Name: Matthew Jackson's review of Complete Maus by ART SPIEGELMAN
Item: Complete Maus
Rating: 5
Author: Matthew Jackson

ART SPIEGELMAN

Combined 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 Holocaust through cartoons the author captures the everyday reality of fear and the sensation of survival.

Complete Maus

Matthew Jackson

Rohan Uddin

A daring and highly emotional book, which follows the life of the cartoonist's father as he survives the brutality of the Nazis in Poland. Beautifully written, amazingly drawn and so much more than a Holocaust story. Just wonderful.

Zoe Stricker

Art Spiegelman

In a comic-book-style tale of the author's parents, Vladek and Anja, Vladek survives Auschwitz, is reunited with Anja, and sires young Art

A Survivor's Tale : and Here My Troubles Began

Maus II

poignant and brilliant...quite the homage

victoria

Wow. The best word to describe this book is shocking. The format of cartoon makes the reading a little lighter, but it's still deeply saddening to see what thousands of innocent people have been forced to go through.
 The book is fast, I read both volumes in just two hours and at all times I was trapped in the story wanting to know how the protagonist managed to escape and return to his normal life, it's a real story and I was very surprised with such dedication and willpower to survive. From here I learned so many lessons that you can't even imagine, despite containing heavy themes, this reading should be mandatory for everyone, especially in recent years that intolerance has been increasingly present around us - and that every day the internet fills up even more with ignorant people who advocate this kind of radical thinking – we need to know history so it doesn't repeat.
It's a bit of a relief to know that some people survived and were able to tell their stories and get a second chance, but it's heartbreaking to know that so many didn't survive, and contrary to what we tend to think, they weren't just numbers, they were real people, with families, stories, dreams and hopes. Although we don't know everyone's names, they will never be forgotten, their memories and lives will always be remembered.

This is perhaps one of the best graphic novels I've ever read! Brilliantly created, deeply emotional, and a total page turner despite the subject matter. 

Ana Maria Vera

I've never been into graphic novels or comics; that being said I've loved everything about this one.

While I've read a good deal of books about WWII, a lot of the information is widely known, but the honesty and how genuinely it feels coming from the author's father, to him, to us, it's what makes this so much better.

I loved the art, the flow, the part where the fourth wall is practically broken and the author talks about his depression and his therapist.

This is the first time where I've understood the most what war did to humanity, what Nazis did to Jews, what it was like.

It was very interesting as well, to put things into perspective, communication and news didn't spread as we're used to, and the story let's you into this feeling of not knowing.

Isabela Ospina

I've never been into graphic novels or comics; that being said I've loved everything about this one.

While I've read a good deal of books about WWII, a lot of the information is widely known, but the honesty and how genuinely it feels coming from the author's father, to him, to us, it's what makes this so much better.

I loved the art, the flow, the part where the fourth wall is practically broken and the author talks about his depression and his therapist.

This is the first time where I've understood the most what war did to humanity, what Nazis did to Jews, what it was like.

It was very interesting as well, to put things into perspective, communication and news didn't spread as we're used to, and the story let's you into this feeling of not knowing.

So glad I picked this one up.

Felipe Saldarriaga 

The power of ilustration and the comic to tell stories and keep it everlasting, that's what Art Spiegelman make with this master piece 💙

Maus is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father, his father's terrifying story, and history itself. Its form, the cartoon, portrays the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice. Moving back and forth from Poland to New York, two powerful stories are told. The first is Spiegelman's father's account of how he and his wife survived Hitler's Europe. The second is the author's tortured relationship with his aging father as they try to lead a normal life against a backdrop of history too large to pacify.

A Survivor's Tale

Maus I & II

Izza

I really love the story, but it's really "text heavy"

Vanya de Lang 

A beautifully illustrated, excellent retelling of the holocaust. More understandable than any that can before. A shocking and sad narrative of one man's survival and the effect on every person he comes in contact with after. A tale of survival and survivers guilt. I definitely recommend as an amazingly heart wrecking read.

Gisela Ayala 

Wow just wow. Reading this graphic novel was definitely an experience. It was so so sad but an interesting take on the Holocaust from the a survivor's perspective but told by his son.

Catelyn Evans

Heartbreaking. Confronting. Human. Important ✨

Wouter ter Keurs

De gebrekkige zinnen van de vaderverteller zijn lastig te lezen. Voor mij een fikse belemmering in het lezen. Echter de materie is hartverscheurend. De uitleg over de gaskamers brak mijn hart.

