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The Complete Maus

(Maus #1-2)

Art Spiegelman

4.56 · Rating details · 129,971 ratings · 7,513 reviews

Combined for the first time here are Maus I: A Survivor's Tale and Maus II - the complete story of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife, living and surviving in Hitler's Europe. By addressing the horror of the Holocaust through cartoons, the author captures the everyday reality of fear and is able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary sensation of survival - and how the ...more

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Paperback, 296 pages

Published October 2nd 2003 by Penguin Books (first published January 1st 1986)

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Nov 05, 2011 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012, graphic-novel-comic, favorites, best-of-2012, feels

oh my god.

description

This burrowed it's way deep into my heart. This made me feel so much. This was an experience, not just a "read". This was real and I can't even explain how this affected me because it was the most emotional thing I've ever read. Not made-up emotion. This was REAL and it affected me.

Vladek. He reminded me of my Grandfather, a little. I loved my Grandfather and I loved Vladek. His story, as told to his son Art Spiegelman, was one of the most powerful stories I've ever experienced.

This w ...more

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Aug 05, 2014 Alejandro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: comic-book, holocaust, biography, military, horror, politics, religion

Wonderful example of the power of a graphic novel!

This is the “Complete” edition of “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” collecting both parts: “My Father Bleeds History” and “And Here My Troubles Began”.

OF MAUS AND MEN

But these damn bugs are eating me alive!

While it took long time of finally reading Maus,...

...I knew that it was a graphic novel referring about the Jew Holocaust, but using mice (Jews) and cats (Nazis) as the characters,...

...and even while I was sure that it will be a crude tel ...more

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Jun 22, 2015 Raeleen Lemay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphicomanga, nonfiction

The art style was a bit distracting at times, but I really enjoyed this!

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Mar 09, 2012 Steve rated it it was amazing

It didn’t dawn on me until later that this brilliant piece of graphic artistry and fiction is actually a very clever allegory. On the face of it, we’re led to believe that it’s a story of the terrible suffering perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews in Poland and throughout Europe. But if you scratch beneath the surface, I think you’ll find that this particular holocaust story was made to symbolize something more pervasive and endemic. I speak of the horrific violence that persists to this da ...more

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Jan 17, 2014 Leonard Gaya rated it it was amazing

The young Adolf Hitler applied twice for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and each time was rejected. One may dream: had he been successful, he might have had a different fate, and, as a result, Europe’s history might have taken some other shape… Sixty years later, on another continent, the young Art Spiegelman applied to the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan and passed the exam. His parents, Vladek and Anja Spiegelman, were two Jews from Poland who survived through the The young Adolf Hitler applied twice for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and each time was rejected. One may dream: had he been successful, he might have had a different fate, and, as a result, Europe’s history might have taken some other shape… Sixty years later, on another continent, the young Art Spiegelman applied to the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan and passed the exam. His parents, Vladek and Anja Spiegelman, were two Jews from Poland who survived through the Nazi ghetto of Sosnowiec and the extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Maus, a massive graphic novel, thirteen years in the making, depicts the complicated relationship between Art and his father, the very process of creating Maus, and, in an interlocked way, Vladek’s experience, living in Poland during the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

Back in those days, Hollywood was producing its most celebrated films, and Mickey Mouse had become the cutest little mascot on the silver screen. At that very moment, the Allied troops carried movie cameras into the concentration camps. The films that remain from that time —the ones that were shown during the Nuremberg trial— are tough to watch, haunting, almost impossible to put into words. Art Spiegelman has managed to blend both pictures (Disney and the Red Army file footage) poetically, through flat, condensed and straightforward drawings. His old father, a bit soft in the head and speaking in a funny broken English, provides a deeply personal, honest, at times slightly Kafkaesque or Chaplinesque account of these dreadful years, of that constant fear and deprivation, so that we could make some sense of this inhuman, world-changing experience.

There’s a quote by Samuel Beckett somewhere in this book: “Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness”. This visual masterpiece is a refutation of this sentence. And it has left me both moved and dumbfounded.

Edit: Just watched Roman Polanski's film The Pianist, based on the harrowing experience of concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman during the war, in Warsaw Ghetto. Both Maus and Polanski's movie share this sense of gradually rising horror and convey the same utter stupefaction. A must-see. ...more

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Aug 07, 2016 F rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016, graphic-novel-comic, germany-poland

LOVE

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Jul 11, 2016 Fabian {Councillor} rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, collections-and-editions, year-1986

Until just a few weeks ago, the only reason for why I read graphic novels now and then was because of people's constant recommendations about the beauty and the value of those kinds of books. I will be honest; I am guilty of never believing those words. Most likely did I read graphic novels which didn't suit my personal tastes, but Art Spiegelman was capable of shattering my expectations and completely stunning me with the art of his writing and his illustrations.

