Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History

by Art Spiegelman

book data

9,189 ratings, 4.44 average rating, 696 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		56%
4		32%
3		9%
2		1%
1		0%

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published

August 12th 1986 by Pantheon

binding

Paperback, 160 pages

characters

Vladek, Anja, Artie Spiegelman, Mala

setting

Poland

literary awards

1986 National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee

isbn

0394747232 (isbn13: 9780394747231)

description

Some historical events simply beggar any attempt at description--the Holocaust is one of these. Therefore, as it recedes and the people able to bear w...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 10,908)

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03/25/09

Chandra rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: 2009-reads, biography-memoir, favorites, graphic-novels-comics, history

Who'd a thunk a 'cartoon' about Nazi cats and Jewish mice would be a heartbreaking and gut wrenchingly profound read? I sure didn't. You'd think the Pulitzer Prize might have clued me in. Today is the day that I officially stop underestimating graphic novels.

The way that Art Spiegelman intersperses his father's gripping survivor story with their present day uneasy,bickering relationship is pure genius. His honest portrayal of his miserly, broken father and his mother's suicide i...more

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05/20/07

Alicia Beale rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2005

When I switched my major to English in my senior year, I had a lot of back classes to take, especially intro classes with freshmen and sophmores, though my last intro class was a night class with primarily older women, who worked full time jobs in Edison or the Amboys and a bushel of kids waiting at home. Basically, they were there to learn more about literature, sort of as a self-improvement class for the non-literary. The class was taught by a flame hair TA, who had the personality to match. Y...more

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02/03/09

Megan rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: biography

Read in February, 2009

recommended to Megan by: Marie Burt
recommends it for: history lovers

This was my first foray in the world of graphic novels, and I have to say I was very impressed. "Maus" is the Pulitzer Prize winning biographical tale of a Jewish man named Vladek, who survives many hardships in Poland during World War II.

Told through a series of events and stories to his son Artie, Vladek, recounts this dark time of family separation, ghetto life, starvation, hiding, military service, POW camp, and finally his shipment to Auschwitz. Through it all, Vla...more

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06/07/09

Daniel rated it:

bookshelves: books-about-writers, glendale-library-store

Read in June, 2009

I know I'm not breaking any new ground by calling Art Spiegelman's "Maus" amazing -- easily one of the best Holocaust memoirs ever published. But, as if that isn't achievement enough, "Maus" also is much more than that: a nakedly honest portrayal of the strained relationship between artist-writer Art and his elderly father Vladek, neither of whom has gotten over the loss of Anja -- Art's mother and Vladek's wife -- to suicide years before. (The four-page "Prisoner on the...more I know I'm not breaking any new ground by calling Art Spiegelman's "Maus" amazing -- easily one of the best Holocaust memoirs ever published. But, as if that isn't achievement enough, "Maus" also is much more than that: a nakedly honest portrayal of the strained relationship between artist-writer Art and his elderly father Vladek, neither of whom has gotten over the loss of Anja -- Art's mother and Vladek's wife -- to suicide years before. (The four-page "Prisoner on the Hell Planet: A Case History," an earlier comic strip about the suicide that Spiegelman had published years before writing "Maus," and included here as part of the story, is particularly painful to read.)

No one comes out of this book unscathed: Art, even as he uses his father's Holocaust memories as the basis for his book, is impatient with the aging Vladek and castigates him for his mistakes. Vladek treats his second wife Mala poorly, mostly because she's not Anja, and Mala fails to understand Vladek, assuming that because they're both Holocaust survivors they should treat life the same way. And that's not even to mention the Jews who sell out their fellow Jews during the Holocaust (even their own relatives, at times), and the Poles who hide Jews from the Gestapos -- as long as they're being paid.

And, amazingly, Spiegelman recounts all this without becoming judgmental. Vladek understands why, during wartime, his Polish protectors demanded payment for their help. Mala understands why Art needed to turn his mother's suicide into a comic strip, and appreciates the comic's accuracy. Even the book's final scene -- I won't give it away for those who have not yet read "Maus" -- is presented starkly and in a matter-of-fact manner, with both Vladek's recounted actions and Art's angry reaction to them being completely understandable.

