Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Pantheon (1992), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 144 pages
Description
A memoir of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and about his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father, his story, and history. Cartoon format portrays Jews as mice, Nazis as cats. Using a unique comic-strip-as-graphic-art format, the story of Vladek Spiegelman's passage through the Nazi Holocaust is told in his own words. Acclaimed as a "quiet triumph" and a "brutally moving work of art," the first volume of Art Spiegelman's Maus introduced readers to Vladek Spiegelman. The story succeeds perfectly in shocking us out of any lingering sense of familiarity with the events described, approaching, as it does, the unspeakable through the diminutive. As the New York Times Book Review commented, "[it is] a remarkable feat of documentary detail and novelistic vividness ... an unfolding literary event." This long-awaited sequel, 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. Vladek's troubled remarriage, minor arguments between father and son, and life's everyday disappointments are all set against a backdrop of history too large to pacify. At every level this is the ultimate survivor's tale--and that too of the children who somehow survive even the survivors.… (more)
Media reviews
Perhaps no Holocaust narrative will ever contain the whole experience. But Art Spiegelman has found an original and authentic form to draw us closer to its bleak heart.
By writing and drawing simply, directly and earnestly, Mr. Spiegelman is able to lend his father's journey into hell and back an immediacy and poignance... In recounting the tales of both the father and the son in "Maus" and now in "Maus II," Mr. Spiegelman has stretched the boundaries of the comic
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book form and in doing so has created one of the most powerful and original memoirs to come along in recent years. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Winner — Special Citation — 1992)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 1992)
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist — Biography/Autobiography — 1991)
Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (Nominee — 1999)
Eisner Award (Nominee — 1992)
American Book Award (1992)
Harvey Award (Winner — 1992)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 1992)
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member dr_zirk
In Maus II, the story of Vladek Spiegelman finally takes us inside Auschwitz. The horrors therein are not necessarily a surprise, but made all the more real by Vladek's detailed memories and his relentless efforts to survive and to ensure that his wife does the same.
As with the first volume in the
As with the first volume in the
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series, the author is not afraid to portray his father as something of a unsympathetic character, despite his traumatic personal history. This is all to Art Spiegelman's credit - Maus is a work of thoroughly compelling personal history that does not stoop to the level of mawkish memoir. Maus II is every bit as essential as the first volume, and completes one of the really great narratives in graphic novel format that has been produced to date. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
I actually like II more than I--not that it's better per se, I just appreciated all of himself and his wife that the author put into this book.
Is this really YA? That is where my library shelves it, but these are really quite amazing books for anyone. The comic form and the black and white only
Is this really YA? That is where my library shelves it, but these are really quite amazing books for anyone. The comic form and the black and white only
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make it very powerful--and the authors drawings are amazing. I also liked that the author included his own questioning of this project in the book. I can only imagine how difficult the questioning and listening to his father was, as well as how difficult it must have been for his father to tell. Show Less
LibraryThing member hem143
This graphic novel is a sequal to Maus. It is a son's retelling of his parents time spent in the Auschwitz death camps. The subject matter is a bit more advanced however, would work perfectly for a classroom of high school or upper middle school students. This was actually my first time reading a
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graphic novel and although I doubt I will be reading many more, I feel the author was right in his choice to convey his parents story through this medium as it was certainly very interesting. Really enjoyed it! Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
Art wrote and drew this two-part graphic novel based on his own father's (Vladek) experiences during World War II. It's also a revealing look at Art himself and his relationship with his difficult dad. Maus feels so honest. It's written not about a perfect man, but about a regular man, who fights
The book is brilliantly real. The fact that the story is told as a graphic novel allows the reader to detach just enough to get through the gruesome subject matter. The Jews are mice, the Germans are cats and the Polish people are pigs. The first book deals with Vladek's life before with his wife Anya. Their relationship resonated with me long after the final pages. The second book, which won the Pulitzer Prize, focuses on Vladek's time in Auschwitz and the war's resolution.
Reading it reminded me of an interview I did with a holocaust survivor when I worked at a daily newspaper. I remember being shocked by how angry he was. In my naïveté I assumed he would feel only gratitude for the fact that he survived, but there are some wounds that you can never truly forgive.