But let's start at the beginning Until just a few weeks ago, the only reason for why I read graphic novels now and then was because of people's constant recommendations about the beauty and the value of those kinds of books. I will be honest; I am guilty of never believing those words. Most likely did I read graphic novels which didn't suit my personal tastes, but Art Spiegelman was capable of shattering my expectations and completely stunning me with the art of his writing and his illustrations.

But let's start at the beginning. Maus is a collection of two graphic novels with autobiographical background about the author, Art Spiegelman, and his father's recollections about his experiences in the Second World War. Spiegelman constantly switches between present and past, between the time when he writes down what his father tells him and the time when all the horrible events in the concentration camps took place. But he doesn't only include information about his father Vladek Spiegelman's tale of survival; the personal and very conflicted relationship between Art and Vladek also turns out to be a central part of the story, including controversy about Vladek's second wife and Art's personal approach to the success he had as an author when the first installment in his series of graphic novels was published.

Obviously, memoirs or autobiographies always include potential to let their author shine in a bright light, to let them appear heroic and exemplary. You have to rely on what the author tells you about himself and the people surrounding him, on which layers of his own character he presents. Art Spiegelman did so in a very convincing way, pointing out not only the horrible crimes which were committed during the Nazi period, but also the flaws he and his father had themselves, as human beings with all their faults and mistakes. Art and his father appear in such a realistic way that you can't help but care for them; something which never happened to me before in a book with autobiographical content. Of course, some parts of the novels were shocking, which you need to expect before reading something about such an important subject. Feelings of despair and fear overshadowed Vladek Spiegelman's recollections of his experiences during the Second World War, from his family's decline and his marriage to his transport to Auschwitz.

Perhaps the most memorable thing about those graphic novels is the way Art Spiegelman used animal heads in the place of recognizable human ones. The completely black-and-white illustrations vividly underline the feelings Spiegelman wanted to express with his books. And still now, almost two months after finishing them, am I stunned.

Do I need to mention that I'd recommend these graphic novels to everyone? ...more

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May 24, 2018 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, book-a-book-club, graphic-novel, library, biography

Maus was more than I expected. I knew it would be about World War II and the Holocaust with the charaters being anthropomorphic mice, cats, pigs, dogs, etc. What I didn't realize was it would expand even farther in to the specific lives of the Spiegelmans before, during, and after the war.

Throughout the book the artist/author is a featured character struggling with his curmudgeonly father while he tries to document the story of his father's time in 1930s and 40s Poland and Germany. His experienc ...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Orsodimondo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: americana, graphic-novel-fumetto

MAI PIÙ JAMAIS PLUS NEVER AGAIN
Un bellissimo fumetto?
Uno splendido romanzo?
E perché non un ottimo film?
(In fondo le dimensioni delle vignette di Spiegelman fanno davvero venire in mente i fotogrammi di un film 35 mm).

description

I nazisti descrivevano gli ebrei come immondi parassiti, portatori di peste e corruzione, che invadono l’Europa (qualcuno adesso prova a usare la stessa immagine per chi arriva d’oltremare): Spiegelman disegna gli ebrei come topi, i nazisti come gatti, i polacchi come maiali.
Anim ...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Eliza Rapsodia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Todo el mundo

Recommended to Eliza by: Nadie

Shelves: non-fiction, favorite-books, graphic-novels, need-to-buy

Reseñar Maus supone una de las experiencias más gratificantes de mi vida porque es el segundo libro en 2015 al que le doy la nota máxima. Pues verán, desde hace muchos años siempre he sentido profunda fascinación por los temas históricos y sobre todo en torno a la segunda guerra mundial. Es un tema recurrente en mis lecturas y siempre me gusta aprender cosas nuevas sobre esta época terrible de la humanidad. Así que cuando conocí esta obra sabía que debía leerla en algún punto de mi vida y gracia Reseñar Maus supone una de las experiencias más gratificantes de mi vida porque es el segundo libro en 2015 al que le doy la nota máxima. Pues verán, desde hace muchos años siempre he sentido profunda fascinación por los temas históricos y sobre todo en torno a la segunda guerra mundial. Es un tema recurrente en mis lecturas y siempre me gusta aprender cosas nuevas sobre esta época terrible de la humanidad. Así que cuando conocí esta obra sabía que debía leerla en algún punto de mi vida y gracias a la biblioteca de la universidad he podido hacerlo.