I don't meant to give short shrift to the book's other fine qualities: its ability to deftly jump back and forth in time, from the present day to World War II, and among various events during the war, and its perfect marriage of cartoon images to text. "Maus" really is just about perfect. Its one failing? Leaving Vladek's Holocaust story unfinished. But no matter: that's why there's a "Maus II," which I will read next.(less)

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12/20/07

Kirstie rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: people interested in historical fiction, the Holocaust, and graphic novels

Told through the format of a graphic novel is the story of the Spiegelmans and how they made it through the Holocaust. The story alternates between the present in which the son is in NYC speaking to his father about the past he escaped and the depictions of the actual horrors through his father's life story. One gets the sense of devastation that isn't surprising both in the retelling of the story and the way the experience has affected him to the present day. And, I thought it was a really cr...more Told through the format of a graphic novel is the story of the Spiegelmans and how they made it through the Holocaust. The story alternates between the present in which the son is in NYC speaking to his father about the past he escaped and the depictions of the actual horrors through his father's life story. One gets the sense of devastation that isn't surprising both in the retelling of the story and the way the experience has affected him to the present day. And, I thought it was a really creative way to tell this story. I could also tell the son and author is really working through so many issues while he's writing this. It seems he is not as close as he would like to be with his father, for example, and is also trying to work through and cope with his mother's suicide.

I think in some ways it's fantastic that the author was able to combine the graphic arts with the story in order to use both mediums to gain some release over the tragedy that affected his father. However, I'm really not too into graphic novels in general and I thought the subject matter didn't fit the medium or style of the medium. It's possible I need to change my perspective on this a little as well. I think historically the Holocaust survival story had not used this medium and so I may just feel a little uncomfortable because it has the effect of on the outset making the tone seem too light. For example, the Jewish people are mice and the nazis are cats. Even when they nazis are torturing the Jews and hanging them in public as "examples," I think it would have been more effective if he had drawn people even instead of mice. The horror just didn't sufficiently fit the drawing to me.

In any case, it's important to read this story and I am always amazed when I read about how versatile some of these survivors were able to be in terms of keeping alive by knowing so many languages and using any skill they had and being able to still hide valuables that could be traded. The flexibility and resiliency of this father and many other survivors is just immense to me. However, I think that because of the medium, the story didn't have as profound of an effect as, for example, some of Elie Wiesel's work. (less)

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12/13/07

Vinnie rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: grapic-novels

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: anyone

There's a lot of praise out there for this book, and it's all well deserved. There are countless books that tell stories of the Holocaust. None do it the way Maus does. By telling a real story through a medium that values the surreal, the author, Art Spiegelman, (who is also the artist) gives a fresh look at a dark chapter in the history of the world. Representing the characters in this story as animals could, at first, be an affront to some. It seems insensitive to de-humanize the victims of th...more

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07/28/07

Kimberly rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: graphic-novels

Read in July, 2007

Maus I is Vladek Spiegelman (Art's father's) tale of survival from the rise of the Nazi party through his imprisonment in Auschwitz in Spring, 1944. This is the story of the Nuremberg laws, the progressive isolation and desperation of the Jews, the inexcusable acts of bystanders, and the formation of ghettos throughout Poland. Maus II is the story of Auschwitz and beyond.

What I loved so much about this book was Spiegelman's visual representation of the genocide. The Jews are mice; th...more

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06/17/07

furies rated it:

bookshelves: graphic-novels-comics, historical-fiction, history-memory, holocaust, wwii

Read in October, 2003

a graphic novel of the holocaust? that features MICE? with crazy cats and dogs and pigs as the bad guys?

this is bloody brilliant. i know, i never would have believed it either, but just - it's the story of a young mouse whose father is plagued by his history as a concentration camp survivor, and he just doesn't get why his father can't get over it. (mice-jews, cats-nazis, pigs-germans, and i actually forget who the dogs are. i'm guessing the americans.)

the first volume i...more

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01/17/09

fbuser1037064947 added it (review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: historical-accounts

This was difficult to get through at times- but Art Spiegelman makes a tricky attempt at relating the Holocaust to a game of cat and "maus" look easy. The entire narrative is laid out in comic strips. And while "comics" make us think "funny," the author/artist keeps the severity of the story in check.

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01/16/09

Mike rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: world-history

Read in January, 2009

Though I read through this book in just an hour or two, I literally could not put it down, though I was supposed to be getting ready for work, eating breakfast, etc. My kids are learning about the history of WWII and the holocaust now, and we had picked up the second of these books at the library a few weeks ago. I ordered the first one (for years I'd heard so much about these books) and found it absolutely compelling and frightening, as so many holocaust stories are. Spiegelman's parents (dr...more

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12/09/08

Matt rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: 2008-09, graphic-novels-comics, non-fiction, owned, re-read, series

Read in December, 2008

Maus is Art Spiegelman's graphical interpretation of stories his father related about surviving the holocaust. Despite the way the stories are presented, Spiegelman doesn't pull any punches.