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with his wife and has a tortured relationship with his grown son. He is a flawed man who survived the holocaust and this is his story. The book is brilliantly real. The fact that the story is told as a graphic novel allows the reader to detach just enough to get through the gruesome subject matter. The Jews are mice, the Germans are cats and the Polish people are pigs. The first book deals with Vladek's life before with his wife Anya. Their relationship resonated with me long after the final pages. The second book, which won the Pulitzer Prize, focuses on Vladek's time in Auschwitz and the war's resolution.
Reading it reminded me of an interview I did with a holocaust survivor when I worked at a daily newspaper. I remember being shocked by how angry he was. In my naïveté I assumed he would feel only gratitude for the fact that he survived, but there are some wounds that you can never truly forgive.
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LibraryThing member HokieGeek
As other reviewers have stated, this book will break your heart. It is an example and how the Holocaust is still affecting generations of Jews. Sharing the author's journey through the process of learning about his parents and how the terrible events they suffered shaped their life and his is a
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humbling experience. I loved this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member sszkutak
I have been a graphic novel reader for a very long time and I always see Maus and have never picked it up. I recently saw it at my local library so I decided to give it a try. I knew going into it that this particular graphic novel causes some controversy and I wanted to read it to know why or make
Maus is the story of a survivor of the Holocaust as told to his son through an extended interview. The book depicts the Jewish as mice, the Polish as pigs, and the Germans as Cats and goes back and forth between a current timeline and what was happening to Vladek (the survivor) during his experiences with the Nazis.
This first installment is really a build up. Artie starts talking to his father about his history and this leads to the overall tale. Vladek in this book is talking about the beginning, being in the war, coming home, having things taken, people going missing, and the events leading up to his stay in Auschwitz. Although, readers don't start to hear the tales of the camps until the 2nd book.
I have to admit that this book is very deep, it is an emotional journey regardless of if it is fiction or non-fiction. Tales of the Holocaust are always emotional. It too was very sad that the author chose to depict the characters as animals - I think that these choices say a lot about how each of the groups were portrayed and I feel there was some insensitivity to those groups. Everyone in Europe was affected by the Holocaust and I think this tale is taking a very complex social dynamic and trying to fit it in a box... 'the cats were bad, the poles were no better'... and there were some that did not stand for the injustices committed.
I think that this is an important piece of graphic novel evolution/ canon - it is a strong message, an emotional event, and I think that Spiegelman wrote it to be as deep as it is. It makes readers think about the horrors, but it can also make readers think about how complex the issues were by being so understated here.
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my own decisions.Maus is the story of a survivor of the Holocaust as told to his son through an extended interview. The book depicts the Jewish as mice, the Polish as pigs, and the Germans as Cats and goes back and forth between a current timeline and what was happening to Vladek (the survivor) during his experiences with the Nazis.
This first installment is really a build up. Artie starts talking to his father about his history and this leads to the overall tale. Vladek in this book is talking about the beginning, being in the war, coming home, having things taken, people going missing, and the events leading up to his stay in Auschwitz. Although, readers don't start to hear the tales of the camps until the 2nd book.
I have to admit that this book is very deep, it is an emotional journey regardless of if it is fiction or non-fiction. Tales of the Holocaust are always emotional. It too was very sad that the author chose to depict the characters as animals - I think that these choices say a lot about how each of the groups were portrayed and I feel there was some insensitivity to those groups. Everyone in Europe was affected by the Holocaust and I think this tale is taking a very complex social dynamic and trying to fit it in a box... 'the cats were bad, the poles were no better'... and there were some that did not stand for the injustices committed.
I think that this is an important piece of graphic novel evolution/ canon - it is a strong message, an emotional event, and I think that Spiegelman wrote it to be as deep as it is. It makes readers think about the horrors, but it can also make readers think about how complex the issues were by being so understated here.