¿Cómo se pueden calificar las memorias y recuerdos personales de alguien más? ¿Es acaso posible? Cuando una experiencia como esta es trasladada al papel es cuando a quien le pertenece deja de hacerlo. En 1992 Art Spiegelman ganó el primero y hasta ahora único premio Pulitzer que se le ha otorgado a un cómic en la historia. Y es precisamente la historia de su padre Wladek Spiegelman, un judío polaco sobreviviente del holocausto.

En el cómic Wladek le cuenta a su hijo como después de que le liberaran de Bergen-Belsen pasó por un estudio fotográfico y se hizo este retrato usando un uniforme que representaba al usado en los campos de concentración. Paradójicamente lo hizo meses después de haberse despojado él mismo de un uniforme real, donde la estrella lo marcaba como un Jude (judío) para los alemanes.

Wladek vivió en Auschwitz, trabajó en muchos oficios, vio de lejos los hornos crematorios, lo vio casi todo. En Bergen-Belsen estuvo incluso, donde tiempo antes murió Ana Frank y su hermana a manos de la tifus, que el mismo padeció y casi lo mata. Muchas cosas terribles sucedieron en esta época, pero Wladek vivió para contarlas.

Art Spiegelman era un artista joven, casado con una francesa y residía en Nueva York. En los años setenta decidió volver a casa de su padre y lo llevó allí una necesidad de su vida: que él le contara su pasado antes y durante el holocausto. Por muchos meses Art habló y grabó las charlas con su padre, ese hombre enfermo, sumamente tacaño y por su puesto, solitario.

Maus es una obra parte autobiográfica parte biográfica. Porque tanto Art como Wladek son protagonistas en la historia. La novela gráfica se divide en dos tomos: I Mi padre sangra historia y II Aquí comenzaron mis problemas. Art acude a la casa de Wladek y éste le va contando los recuerdos de a pocos mientras también se cuenta el momento actual de la familia Spiegelman. Es una narración a dos tiempos y a dos voces. Esta historia es distinta cuando te das cuenta que Art nunca tuvo una buena relación con Wladek. Los remordimientos también están presentes por ser un mal hijo para su madre Anja y eso le pesa. Toda su vida estuvo a la sombra del holocausto hudío y como esa experiencia dejó marcados a sus padres y fue un determinante en sus vidas. Art se desahogó al dibujar Maus, puede deducirse claramente.

Maus abarca una gran cantidad de tiempo desde antes de la guerra e incluso después. Wladek Spiegelman y Anja Zybelberg son los padres de Art, judíos nacidos en Polonia que tuvieron una vida tranquila hasta la invasión del Tercer Reich a su país. Desde ahí el sufrimiento no hacia sino empezar. En la historia los judíos son representados como ratones, los polacos no judíos como cerdos, los alemanes como gatos y los estadounidenses como perros. Simbología que considero representativa porque a pesar de todos ser humanos en esta época eso ya no importaba, si eras judio ya eras algo muy distinto. La "raza" volvía a ser motivo de crueldad.

Poco a poco vamos presenciando como Wladek evoca la progresión de la vida polaca desde la invasión hasta lo más cruel, lo más terrible. Primero perder la casa, el trabajo, luego la familia y posteriormente la libertad. En medio de la desesperanza, Wladek destaca por tener una suerte increíble a pesar de la tragedia. El talento para muchas cosas y una gran dosis de buena suerte salvaron al padre de Art de desgracias peores. ¿Cómo puede Art llevarse mal con su padre a pesar de todo lo que sufrió?

Arbeit Macht Frei "El trabajo libera" a la entrada de Auschwitz I

Es una de las lecciones que nos deja leer esta novela gráfica. Que a pesar de todo lo que suframos seguimos siendo seres humanos. Que muchas veces las experiencias sufridas no nos cambian como somos. Art no soportaba que su padre fuera tan tacaño y mezquino, pero es como si Wladek no dejara de recordar los días donde dos personas peleaban hasta sangrar por un pedazo de pan rancio y muchos morían de hambre frente a sus ojos.

Pero Maus no es sólo la conflictiva relación de un hijo y su padre, sino que también es la historia de un superviviente que a pesar de todo tuvo mucha suerte. Los recuerdos de Wladek nos trasladan a la Polonia oprimida y donde los judíos lo perdieron todo para luego ser llevados a trabajar hasta la muerte. La novela gráfica no se corta en mostrarnos de buena mano todas las atrocidades cometidas no sólo contra los judíos que si bien fueron la mayoría, también contra disidentes del gobierno, prisioneros de guerra entre otros. El temible campo de trabajo y exterminio Auschwitz-Birkenau se ve retratado en la historia, siendo el lugar donde murieron la mayoría de los judíos durante todo el holocausto y siendo el campo más famoso hoy en día.

