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January 09, 2010

Maus, by Art Spiegelman

I had heard a lot about Art Spiegelman's iconic graphic novel Maus, but had never read it until now. Frankly, I was scared to read it - I had read a lot of Holocaust related works when I was a kid, and I was overloaded by the time that Maus was first published. But I saw it at Barnes and Noble today, and decided that it was the right time to finally stop avoiding it.

Maus is an amazing work. Art Spiegelman uses the comic book form to go back and forth between his father's tales in Poland and Germany and the then present day in Rego Park, Queens. Without being preachy or overly graphic, Spiegelman gently tells the story of his family's life, and ultimate destruction. It is innately horrifying material, but Spiegelman presents it in a way that is touching and accessible. For a truly human look at one family's Holocaust experience, told with visuals that show Jews as mice and Nazis as cats, Maus is a must read.

Posted by In Repair at January 9, 2010 06:49 PM

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