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LibraryThing member ewyatt
Spiegelman tells his father's story from his time in Auschwitz to after the war and the complex relationship between father and son. I was particularly interested in Speigelman's reflection about why he chose the format and his struggles to record the story. A powerful, moving personal history told
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in graphic novel format. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
I read the #1 in 2011, so finally read #2. I really liked #2 even more than the first. As far as a memoir of the holocaust, I learned more from this graphic novel than many novel type books. This graphic novel made it real with the pictures. I also appreciated the authors description of his own
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experience as a child of a holocaust survivors. Glad i finally made it to book 2. Show Less
LibraryThing member AnnieGoodwin
Art Spiegelman's Muas tells the tale of his father's experience in Auschwitz and other Nazi prisoner camps in the 1930s and 1940s in Germany. Vladek, Spiegelman's father, was separated from his wife and son during this time. Vladek had an incredible work ethic and an even larger amount of faith
This would be a great ext to use along with a Social Studies unit on the Holocaust. Most Holocaust books do not include pictures, but this graphic novels tells history through pictures. Using this book in a class would help students see the impact the Holocaust, Nazi prison camps, and Hitler had on the Jewish people at this time. This book also provides an interesting use of metaphor. In this book, the Nazis are portrayed as cats, the Jewish people are portrayed as mice, and the American soldiers are portrayed as dogs. An interesting study would be to discuss why Spiegelman gave each type of person this specific identity. To take the study further, students could discover other issues where they can characterize different people through metaphors.
Overall, I enjoyed Maus. This was my first experience reading a graphic novel and it took me a while to understand how to read the text. The pictures add so much detail to the story and literally bring it to life. I also feel that the lack of color in the illustrations added to the dark mood and tone throughout the text. I feel this is a text readers of any age could grasp and enjoy reading. I learned a great amount of new knowledge of the Holocaust from reading this book, which I believe is because it was an account of Vladek's personal experiences. This was a great read to further my knowledge of history and experience a different kind of literature.
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that led him through that time. However, this story is also about the relationship between Spiegelman and his father. Art's older brother, Richieu, who died in the prison camps haunts the memory of his father and Art can not seem to fill his shoes in his father's eyes. Art also struggles to connect with his father on a variety of other different levels that are outlined in the book. This graphic novel not only retells Vladek's story, but also presents lessons in history to young readers.This would be a great ext to use along with a Social Studies unit on the Holocaust. Most Holocaust books do not include pictures, but this graphic novels tells history through pictures. Using this book in a class would help students see the impact the Holocaust, Nazi prison camps, and Hitler had on the Jewish people at this time. This book also provides an interesting use of metaphor. In this book, the Nazis are portrayed as cats, the Jewish people are portrayed as mice, and the American soldiers are portrayed as dogs. An interesting study would be to discuss why Spiegelman gave each type of person this specific identity. To take the study further, students could discover other issues where they can characterize different people through metaphors.
Overall, I enjoyed Maus. This was my first experience reading a graphic novel and it took me a while to understand how to read the text. The pictures add so much detail to the story and literally bring it to life. I also feel that the lack of color in the illustrations added to the dark mood and tone throughout the text. I feel this is a text readers of any age could grasp and enjoy reading. I learned a great amount of new knowledge of the Holocaust from reading this book, which I believe is because it was an account of Vladek's personal experiences. This was a great read to further my knowledge of history and experience a different kind of literature.
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LibraryThing member phebj
This book completes the story of what happened to Spiegelman’s parents during the last two years of the Holocaust which they spent in several concentration camps. It also shows some of the long term consequences of this ordeal--in particular, the strained relationship between Spiegelman and his
It was harder to read this book than Maus I because of the concentration camp scenes and the accumulated hardships his parents had endured by this point. Their lives had been full of uncertainty, fear and deprivation for almost 10 years by the mid 1940s.
I never expected a comic book format to be able to tell this type of story so effectively. Some of the comments of Spiegelman’s shrink will stay with me. “It wasn’t the BEST people who survived, nor did the best ones die. It was RANDOM!” “Look at how many books have already been written about the Holocaust. What’s the point? People haven’t changed . . . Maybe they need a newer, bigger Holocaust.”
Recommended but not an easy read and you definitely need to read Maus I first.
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father which causes Spiegelman to seek help from a shrink. As he tells the shrink, “No matter what I accomplish, it doesn’t seem like much compared to surviving Auschwitz.” Spiegelman’s goal was to be fair to his father and still show how angry he was with him. He succeeds in this. It was harder to read this book than Maus I because of the concentration camp scenes and the accumulated hardships his parents had endured by this point. Their lives had been full of uncertainty, fear and deprivation for almost 10 years by the mid 1940s.
I never expected a comic book format to be able to tell this type of story so effectively. Some of the comments of Spiegelman’s shrink will stay with me. “It wasn’t the BEST people who survived, nor did the best ones die. It was RANDOM!” “Look at how many books have already been written about the Holocaust. What’s the point? People haven’t changed . . . Maybe they need a newer, bigger Holocaust.”