El azar, el talento y algo de colaboración de muchas personas hicieron que Wladek y Anja sobrevivieran a años de terror. Pero sobrevivir también tiene un peso terrible y es la carga de los que se fueron, los que no volvieron a ver. Familias enteras perecieron en los campos y la compasión era una palabra desconocida por el régimen nazi. Los Spiegelman perdieron a casi todos sus familiares pero sobrevivieron para contarlo.

¿Entonces que puede decir u opinar uno sobre una historia tan personal? ¿A caso el horror se puede valorar? Leer Maus me dejó esa sensación, de dolor, de horror y de impotencia. Art hizo un inmenso trabajo al honrar a su padre a pesar de su mala relación. Porque a pesar de todo es un sobreviviente y los que sobreviven hacen bien en contar lo que los muertos ya no pueden. ...more

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Aug 08, 2019 Hamad rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-reads, e-books, manga-picture-books

This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

💉 This cover has been on my radar for a looooong time and it usually is on the most bought books in my country when I check the online bookstores. I am not a fan of history and so I avoided it for the longest time possible. A book I was reading did mention that it was a graphic novel about Jew people and what they went through and I became interested and found myself a copy!

💉 I like what the author did, he is very smart, Jew peop ...more

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Apr 02, 2018 Svetlana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: war, graphic-novels, completed-series, favourites

“The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human.”
- Adolf Hitler

This a graphic novel told from two timelines. In the narrative present, Art Spiegelman (author) is interviewing his father Vladek about his experiences as a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor. The narrative past depicts these very experiences from the mid 1930s to the end of the Holocaust in 1945. Spiegelman has utilised different species of animals to portray different nationalities and races - Jews as mice, Germans a ...more

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Feb 10, 2020 Josu Grilli rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: novelas-gráficas

Una trágica historia de supervivencia que arroja una nueva luz a un periodo tan oscuro.

El concepto de Maus es confuso al principio. ¿Quién es Art? ¿Por qué los personajes son ratones, ranas, cerdos y gatos? Es con las páginas que comienzas a comprender la increíble metáfora que se ha montado el autor, y sobre todo, la manera tan inteligente de contar esta historia a través de duna doble narración.

Nunca había leído una novela gráfica meta y me ha gustado mucho la experiencia. Es interesante ver e ...more

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Feb 02, 2014 LeeAnne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: holocaust-history-ww2, fav-non-fic, graphic-books, antisemitism

The Complete Maus
Art Spiegelman

Probably the most informative and intimate journal of the holocaust I have ever read.

Maus is really two parallel stories, not one. It jumps back and forth between the two stories, one set in the past (Poland), the other set in the present (NYC).

Story 1: 1940’s Poland: Vladek Spiegelman tells how he survived the holocaust as a Polish-Jew. From the invasion, to the spread of Naziam, to his time in Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp as a tin worker at the gas cha ...more

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Jan 16, 2020 Eliasdgian rated it it was amazing

Μερικές (πολύ) σκόρπιες σκέψεις σε σχέση με το αριστουργηματικό Maus του Art Spiegelman και την αιμάσσουσα ιστορία των γονιών του Vladek και Anja Spiegelman, επιζώντων του Ολοκαυτώματος:

Φύσηξε μακρυά την καρβουνόσκονη,
όση είχε απομείνει στα δάχτυλα,
κι αυτή, παραδομένη στις ριπές του ανέμου,
κάθισε στις ισχνές φιγούρες των σχεδίων του.
Αν δεν γίνεις το ουρλιαχτό τους,
η στερνή τους ανάσα,
δεν θα μπορέσεις να μιλήσεις για το Ολοκαύτωμα.
Σχεδίασε τις ζωές τους
κι ήταν σαν να αφουγκράστηκε
τους απόλυτους ...more

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Sep 13, 2016 Jon Nakapalau rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, favorites, nazi-germany, war, classics, pop-culture

One of the most influential literary works ever...in or out of comics.

