Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor's Tale

Maus is a very poignant book. I'd initially chosen to read it as it was the first true story that I had seen in the form of a comic. But once I started reading it, I realised that it was much more than just a random comic. It was a comic which was constantly sending strong messages. This is mainly due to the author's style. Art Spiegelman has a rather original style or should I say idea.

Comic books have quite frequently been of animals with anthropomorphic characteristics. But the characters in graphic biographies on the other hand had always been human looking people.

In his novel, Spiegelman has drawn his characters like animals. Just the fact he drew them that way, is already quite a strong message. It is also a preview as to how low people can fall when they are desperate, and that at times, human kind is in fact, no so different from animals.

In this book:

The Jews are drawn as Mice.

The Germans are drawn as Cats.

The Polish are drawn as Pigs.

The Americans are drawn as Dogs.

The French are drawn as Frogs.

The British are drawn as Fish, and

The Russians are drawn as Bears.

This is another message. Every race or nationality is drawn as a different animal; which shows us the mentality of the time and how everyone was not considered as being human like in today's society but how everyone was categorised according to their racial background. It also shows us how there was no individuality at the time as in some scenes; everyone looks the same (especially the Jews) which is a representation of how the Nazis saw them.

The cartoonist also uses the method of flash back to show us how he wrote the book with his father, and how the war has affected his father and scarred him for life.

I wouldn't be able to give you any key passages or quotes as to me, the novel is a book of messages and every millimetre of the page is important. I'd say that the key lesson that Vladek Spiegelman remembered during the war, is that "A friend in need is a friend indeed".

I will not say that "enjoyed reading this book" would be the appropriate term about how I felt once I had read this, but the story most definitely interested me during the whole 2 books and I could not put the book down for once I'd started reading it.

Regarding the reading age group, since some of the images and passages may be quite tough to read through, I'd say that the reading age would be 13 and above. I do know for sure that everyone would benefit from reading these books, and that anyone who is not hooked after reading through the first chapter is not normal.

This is why I regard this book as being a master piece of after war art and writing. I give it a 10/10.

Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor's Tale Review: I think this is the best book a person could read about the holocaust. Art Spiegelman is a little confusing he goes from present to past a lot. It's like a book within a book. But still it is a good book to read and I would recommend it for a person who hates to read and wants to learn about the holocaust. I would love to see a MAUS III come out they have a second book and that is good too. But you want to read this one first.