Recommended but not an easy read and you definitely need to read Maus I first.
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LibraryThing member lit_chick
Another very impressive effort by Art Spiegelman. In [Maus II], Vladek tells his son of the German concentration camps. Both Vladek and his wife, Anja, are prisoners in Auschwitz and Birkenau. Miraculously, though their stories are harrowing and heartbreaking, they both survive the Holocaust. But
Truly, what Speigelman has done in [Maus] and [Maus II] is remarkable, both in terms of literary achievement and graphic memoir. I think his choice of graphic form stands to bring the story of the Holocaust to a greater number of our youth – and if this can be achieved, it will perhaps be his most significant contribution.
Lest we forget.
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their lives, like all those who lived to tell the story, are permanently scarred. Truly, what Speigelman has done in [Maus] and [Maus II] is remarkable, both in terms of literary achievement and graphic memoir. I think his choice of graphic form stands to bring the story of the Holocaust to a greater number of our youth – and if this can be achieved, it will perhaps be his most significant contribution.
Lest we forget.
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LibraryThing member BenKline
This is incredibly powerful, moving, and a gut-wrenching read. Its hard to put down, and its a fantastic story. I also enjoyed the cuts and other pieces, like showing him (the author/creator) being interviewed, how the media/companies want to use his story for money, etc.
This entire series has been
This entire series has been
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so well done, and careful with its subject matter, that its so powerful. Nuanced, strong, very thought provoking and powerful. Show Less
LibraryThing member eembooks
I also learned of this book from the Books On A Night Stand (an on-line book blog and podcast) . This is a continuation of Vol 1 in which the circumstances for Vladek’s life in Europe deteriorate and with eventual internment in Auschwitz. It is a story of survival as told to his son Art. But in
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between there is Vladek’s current life with extreme ill health, increased dependency and grasping to keep his son close. One should not miss reading Maus Vol 1 and Vol 2. Show Less
LibraryThing member wilsonknut
I read the first volume of Maus by Art Spiegelman several years ago. It is a classic in the graphic novel medium, and I felt I didn’t need to add much to the plethora of reviews and praises out there in Internet land with my amateur musings. The book is part of college English and history
A lot has been said about the book’s value as a Holocaust narrative, and how it illuminates the cost war has on families generations later. The second volume picks up the story of Spiegelman’s parents as they enter Auschwitz and are separated. Spiegelman’s father recounts his time in the prison camp and his eventual release. I think what really makes the book interesting is how Spielgelman weaves together his father’s Auschwitz narrative, his own difficult relationship with his father, and Spiegelman’s struggle to make sense of it all by writing the book. I have seen it mentioned many places, and it is true: the last page of volume two is heartbreaking.
There are still many who don’t give the same weight to good graphic novels as they do to traditional literature. I have to stress that this is not just a graphic novel or comic book. This is literature, deep and wide and heavy. If you have never read a graphic novel, do yourself a favor. Pick up both volumes of Maus and read them. I guarantee you will have a new appreciation for the medium.
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curricula now. But honestly, now that I have read the second volume, I think Maus II is the better book.I think the two volumes are now technically considered to be one book, but volume two was published in 1991, five years after volume one. The collection won the Pulitzer Prize Special Award in 1992.A lot has been said about the book’s value as a Holocaust narrative, and how it illuminates the cost war has on families generations later. The second volume picks up the story of Spiegelman’s parents as they enter Auschwitz and are separated. Spiegelman’s father recounts his time in the prison camp and his eventual release. I think what really makes the book interesting is how Spielgelman weaves together his father’s Auschwitz narrative, his own difficult relationship with his father, and Spiegelman’s struggle to make sense of it all by writing the book. I have seen it mentioned many places, and it is true: the last page of volume two is heartbreaking.
There are still many who don’t give the same weight to good graphic novels as they do to traditional literature. I have to stress that this is not just a graphic novel or comic book. This is literature, deep and wide and heavy. If you have never read a graphic novel, do yourself a favor. Pick up both volumes of Maus and read them. I guarantee you will have a new appreciation for the medium.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
Abrupt ending. Wanted to see how father died. More detail about actual holocaust, too short.
LibraryThing member jontseng
A startlingly original achievement. Takes one brilliant idea and sustains it in the execution.