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Apr 19, 2019 Rachel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, favorites, 2019, war, i-actually-cried

I feel like anything I could say about this book is going to sound woefully inadequate, but I guess I'll give it a shot anyway. Maus had obviously been on my radar for ages as a critical piece of Holocaust literature as well as being the only graphic novel to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, so I was certainly expecting it to be good, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for how utterly harrowing of a read this ended up being. And again, yes, I did know that its subject matter was the H I feel like anything I could say about this book is going to sound woefully inadequate, but I guess I'll give it a shot anyway. Maus had obviously been on my radar for ages as a critical piece of Holocaust literature as well as being the only graphic novel to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, so I was certainly expecting it to be good, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for how utterly harrowing of a read this ended up being. And again, yes, I did know that its subject matter was the Holocaust, but I also knew that Spiegelman made the famous stylistic decision to depict Jews as mice and Nazis as cats in this book, so I guess I was expecting something altogether more abstract? Instead it's a rather literal depiction of Spiegelman's father's experiences throughout WWII, culminating in his release from Auschwitz in 1945.

There's also an added dimension where Spiegelman chooses to depict the scenes in which he interviewed his father and came to hear these stories. In this present-day timeline we learn about Spiegelman's complex relationship with his father, and all the tension and resentment that's built up between them through the years, often due to the fact that his father's life was shaped so significantly by this atrocious thing that Spiegelman struggles to make sense of, as he was born after the end of the war. Spiegelman also lost his mother to suicide decades earlier, a tragic event from which his father had never fully recovered, though he did go on to remarry. In one particularly devastating panel, Spiegelman laments to his wife that he wishes he could have been in Auschwitz with his parents so he could understand what they had to go through, so he could bridge that gap between generations. That's this book in a nutshell: raw, unfiltered, uncompromising. It takes a strong stomach to get through this, and I think I spent the better part of it in tears, but if you're able to read this, I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is the best graphic novel I've read, the best piece of Holocaust literature that I've read, and strangely enough, the best love story that I've read. The final panel shattered me. ...more

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Jul 05, 2017 Emer (A Little Haze) rated it really liked it

Recommended to Emer (A Little Haze) by: Amanda Skoog

Shelves: challenge-6wks-summer, 4stars, reviewed, cried-me-a-river, non-fiction, read2017, adult-fiction, historical-fiction

I never knew that a graphic novel could be so moving, so haunting and so phenomenally powerful.

The complete Maus tells the tale of Hitler's Europe and the experiences of one Jewish man, the author/illustrator Art Spiegelman's father Vladek. It is a book that doesn't hold any punches and is jaw dropping in its exploration of humanity through both the atrocities and ethnic cleansing of that time and of how this moulds a man forever.

I don't have the words to fully express all I'm feeling right no ...more

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Dec 26, 2016 María rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reto-lectura-2017

M A R A V I L L O S O.
Me ha gustado muchísimo esta novela. Para empezar, nunca había leído una novela gráfica y tenía miedo de que no me gustara, pero al leer esta, me he dado cuenta de que me encantan. Ver ilustrado cada cosa que ocurre me ayuda a acercarme más a la historia.
La forma en la que está contada la historia de Vladek Spiegelman también me ha gustado mucho. Vemos como él le va contando la historia a su hijo y también vemos la relación que tiene con su hijo y la vida que siguió llevand ...more

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Jan 19, 2015 Leah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

THE COMPLETE MAUS is, to date, the hardest, most emotionally draining novel I have read in my adult life. It was a heart-wrenching, but really necessary read for me, and I’m proud of myself for deciding to read something so far outside my comfort zone (I tend to shy away from both history and memoir/true story novels).

The book is a story within a story. Art shows himself interviewing his father, Vladek, and his time spent with his father for part of this book, and the rest of the story is Vladek THE COMPLETE MAUS is, to date, the hardest, most emotionally draining novel I have read in my adult life. It was a heart-wrenching, but really necessary read for me, and I’m proud of myself for deciding to read something so far outside my comfort zone (I tend to shy away from both history and memoir/true story novels).

The book is a story within a story. Art shows himself interviewing his father, Vladek, and his time spent with his father for part of this book, and the rest of the story is Vladek's experiences and survival of Auschwitz and how he survived throughout all of the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Nazis. Both sides shown in this felt completely honest and real.

The art, while definitely not my favorite style, worked incredibly well for this story. There were times where it was just the art in panels, and I really felt like those were some of the stronger panels. The art was black and white, thick lines, and just overall felt really heavy. Most of the time, the panels felt really cramped, but I have a feeling this was intentional.

I absolutely loved Art Spiegelman’s decision to depict the different people within this story as animals (Mice=the Jewish people, Pigs=the Polish people, and Cats=the Germans/Nazis).

