Friday, February 6, 2009

Category 6, Books 1 and 2: Graphic Novels - Maus

Maus: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History and
Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
999 Challenge Category: Graphic Novels

These two graphic novels chronicle the Holocaust experiences of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman. The action moves back and forth between the present, with Art and his father talking and bickering, and the story Vladek tells his son about living in Poland during World War 2. The art complements and extends the meaning of the conversations, often playing off stereotypes (for example, the Jewish people are represented as mice, the Polish people as pigs) that bring home the events described all the more powerfully.

Absolutely deserving of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize it received, Maus is not an enjoyable story, but an absolutely necessary one to remember. I highly recommend this sobering, powerful work and would definitely read it again. 5 stars.

Cross-posted at the 999 Challenge.

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