to telling the survival story of his father, the book also grapples with the aftermath of war and what happens to people after they have experienced such trauma.  He does not paint his father in a perfect light, instead gives an honest portrayal of someone whose experience is reflected in his treatment of others after the war (i.e. some domestic neglect, racist attitudes toward others, hoarding).   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Gore, Torture, Suicide, Excrement, War, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Hate crime, Genocide, Gaslighting, and Racism

nikexistiertnik's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Torture, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Grief

carolibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, Genocide, and Torture

Minor: Suicide

steveatwaywords's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

For as much as Spiegelman struggled with the most difficult of topics, his follow-up on the original work perhaps excels it, not just in the horror of the closing chapters of his father's memories of the death camps, but in the struggles and real failings in addressing his own anxieties around his relationship with his father and that history. Do we find resolution to every thread Spiegelman has pulled? Of course not, but a tidy tying up is nothing history delivers us, and the story--as becomes clear--does not end. We none of us are heroes, and none particularly admirable under such circumstances. Some survive; and that may be all which can be said of them with skeptical confidence. That even these survivors are not so few still with us makes Spiegelman's recording of this oral history all the more significant. I'm grateful for the window into this chapter of the author's life with his father. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Genocide, Racism, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death

rtaire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

 Support banned books! (This review is a copy-paste of my review for Vol 1)

I definitely recommend most everyone read this book (and the first volume). It's a beautifully nuanced memoir of a holocaust survivor and the complicated relationship between him and his son, the comic artist writing/drawing the book. Glad I read the book now when I am struggling with all the grey space of my own relationship between myself and my mother. Makes me feel more at ease about the lack of clear distinctions of "morally good" and "bad", the messy in-between of reality.

The art style really helped to put some distance between me and the extremely difficult subject matter of the Holocaust, which allowed me to keep reading when I might have otherwise needed to stop to preserve my mental health. Still, some of the images are truly haunting and it helps to be prepared to know that these books cover the worst of what humanity is capable of. I still think it is very worth it to remember these atrocities, especially at a time when people are trying to erase them and ban important books like this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, War, Alcohol, Mental illness, Murder, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Racism, and Sexism

author2223's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, and Death

Moderate: War

Minor: Death of parent

bookgirllife's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale takes a deeper dive into Spiegelman’s relationship with his father while unpacking Vladek’s time at Auschwitz. Spiegelman’s storytelling is so poignant and emotive, while the narrative style is rooted in authenticity.

The writing style follows on from Vol. 1, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. Upon reading the complete collection, I stand firmly that this was the most accessible history book about the Holocaust that I’ve ever encountered. It is easily comprehendible while conveying the emotional impact of the Jewish experience of the Holocaust.

Maus II gives the reader a greater insight into the author’s life, post-publication of Vol. 1. I thought this was a very interesting perspective to add to the story of the lasting effects of the Holocaust on the Jews of today, and how generational trauma can affect people that weren’t directly traumatised by the events of the war. It lends an understanding of the fractured relationship Spiegelman has with his father. Vladek’s story is horrifying, as a reader. I can only imagine how much more horrifying it would be as his child.

Family and love are actually greater themes in this collection than I had first given credit to, and it is further highlighted in this volume, which spends more time “in the present” (i.e. when Speigelman was writing the comic). Not only do we see that through the father-son relationship that underpins the whole collection, but we also witness it through the dread that Vladek and Anja endure not knowing if the other is alive during their time forced apart at Auschwitz. The love they had for each other was powerful and perhaps the only form of hope available to them during that harrowing time.

I don’t think it is possible to overstate how moving this graphic novel, this collection as a whole, was.  Maus is powerful in an almost unsuspecting way. Of course any literature about World War 2 is bound to be heavy, but seeing the events of the Holocaust through the lens of comic strips is a lot more hard-hitting than I would have ever expected from the genre. I am pleased to say this shattered every expectation I could have held. I would highly recommend everyone read the complete collection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Violence, and War

Minor: Death of parent

onamoonbeam's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

that's a narrative!! that's a real story. god

an excellent continuation of the original. i really liked the chapter where you zoom out to see spiegelman sitting on top of a pile of mouse bodies and being questioned by interviewers. the rest of the chapters... seeing one man survive by his skills intelligence and luck and then cutting to how he dies is...sobering? somewhat inspiring? tragic? it definitely feels different to other holocaust narratives i've seen. stories must be told even if there is no just ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Hate crime, Medical content, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Antisemitism, Child death, and Genocide

Moderate: Racism