The majority of the text is (or seems to be) his father's words verbatim. Often Spiegelman's father Vladek, in his present-day dealings with his son and his wife, comes across as an antithesis of his former self. No longer resourceful, caring and heroic, but rather callous and self centred.
...more

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12/01/08

Erica O'Hair rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: outside-reading--yal

“Maus” is a common holocaust survivor’s tale. The fact that the style is a graphic novel adds an entirely new dimension to the already provocative plot. The story is being told by a Jewish man from Poland, only it is many years in the future and is being transcribed by his son. Flashbacks comprise most of the story, but the times when the father and son are talking in present time are some of the most eloquent of scenes. Since the story goes back and forth from present day to wartime P...more

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05/31/09

Matt rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

Read in May, 2009

I can't think of any life experience from the Holocaust lacking a compelling narrative. Though I find the term trite, how could any biography of one facing such systematic "evil" be anything but engrossing?

In light of the context, it's difficult for me to address Mauson its merits as a graphic novel or a biography. The story of Art Speigelman's father as a Polish Jew in Nazi-occupied Poland touches on a level of fear and suffering to which I can't honestly relate. Which,...more

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04/05/09

Christina rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: 2009-bookstack, biography, creme-of-the-crop, graphic-novel, library-book, poland, series, to-buy-bookstack, world-war-ii

Read in April, 2009

Winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize, Maus tells the story of Spiegelman’s parents during the Holocaust from the perspective of a son watching his father with all the frustration that accompanies it. All people are presented as animals as a representation of their nationality (for example, all Jews are depicted as mice, hence the name Maus which is German for “mouse”), an ingenious way to clearly show who is who in this story.

This was my first foray into the world of graphic novel...more Winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize, Maus tells the story of Spiegelman’s parents during the Holocaust from the perspective of a son watching his father with all the frustration that accompanies it. All people are presented as animals as a representation of their nationality (for example, all Jews are depicted as mice, hence the name Maus which is German for “mouse”), an ingenious way to clearly show who is who in this story.

This was my first foray into the world of graphic novels, and Maus has impressed me to umpteenth degree. I’ve always had this impression that graphic novels are more comics than novels, but Maus has so many layers and so many intricate details in it (for example, the mice wear masks as they trying to slip by unnoticed). Spiegelman tells the story of his father and mother in a bold and radical way, by taking a medium I thought was for the Sunday funnies to new artistic heights by taking on such a momentous topic as the Holocaust.

Yann Martel sent Maus to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and in his letter said:

“Some stories need to be told in many different ways so that they might exist in new ways for new generations. The story of the murder of nearly six million of Europe’s Jewish people at the hand of the Nazis and their criminal accomplices is just the sort of story that needs renewing if we don’t want a part of ourselves to fall asleep, like grandchildren nodding off after hearing grandfather repeat the same story of yore one time too many.”

I have to agree with Martel’s assessment because, with Maus, the story of the Holocaust can so easily be shared with those who don’t like to read, who don’t enjoy reading “real literature” about the Holocaust.

It’s extremely easy to read, and probably would have taken me less time to read if I hadn’t had to keep stopping and explaining that, “No, I don’t usually read graphic novels, but this is so different, so ingenious.” But don’t get me wrong, although the pictures are small and in black and white, they still have a huge impact on you as the reader.(less)

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03/30/09

Rociel rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

Read in March, 2009

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman is a memoir portrayed in the eyes of a Holocaust survivor’s son. His son (turned comic book artist) has taken it upon himself to interview his father in the hopes of recounting the horrific event that transpired during Hitler’s Nazi regime. Art also give us a view of his turbulent relationship with his father. A man who dishes out judgment and has no compassion, but is understood to be the way his is because of the grea...more

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07/08/07

Frederick rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: biography, graphicnovels, history, spiegelman

Read in February, 1987

recommends it for: people interested in the Holocaust.

Art Spiegelman's book is probably the most famous graphic novel ever published. It tells the story of his father's time in the Nazi concentration camps. A powerful moment occurs much later, during the funeral for Spiegelman's mother. Before this part, the characters have been drawn as animals. Suddenly, there is total realism as the human figure of his father is shown throwing himself on her coffin. He cries "Anna! Anna!" After this, people are disguised as animals again.

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02/14/09

Anna rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

bookshelves: graphic-novels

Read in February, 2009

(double review with In Cold Blood)

When I decided that one of my 2009 reading intentions would be to move through pivotal nonfiction--the sort of groundbreaking texts that incited change, demanded attention, and made the world in fact and on the page different--it was a thrill to think of how those guidelines still gave me an overwhelming number of books to choose from.