Also intentional, and something I really appreciated, was how honest and true to Vladek’s narration Art Spiegelman seemed to stay. In the book, you find out that Art recorded his father’s story, and I think he wrote Vladek’s words verbatim. There were times where the sentence structures were just a little off, and I could hear Vladek's voice so strongly during those times. It just really added another depth to this book.

I wasn’t able to read this in one sitting and I also wasn’t able to pick up another book while taking a break from THE COMPLETE MAUS. But I’m really OK with that. I was able to really digest and contemplate on what I was reading, and I think taking my time helped me understand and fully immerse myself in Vladek’s experiences.

If you decide to read this, just know that it didn’t seem like Vladek held back telling Art anything that he experienced. All the pain and loss that he went through at the hands of the Nazis was extremely haunting to read about.

Vladek’s story will definitely stick with me for the rest of my life. ...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: leaves-awesomeness-behind, kat-s-book-reviews, i-learned-something-new

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 27, 2018 Maria Soares rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5

Na minha primeira incursão no mundo das graphic novels optei por ler Maus, sendo que, como todos nós, estava familiarizada com diversos relatos sobre o Holocausto, e inúmeras histórias verídicas. No entanto, tenho a dizer que esta em especial me tocou profundamente e vai ser sem dúvida, uma que vou recordar por muito tempo.

A particularidade na obra de Spielgelman é a relação que cria entre o leitor e o pai, através dos seus olhos e a sua própria auto-culpabilização, por, sem ter experienciado ...more

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Mar 05, 2018 Nickolas the Kid rated it it was amazing

Shelves: graphic-novels

Πεντάστερο αριστούργημα!
Χωρίς πολλά λόγια, μια εικονοιστορία που αξίζει να διαβαστεί από όλους, έτσι ώστε να μην ξεχνάει κανείς μας τις θηριωδίες των Ναζί στον ΒΠΠ.
Δικαίως βραβεύτηκε, δικαίως αγαπήθηκε και δικαίως φιγουράρει στα graphic novels με τις πιο υψηλές βαθμολογίες.

To σχέδιο δεν είναι κάτι το ιδιαίτερο αλλά η όλη ιστορία και η δυναμική των χαρακτήρων πραγματικά με έκαναν να μην θέλω να σταματήσω να διαβάζω. Η εξουσία του ανθρώπου πάνω σε συνανθρώπους του μπορεί να εξαλείψει τελείως την ...more

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Jun 15, 2019 Miltos S. rated it really liked it

Shelves: κόμικς, ξενόγλωσο

Θέλετε να κάνετε το όνομά σας γνωστό στον κόσμο των κόμικς? Δημιουργήστε ένα ασπρόμαυρο graphic novel.
Θέλετε να προκαλέσετε εντύπωση στους κύκλους της λογοτεχνίας? Γράψτε για το ολοκαύτωμα.
Συνδυάστε, δε, τα δύο παραπάνω και το όνομά σας θα μνημονεύεται στους αιώνες της βιβλιοφιλικής ιστορίας.

Και μετά τα παραπάνω, που έπρεπε οπωσδήποτε να τα γράψω, να πω ότι το Maus είναι ένα εξαιρετικό ανάγνωσμα, που δίνει με τον καλύτερο τρόπο τη φρίκη εκείνης της περιόδου της ανθρώπινης ιστορίας.
Συνιστώ οπωσδή ...more

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Aug 11, 2015 Maksym Karpovets rated it it was amazing

Shelves: comics, 2015, favorites, graphic-novels, history, favorite-comics

Абсолютно шедевральна й водночас болюча річ. Історія Владека Шпіґельмана, батька автора цього графічного роману, про його перебування в Аушвіці врізається настільки глибоко, що довго не відпускає опісля. Це історія виживання, яка посилюється ще й тим, що люди тут в образі звірів: євреї - це миші, а німці - коти. Наглядна метафора, але Арт закладає ще й глибший, культурний підтекст, адже нацисти справді асоціювали євреїв із мишами, тому й Мікі Маус був утіленням єврейсько-американського домінуван Абсолютно шедевральна й водночас болюча річ. Історія Владека Шпіґельмана, батька автора цього графічного роману, про його перебування в Аушвіці врізається настільки глибоко, що довго не відпускає опісля. Це історія виживання, яка посилюється ще й тим, що люди тут в образі звірів: євреї - це миші, а німці - коти. Наглядна метафора, але Арт закладає ще й глибший, культурний підтекст, адже нацисти справді асоціювали євреїв із мишами, тому й Мікі Маус був утіленням єврейсько-американського домінування. Зрозуміло, що миша - це й дивовижно витривала тварина, яка завдяки своїй кмітливості, обережності оминає перешкоди.