LibraryThing member iammbb
I first heard of this work when a friend blogged about it. Shortly thereafter I was in a book buying frenzy at our local bookstore (which was recently saved from the developers but that's another story) so I went looking for and bought it.
Since this is nonfiction, it can't rightly be called a
Anyhow, either way, it's an interesting concept. It's very efficient. As I started it, I thought about all of the narrative with which the author didn't need to bother. Not being much of a comic book reader, I found at first that I was ignoring the artwork, focusing on the verbiage instead. After a short period of consciously forcing myself to both read and look, it became more habitual.
The books were very effective at conveying the slow yet inexorable march towards the Final Solution. The troubled father-son relationship and the comparisons between Vladek and other survivors provided a perspective on the post-war repercussions and fall-0ut.
I would have liked a more satisfying resolution of Vladek and Art's relationship but then it wouldn't have been nonfiction, would it?
Since this is nonfiction, it can't rightly be called a
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graphic novel. I'm not sure what the correct term is. Graphic book?Anyhow, either way, it's an interesting concept. It's very efficient. As I started it, I thought about all of the narrative with which the author didn't need to bother. Not being much of a comic book reader, I found at first that I was ignoring the artwork, focusing on the verbiage instead. After a short period of consciously forcing myself to both read and look, it became more habitual.
The books were very effective at conveying the slow yet inexorable march towards the Final Solution. The troubled father-son relationship and the comparisons between Vladek and other survivors provided a perspective on the post-war repercussions and fall-0ut.
I would have liked a more satisfying resolution of Vladek and Art's relationship but then it wouldn't have been nonfiction, would it?
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LibraryThing member Arctic-Stranger
This takes up where part I left off..(doh!)
Speigelman gives an unflinching view of his father's past and present. This is a heart wrenching story.
Speigelman gives an unflinching view of his father's past and present. This is a heart wrenching story.
LibraryThing member writestuff
Art Spiegelman won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize under the category of Special Awards and Citations - Letters for his amazing graphic books Maus I and Maus II. The books comprise a powerful memoir which recount the lives and survival of the author’s parents Vladek and Anja Spiegelman’s during WWII in
Told in a cartoon format where the Jews are portrayed as mice and the Nazi soldiers as cats, the story gains much of its power from the form in which it is written.
Spiegelman alternates between Poland during the war (where Vladek recounts the terrible and terrifying days of the Nazi occupation) and Rego Park, New York in the 1980s (where Art and his aging father struggle to establish meaningful lives together).
The result is a story which compels the reader to keep turning the pages while terror comes to life through vivid illustrations. It is a story of survival and finally of love - love between a man and a woman which the German camps could not destroy, and love between a father and son. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History and Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began are powerful documentaries of a family who survived the Holocaust and its impact on their future and the child who was born after the war.
This was my first foray into Graphic Art as story and I was moved and touched by it. If you decide to read Spiegelman’s work, you must read both books, back to back without a rest in between.
Highly recommended.
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Poland where they were eventually captured and transported to Auswchitz. But it is also a story about Art Spiegelman’s difficult relationship with his father, and the impact of survival on the survivor’s family.Told in a cartoon format where the Jews are portrayed as mice and the Nazi soldiers as cats, the story gains much of its power from the form in which it is written.
Spiegelman alternates between Poland during the war (where Vladek recounts the terrible and terrifying days of the Nazi occupation) and Rego Park, New York in the 1980s (where Art and his aging father struggle to establish meaningful lives together).
The result is a story which compels the reader to keep turning the pages while terror comes to life through vivid illustrations. It is a story of survival and finally of love - love between a man and a woman which the German camps could not destroy, and love between a father and son. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History and Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began are powerful documentaries of a family who survived the Holocaust and its impact on their future and the child who was born after the war.
This was my first foray into Graphic Art as story and I was moved and touched by it. If you decide to read Spiegelman’s work, you must read both books, back to back without a rest in between.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member kdebros
The second part of the first story, which describes trying to hide from the Nazis, this part describes life in a concentration camp. Again, very intense.
LibraryThing member MerryMary
This book breaks my heart. The artwork is as powerful as the first installment, and I see something more every time I look. The story alternates between the author dealing with his father's quirks and nightmares in the present time, and the action set during World War II as Vladek tells it.
