A review by zakcebulski
Maus: A Survivor's Tale. My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0


This is one of those books that I remember seeing when I was a young lad. The cover was always so evocative to me, the mice, Hitler as a cat, the swastika- it is a scary image, especially in a K-4 library. I never read this book, though. I always focused on other avenues to consume information about WW2.

I finally found this book in the used bookstore that I frequent, and I decided to pick it up. And... if I can say that I have never wanted to kick myself in the ass more than now...
This graphic novel is absolutely stellar. Art Spiegelman's illustrations are so well done, it is truly awe-inspiring. 
The basic premise of this graphic novel is from the point of view of Art Spiegelman who is a cartoonist who is interviewing his elderly father- Vladek. 
Vladek is a Polish Jew and a survivor of the Holocaust- which Art is interviewing him regarding. 
Spiegelman does a fantastic job of illustrating these characters in such a way that they are very expressive- they are clearly defined and varied. 
I was shocked by and came to love the complex dichotomy between the reverence Vladek has for his first wife- Anja, and the disdain and disappointment that he has toward his second wife- Mala. 
The feeling of sub servitude expressed by the facial illustrations and body language of Art is so well done- you really feel the intense self-loathing, and lack of esteem which he has- especially when he is interacting with his father. 

I thought that the stand in animals for people were a fantastic allegory. Jews are viewed and illustrated as mice, the Nazis are cats, the Polish are pigs and the Americans are dogs. This I feel helps to keep the narrative straight, as you know who is who and what each person is doing at a glance. 
I also loved the way in which characters are disguised at points, they have a mask of a different animal species on.

This novel is autobiographical for a portion of Art's life, as well as biographical for a section of Vladek's life. I thought that the weaving together of two stories was done seamlessly. You really get an understanding of what went into the writing of this novel, and why Vladek acts the way in which he does due to the traumas that he was forced to endure by a fascist regime. 
I also love the way that this first volume leaves off on a big cliffhanger- it makes you want to run out and snag the second volume immediately. 

I plan to read the second volume in the near future, but for now, I am so pleased to have finally read this book. I think that it did a fantastic job of illustrating in a digestible way, the atrocities of the Holocaust. This novel and its second volume are important works, and I think that they should be read. This is the sort of art that is important so that the further education of the Holocaust and similar genocides can be learned about so that they can, in a utopia,  become a thing of the past. For now, learning about them, and keeping the memories of those who suffered and were murdered alive is what we can do. 
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