Здається, Арт Шпіґельман використовує ці стереотипи, щоб підсили протистояння між націями, окремими народами й водночас показати абсурдність цього протистояння. Так, між рисами однієї раси існує дуже умовна відмінність, тому мимоволі на густо роздробленій панелями сторінці важко ідентифікувати їх, відрізнити мишу-тата від миші-мами. Навіть більше, відмінність між усіма расами теж відносна завдяки схематичному, дещо грубому стилю автора. Можливо, ідея в тім, що принцип вирізнення завжди стереотипний і штучний, адже реальної відмінності між людьми нема: повинно бути тільки спільне, людське, що й визначає нас як окремий вид. В іншому контексті така гуманістична складова видавалась би дещо пафосною, але не тут. Історична правда повністю знімає можливий пафос, адже результатом штучного й абсолютно безглуздого розрізнення між расами, ґендерами й культурами стали газові камери й печі в концтаборах.

Водночас такий підхід цікавий тим, що Шпіґельман швидше пропонує архетипи, матриці, які працюють універсально в будь-якій іншій історії Аушвіцу. Зрештою, таких Владеків - мільйони. Питання в тім, що робити з цими історіями, як з ними жити наступним поколінням. Це дуже незручна тема для усіх учасників, тому й комікс, скажімо, з певною дратівливістю сприйняли у Польщі. Росіян нема в коміксі, але чомусь вони теж зняли продаж "Мауса" з магазинів. Не тому, що їхня сучасна історія дуже нагадує історію котів? Так чи так, це дуже емоційне, завжди актуальне й наповнене сенсами полотно людських трагедій, де обраний медіум завдяки своїм виражальним засобам ідеально передає увесь біль нашого століття. ...more

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Dec 22, 2014 Bettie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spring-2015, biography, e-book, holocaust-genocide, jewish, nonfiction, published-1991, art-forms

Art Spiegelman warns of 'dangerous' outcome as Russian shops ban Maus

This has been on my wishlist forever -looks like this is a good time to read it.

"My father pulled out 14 of his teeth to escape. If you missed 12 teeth they let you go."
- page 45, book I

"The guards, it was Jews with big sticks, they acted so, just like the Germans"
- page 106, book I

...more

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Sep 19, 2016 Rebecca rated it it was amazing

Shelves: graphic-novels, holocaust, newbury-library, family-memoirs

“To die, it’s easy…but you have to struggle for life!” The only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, this brings the Holocaust home in a fresh way. Like Animal Farm, it uses the conceit of various animal associations: the Jews are mice, Poles are pigs, Nazis are cats, and Americans are dogs. Spiegelman draws what, from a distance of decades, his Polish father Vladek narrates about his almost unbelievable series of escapes, including time in Auschwitz. It’s often the minor stories that really “To die, it’s easy…but you have to struggle for life!” The only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, this brings the Holocaust home in a fresh way. Like Animal Farm, it uses the conceit of various animal associations: the Jews are mice, Poles are pigs, Nazis are cats, and Americans are dogs. Spiegelman draws what, from a distance of decades, his Polish father Vladek narrates about his almost unbelievable series of escapes, including time in Auschwitz. It’s often the minor stories that really bring the atmosphere of deprivation to life: getting sick in the ghetto from a cake made of scrounged ‘flour’, some of it actually soap powder; bartering with a Polish guard to give his friend a uniform that fits properly; keeping a spare lice-free uniform shirt carefully wrapped up to present at inspection times. “It’s a miracle he survived,” Spiegelman thinks of his father: some combination of good luck and cunning.

Spiegelman gives the book an extra dimension by including his recording sessions with his father as a framing story for most chapters. On visits to his father and his second wife out in Rego Park, when he can get a word in edgewise over the couple’s bickering and his father’s complaints about his health and finances, he elicits Vladek’s memories. The narration is thus in Vladek’s own broken English, and we see how exasperating Spiegelman finds him – for being a penny pincher and racist against blacks, for instance – even as he’s in awe of his story. “No matter what I accomplish, it doesn’t seem like much compared to surviving Auschwitz,” he tells his shrink.

The drawing style is fairly simplistic. It’s interesting to take as a counterpoint the four-page comic “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” (included in this volume) that Spiegelman wrote before any of the installments of Maus came out. From 1972, it’s about his release from a mental hospital and his mother Anja’s suicide – family tragedies that don’t get much space in a book already overloaded with sadness and loss. I prefer the style of these panels – ornate with cross-hatching, almost like woodcuts – yet it’s clear why, to get through the sheer mass of material, Spiegelman had to streamline things to accomplish Maus.

