Maus

[smoke]

Anybody ever read the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman?

I read it and it's sequel a couple of years ago and was really impressed. Then when I started attending Stout they made it the required reading for all the English classes, so I bought it and read it again.

Really cool book, or rather, graphic novel. It's a quick read and really worth the time. If you only read one book this year about a son learning of his father's experiences in the Holocaust where all the characters are drawn as animals, make sure Maus is it!

 

[Aazealh]

Never read it unfortunately, though I've heard a lot about it. I just haven't had the opportunity to check it out so far.

 

[Oburi]

Yea I've never read it but a friend of mine is always telling me about it and shoving it in my face. But she likes alot of things I have no intrest so I wasn't sure, but if a fellow berserk fan likes it, i guess I'll check it out.

 

[Walter]

I read it a few years back, and actually came across it recently when a friend of mine "had" to read it for a college class (a sociology intro class called "The History of Death and Dying").

It's very well done, and suprisingly so, really. For such well-trodden territory as the Holocaust, the 2 books in the series maintained my interest throughout. I found that the actual story and cat/mouse symbolism gimmick took a backseat to the characters, who are the real driving force for the story. Maus manages to walk that delicate balance between humor and drama masterfully.

It's ... a pretty emotional book for me

 

[CnC]

I can also vouch for the books. They're very good.

And I agree with walter that the cat, mouse and dog (allies) symbolism takes a back seat to the writing in your mind very early on.

 

[handsome rakshas]

Wow, a lot of good feedback here. Thanks for the input, friends. And thanks for bringing this to my attention ol' smokey boy! I will check this out asap.

 

[Holsety]

I can also vouch for the books. They're very good.

And I agree with walter that the cat, mouse and dog (allies) symbolism takes a back seat to the writing in your mind very early on.

I felt like the animal symbolism stuff was fine for easily identifying various cultures and groups. You look at any character and know precisely what sort of general category they fall into, even if the clothes and such that they wear aren't uniform with what other jews/germans/etc wear (though it's uncommon b/c jews are usually in the blue and white striped shirts, germans in that nazi uniform, etc etc). Additionally, although it's a rather shallow aspect of the book it's also one of the best conveyed messages in any story because of how obviously it is displayed.

Of course, Maus is historic as well, a graphic novel that has, in the public eye, graduated into a position of literary worth. Sadly, his other work published in a full collection, In the Shadow of No Towers, has been mostly ignored, though it's been out since...2005 IIRC. Don't overlook it, it's very good. I enjoyed it greatly, if that counts, and I've felt tempted to seek out issues of his underground 'comix' magazine RAW...admittedly quite old, I believe it went out of circulation in the 70s or 80s.