Lucia

estuvo bien pero era lectura obligatoria para el Instituto y no lo disfruté tanto

There may be many novels, diaries, movies, TV series on Holocaust and the sufferings of Jews under Nazis but this graphic novel stands apart in its portrayal of the same.

It's hard to classify this epic piece of art into one genre. It is at the same time a memoir, biography, autobiography, non-fiction, fiction(no Mouse is knocking on Art Spiegelman's door, is there?), humour(yes there is humour in a Holocaust novel).

The artwork is portrayed brilliantly and doesn't cause any confusion about timelines or characters (for first time graphic novel readers like me). Speaking of characters, The Polish Pigs, German Cats, Jewish Mice are all drawn wonderfully and even there are subtle variations like when a Jew is pretending to be a Pole so a Pig Mask is drawn on his Mouse-Face. 

There are moments of utter shock and horrific situations which would add "horror" genre to the list as well. But doesn't overshadow the rest of the story which is focused around Vladek and Anja. So it could fall under "romance" as well.

It was overall a heart breaking and emotional journey for Vladek through the WW2. But he comes out the other side victorious. Art Spiegelman himself mentioned he could not have imagined painting an accurate picture of what Jews went through in Auschwitz.

Lastly a quote from the novel - Art talks about the book with his psychiatrist Paul Pavel, a Czech Holocaust survivor. Pavel suggests that, as those who perished in the camps can never tell their stories, "maybe it's better not to have any more stories". Art replies with a quote from Samuel Beckett: "Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness", but then realizes, "on the other hand, he said it"

I'm enthralled that this was my first graphic novel among many more in the future!!

Suhasa SJ

Jenna

Wow. This book was... emotional. It's a story that we all know of course, the Holocaust, but this book reminded me that all of those people who were killed were PEOPLE (somewhat ironically since they were mice in the book). Every single one. Not just a number. 

I would highly recommend this book with the warning that it is very sad, obviously.

Ceren

"It was such a moment that everybody around was crying together with us." amazing book that made me cry a few times...

Maus

Ken Yuen

As expected, powerful and upsetting. Wasn't expecting the set-up of talking with the father and the experience of documenting these stories to be such a vital part of the story. Fascinating stuff. Content warning for suicide, war crimes, etc. Jeez, any time kids appear in this story...

Ending is quite a cliffhanger, but at least there's another book.

Skye

I love this story. It really gives you the perspective and horror of this time in history. Beautifully done.

Flavia Louise

This is the first graphic novel I've ever read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Donald

Why hadn't I read this before? Amazing, of course.

An autobiographical and biographical cartoon in which the author explores his strained relationship with his father, an Auschwitz survivor, while also relating the story of his parent's experiences as Jews in wartime Poland, as told to him by his dad during a series of conversations they had years later in New York and Vermont.

John-Paul Teti

Bryan Maniotakis

One of the most powerful books (graphic novel, or otherwise) that I've ever read. It's a gripping look at the struggle and survival of the authors parents during their stay at the concentration camps during WW2.

The illustrations are also masterful, I recommend watching this short video essay on the amount of detail and thought that goes into the layout of each page - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dQEf...

Historias de un sobreviviente

Maus I, Mi padre sangra historia

Maribel González

He leído la primera parte de Maus y ha sido una lectura interesante. No suelo leer cómics, pero este me lo han recomendado muchísimo y me alegro de haberlo leído. Tiene momentos duros, es obvio por el tema que trata, pero merece la pena leerlo. En realidad, siempre merece la pena leer este tipo de historias. Y quizás a simple vista las viñetas sean "sencillas", pero transmiten muchísimo (el blanco y negro, la representación de los personajes...). Espero leer pronto la segunda parte.

Agata Przybylski

I had to put this book down a few times because of how hard it was to read emotionally. It’s also hard to put into words what this made me feel, other than the fact that it made me question humanity a lot. 

It’s powerful, it’s gripping, it’s eyeopening, and heartwrenching. I learned things I never knew about the Holocaust, and I also learned to what extent people suffered. And the worst part is, I know people had it even worse than Vladek. 

However, representing Poles as pigs left a bad taste in my mouth, and after doing research I now know why he did it. It’s still not right. 

Between a 3-4 star for me. Will read the second part once i get the chance.

Matthew Jackson &
Complete Maus by ART SPIEGELMAN

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Complete Maus by ART SPIEGELMAN