The
The
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storytelling makes me smile and weep as Vladek is by turns fatalistic, empassioned, and matter-of-fact. Art's love for his father, and his guilt at feeling aggravated by his father's behavior seems very true and realistic. The panels that show his interaction with the counselor are heart-stopping. This book is gripping. Show Less
LibraryThing member kaipakartik
A masterpiece. A downright classic if ever there was one. Making the races into animals was a perfect allegory. Shows what the effects of the holocaust were and what it does to this day to those who managed to survive.
LibraryThing member DanaJean
The continuing graphic story by art spiegelman gets deeper into existence in Auschwitz. I find the insight into Art's father's life after the camps distressing. This life-changing event dictated how Art's dad chose to live the rest of his life, as if he were still in the camps. And although
His father drove Art nuts, but, by the end of his story, I think he realizes that a human being is fundamentally changed forever when forced to survive in the most horrific conditions, surrounded by death or threat of it, man's inhumanity to man even among friends--it's very easy to get irritated with someone when we can't understand events that have shaped them. But, Art loves his dad and knows that he is a strong, smart man who was lucky. Because, we also see that being chosen to live and being chosen to die more often than not was a matter of luck. The whole situation was ghastly, but some situations within the whole were worse. The thing that stood out for me was 'lines'. Sometimes it boiled down to something as simple as where a person stood in line if they would live or die.
I was pleased to actually see two photographs in the book. One was a baby picture of his beautiful older brother Richieu, who did not make it through the war. The other was of his dad, a handsome, determined looking man. I was sad that Art did not include a photograph of his mother, Anja. A delicate woman who surprisingly made it through the camps, only to commit suicide later in life leaving a husband and son. Why? Was she feeling guilt that she lived and so many others died--was the weight of this too much?
A very powerful memoir.
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frugality has its moments of admiration, Art's dad took it to extremes I've never heard of. He really embodied every Jewish stereotype I've ever heard.His father drove Art nuts, but, by the end of his story, I think he realizes that a human being is fundamentally changed forever when forced to survive in the most horrific conditions, surrounded by death or threat of it, man's inhumanity to man even among friends--it's very easy to get irritated with someone when we can't understand events that have shaped them. But, Art loves his dad and knows that he is a strong, smart man who was lucky. Because, we also see that being chosen to live and being chosen to die more often than not was a matter of luck. The whole situation was ghastly, but some situations within the whole were worse. The thing that stood out for me was 'lines'. Sometimes it boiled down to something as simple as where a person stood in line if they would live or die.
I was pleased to actually see two photographs in the book. One was a baby picture of his beautiful older brother Richieu, who did not make it through the war. The other was of his dad, a handsome, determined looking man. I was sad that Art did not include a photograph of his mother, Anja. A delicate woman who surprisingly made it through the camps, only to commit suicide later in life leaving a husband and son. Why? Was she feeling guilt that she lived and so many others died--was the weight of this too much?
A very powerful memoir.
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LibraryThing member go_devils006
Part II of a clever graphic novel telling the story of the author's father who was held in a concentration camp during World War II while simultaneously examining the effects that the author's curiosity in researching the story has on his relationship with his father. Jews are mice, Nazis are cats.
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While the artwork sometimes makes it a little difficult to follow (all the mice look the same), this is an interesting true story of survival under horrible curcumstances. Show Less
LibraryThing member leftik
This book was a fascinating read, but there were some parts that I was either confused and/or jarred by (which is what gave it the four star rating).
The historical detail in the book was mind-blowing as well as gruesome (obviously.) I also found the father-son relationship to be fascinating.
What
The unique presentation of the story (comic strip) made me understand why it is so vital in Holocaust lesson plans, because the format is much more child-friendly (even if the content is not.)
Overall, I'm glad I was required to read it because I'm not sure I would have otherwise.
The historical detail in the book was mind-blowing as well as gruesome (obviously.) I also found the father-son relationship to be fascinating.
What
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continued to bug me was the feeling that I was missing something, which in all actuality, I probably was because I did not read Maus I, so I'm guessing that the confusing parts of the story may have been cleared up if I had been required to read the first part as well.The unique presentation of the story (comic strip) made me understand why it is so vital in Holocaust lesson plans, because the format is much more child-friendly (even if the content is not.)
Overall, I'm glad I was required to read it because I'm not sure I would have otherwise.
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ISBN
0679729771 / 9780679729778