You can see how this paved the way for comic artists like Roz Chast and Alison Bechdel. Their works share the same psychological depth when the artist is examining his/her relationship with parents. I’d recommend this to absolutely anyone, graphic novel fan or no. As Vladek’s second wife Mala observes, “It’s an important book. People who don’t usually read such stories will be interested.” (Vladek pipes up: “Yes. I don’t read ever such comics, and even I am interested.” Mala: “Of course you are interested. It’s your story!” / Vladek: “Yes. I know already my story by heart, and even I am interested.”) ...more

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Sep 10, 2008 Michelle rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everybody

Shelves: non-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Pre-review:

OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod! I'm cheating on J.M. Coetzee with Art Spiegelman. Actually, I'm not just cheating on him; I've left him.

Review:

Before I review this book, you should know something about me: I never read graphic novels. I normally have zero interest in reading graphic novels/comic books. Are those the same thing, by the way? I have no idea. That’s how little I’m interested in them.

Anyway, Maus was one of the best things I’ve read in a long, long time! If you haven’t read ...more

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Feb 21, 2017 Iva rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-gn

UPD: все ж, спромігся: ось є розгорнутіший огляд

Повторне прочитання було того варте.
Страшна книжка, звісно, страшна і щира через зображення поведінки людей, як воно є, зокрема, у сучасній частині оповіді, що стосується особисто автора.
У якості графічної новели "Маус" теж не без цікавостей: окрім заяложеної згадки про звірині маски окремих етносів, тут вам і гарне мінімалістичне передання мімічних виразів, і метанаратив, і документалістичні деталі-креслення, що органічно вставлені до емоційніши UPD: все ж, спромігся: ось є розгорнутіший огляд

Повторне прочитання було того варте.
Страшна книжка, звісно, страшна і щира через зображення поведінки людей, як воно є, зокрема, у сучасній частині оповіді, що стосується особисто автора.
У якості графічної новели "Маус" теж не без цікавостей: окрім заяложеної згадки про звірині маски окремих етносів, тут вам і гарне мінімалістичне передання мімічних виразів, і метанаратив, і документалістичні деталі-креслення, що органічно вставлені до емоційніших художніх сцен...

(Окрема дяка "Видавництву" за шрифт та верстку, а Ярославі Стрісі - за добру адаптацію усної мови Владека. Особисто мені "Маус" більше до вподоби, аніж слізовидавлюючі "Хлопчик в смугастій піжамі" чи "Список Шиндлера", а тим більше цікавіший, аніж записи Франк, бо описує самі нутрощі подій; хто про*#@вся із передзамовленням, то шкода, звісно, бо книга того варта)

Згадаю цитату Беккета та відповідь Арта і занотую собі, що до 08.05 треба спромогтися народити розширений відгук. Можливо, саме втраплю на гребінь хвилі гайпу, бо до того часу ще й вийняткове видання передзамовникам прийде (з іншого боку, вже стане з ким обговорювати). ...more

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Lauri rated it it was amazing
Jan 08, 2007

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Feb 22, 2007

Feb 22, 2007 Louise rated it it was amazing

I got volume 1 for my birthday, the day I also happened to fall down the stairs and fuck up my ankle. Luckily, I had this book to keep me company. I read it in one sitting and when I was done, forced my boyfriend to carry me to the nearest bookstore so I could get Maus 2, which I also read in one sitting.

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sam rated it it was amazing
Feb 23, 2007

Feb 24, 2007 amy rated it it was amazing

Hey, I have read a comic book. A very powerful and important one.

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Feb 25, 2007 Nargess rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Any one interested to learn more about World War II, and Jews' experiences during that time.

This is an illustrated book with a humorous language . It shows the author's art of writing since he nicely incorporated humor when telling tragic stories. It has won various international awards, and gives a good picture of every day life for Jews during world war II in Poland.

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Feb 27, 2007

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Mar 01, 2007

Mar 02, 2007 nancy rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: kristen

I read Part I and Part II for a Social Studies class and loved it. I didnt expect it to be the way it is...makes you look at the tragedy completely differently.

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Mar 02, 2007

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topics	posts	views	last activity
BookFellas: Maus	1	2	Sep 25, 2019 03:36PM
Play Book Tag: The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman - 4 stars	3	15	Apr 29, 2019 08:23PM
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I Read Comic Books: September BotM Discussion - Maus	14	34	Nov 27, 2018 07:29PM

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About Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman

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Art Spiegelman (born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev) is New-York-based comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic memoir, Maus. ...more