Reading In Cold Blood (1965) by Truman Capote and Art Spiegelman's two-part graphic novel, Maus (1986, 1...more

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06/15/09

Aubrey rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

Read in June, 2009

For some reason this book kept reminding me of something, and it took me to the end to realize it was "An American Tail" - the whole idea of oppressive communistic cats murdering and toying with mice who were left helpless against them. There was a lot of interesting imagery and metaphors involved in this book, but I had a hard time getting past the initial dislike I felt for the author when one of the first stories ends with his father asking him not to put it in the book and him pro...more For some reason this book kept reminding me of something, and it took me to the end to realize it was "An American Tail" - the whole idea of oppressive communistic cats murdering and toying with mice who were left helpless against them. There was a lot of interesting imagery and metaphors involved in this book, but I had a hard time getting past the initial dislike I felt for the author when one of the first stories ends with his father asking him not to put it in the book and him promising not to (a promise obviously broken, and the dad was right that this particular story didn't do anything to really further the central plot.) I kept waiting for a moment when the father would grant permission or something and that just never came which would excuse the author's adding the story... instead the son continually grated on my nerves whining about how his dad acts toward him and yet repeatedly pressing his dad for the story he was putting in his book. The holocaust story is definitely a fascinating, heartbreaking one; I've just never seen an author/creator of any story break down that fourth wall in such a way that leaves the reader almost detesting him/her.

Skipping past my disgust toward the creator of this book, and looking at the experiences his father had during the holocaust I was struck mostly by three things; 1: Humanity has murdered and oppressed people probably since the beginning of time in horrific ways with shocking regularity, 2: We've learned so very little from such a recent horrific past when you regard the current global landscape, and 3: that books will often hook together in unexpected ways. The book I just finished, Dred Scott's Revenge, was also about oppression, ironically an oppression perpetuated by the country that eventually brought the end of the horrors of the holocaust (in conjunction with Allies). How strange to leave a country where a race of people is treated with a lack of humanity and to be shocked by another race of people being treated with this lack of humanity, to a more obvious (I suppose) extent.

Is the author more likable in the sequel?
(less)

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12/08/08

Philip rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

Read in December, 2008

Realy great. Everyone should read it. Heartbreakingly, simple/complex illustration. Really superb.

And then this: just a question. Is anyone else bothered by the depiction of different groups of people as different species? I know it's just a book, but it was obviously a conscious choice to make all the Poles pigs, all the Germans (even sympathetic germans) cats, Americans Dogs, and finally Jews mice? I just. . .I don't know. I understand that the hollocaust was a different time, an...more Realy great. Everyone should read it. Heartbreakingly, simple/complex illustration. Really superb.

And then this: just a question. Is anyone else bothered by the depiction of different groups of people as different species? I know it's just a book, but it was obviously a conscious choice to make all the Poles pigs, all the Germans (even sympathetic germans) cats, Americans Dogs, and finally Jews mice? I just. . .I don't know. I understand that the hollocaust was a different time, and yes there are fundamental differences between nationalities, and there is a strong Jewish identity, but wouldn't the Polish Jews look like Pig Mice, , , I mean, just a little anyway? I worry that this animal depiction suggests a special/species-related different between Jews and others. And if Spiegelman wanted to deptict a sense of nomadic historical outsiderism that has always been part of the Zionist identity, then why aren't only they Jews a different species? Why Aren't Jews mice and everyone else rats or something, but to designate a different species for each country is. . um, offputting, and I think maybe misleading.

Dangerous representation, maybe? I don't know. Just asking.

Where this becomes most troubling is when the Jews in the book "pass" as nonJewish Poles or Germans. In the book, the mice have to wear "pig" masks so that they look just like the Poles. What I imagine actually happened was that they didn't change their visage at all, no masks, no changing of selves. Art Spiegelman's father didn't have to wear a mask becasue HE WAS POLISH. He was a Jewish Pole, but a Pole nonetheless, with no need of disguise to pass as a nonJewish Pole since there is no difference between people, and it was (at the very very least) stupid of the Nazis to think there was some sort of biological difference between Jews and everyone else. So, when the mice in the book don Pig/Pole masks, I think it takes away from this point. The real survivors hid in plain sight, because people are people. Period.
Except when they are animals.(less)

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12/13/08

j to the muthafuckin R rated it:

(review of isbn 0394541553)

Read in December, 2008

I am always interested in different ways of communicating to different people.
I myself read a lot of history, but others don't have the patience (or perhaps excitement) that I do for such books.
And this book is a different attempt from thousands of other books on the holocaust (personal stories or a general history of it) to perhaps reach a different audience, and also a different way to tell a story.
There is so much interesting history out there, so many stories to tell, that...more

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