The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman

Advantages: Graphic novel format, makes it feel authentic while not being romanticised account of the Holocaust
Disadvantages: Almost unbearably moving, does not make you feel good about being a human being...

...This is a book that I cannot recommend enough, if I could give it 10 stars, I would. Maus 2 : And Here My Troubles Began is the sequel to Maus 1: A Survivor's Tale My Father bleeds History, the verysuccessful graphic novel on the Holocaust, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The author who is also a main character in the story, Art Spiegelman (referred to as Artie) interviews his father, Vladek, a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz, about his past. Part 1 traces the father's life and loves from the mid- 1930s to the winter of 1944, so we witness the changes gradually brought about to his life as the situation deteriorates in Poland. Part 2 is even darker and focuses on the father's time in Auschwitz. Because it is a graphic novel, you can actually SEE , and not only hear what was going on in the gas chambers, for example. Now I don... Read review

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Advantages: an extraordinary book, very touching
Disadvantages: none

...couldn't have said it better than Philipp Pullman in the Guardian 18.10.2003) The story has three levels, the author shows Art Spiegelman, the narrator (only once, though) when he's overrun and overwhelmed by the success his Maus stories have, ad people urge him to give them the permission to use his mice for their own purposes (which he refuses), he has to see a psychiatrist for help. On the next level we find the cartoonist Art Spiegelman, the author's fictitious alter ego, born in the USA as the son of a Jewish couple, survivors of the holocaust, interviewing his father about his life. This is the third level, Vladek Spiegelman tells his son about his family's life in Poland before the rise of the Nazis, what happened to his family during the Third Reich, his and his wife's experiences in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Completely self contained world.
Disadvantages: There will never be a sequel!

...Widely regarded as the definitive comic book for non comic fans 'Watchmen' tapped into the comic boom of the 1980's along with Art Spiegelman's 'Maus' and Frank Miller's 'The Dark Knight Returns'. Single handedly re-defined the genre by examining how the world would really react to having super-heroes in its midst. Completely self-contained, this graphic novel requires no other prior comic knowledge and can be enjoyed by any discerning reader. The writer, Alan Moore, takes us on a journey that crosses continents and his narrative is complimented by the precise artwork of Dave Gibbons that employs cinematic techniques such as flashback, flash forward and image merging. If you enjoy this then check out some of Alan Moore's other work including 'Swamp Thing' and 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' (significantly better than... Read review

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