World Famous Comics: Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
By: Art Spiegelman Publisher: Pantheon Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Pantheon Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: August 12, 1986 Release Date: August 12, 1986
Product Description: A story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself.
Amazon.com Review: 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 witness die, it becomes more and more essential that novel, vigorous methods are used to describe the indescribable. Examined in these terms, Art Spiegelman's Maus is a tremendous achievement, from a historical perspective as well as an artistic one.
Spiegelman, a stalwart of the underground comics scene of the 1960s and '70s, interviewed his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor living outside New York City, about his experiences. The artist then deftly translated that story into a graphic novel. By portraying a true story of the Holocaust in comic form--the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs--Spiegelman compels the reader to imagine the action, to fill in the blanks that are so often shied away from. Reading Maus, you are forced to examine the Holocaust anew.
This is neither easy nor pleasant. However, Vladek Spiegelman and his wife Anna are resourceful heroes, and enough acts of kindness and decency appear in the tale to spur the reader onward (we also know that the protagonists survive, else reading would be too painful). This first volume introduces Vladek as a happy young man on the make in pre-war Poland. With outside events growing ever more ominous, we watch his marriage to Anna, his enlistment in the Polish army after the outbreak of hostilities, his and Anna's life in the ghetto, and then their flight into hiding as the Final Solution is put into effect. The ending is stark and terrible, but the worst is yet to come--in the second volume of this Pulitzer Prize-winning set. --Michael Gerber
Good Book It was an easy to read book that was very informational and fun to read. I also bought it used from this website and it was in very good condition.
A Groundbreaking Work in its Genre 'Maus' is a graphic novel about a Holocaust survivor/victim and his son. This visual imagery evokes more feeling than most traditional books about the Holocaust.
The book deals with the son's anger with his mother for her suicide and towards his dad for his very essence which he must maintain as a 'survivor'. The son can not comprehend what is behind his father's history, yet anger is the most prevalent emotion he directs towards his father.
Jews are portrayed as mice, nazis as cats and Poles as pig. The power of this novel is stupendous. It is one of the earliest graphic novels and, as such, groundbreaking in its genre.
Maus1 A survivor's Tale The book was in excellent condition, it took a bit longer to gey here than I thought it would, but it's great condition makes up for that.
Highly recommended but some negatives. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History was my first ever read of a graphic novel and still remains, along with its sequel, the only graphic novel I've read. This sort of thing doesn't interest me, but if it happens to be related with true history, then I am all for it. This time, it is about the Holocaust, a subject that has been widely published for many years and is a common knowledge among educated persons. What makes Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History so unique is the blending of a Holocaust story and the comic strip approach. The result has brought favorable praises, making Art Spiegelman a well-known author. Actually, there is something else about him that most people do not know: he also created the Garbage Pail Kids cards during the 80's. Back to the book, I really liked everything about it; it's painful and interesting at the same time. There is a lot of depression related with the storytelling. After finishing the book, I wanted to go to the sequel right away. There are some negatives about Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History. One is the unnecessary use of profanity words. As I agree that the book is a great education tool for schools (I took a Holocaust class in high school, and the book was part of the class as well as with other books), it would be advisable just to apply the white-outs on the profane words. Two is the grammatical errors throughout the pages. I don't know if you noticed them, but they are sometimes distracting as I was unsure if that's what the author's father really said or something like that. In conclusion, I can put the blame on Art Speigelman for his careless writing. Three is that the author can sometimes make his book go off the topic. It is just a minor complaint. Four is the depiction of the nationalities through choices of animals: Polish = Pigs, Jewish = Mice, French = Frogs, Germans = Cats, etc.). From the negative reviews, I can understand the problem here, and it's a delicate line here because for one, it's ingenuous yet it is offensive. Sometimes, the Polish people are given a racist labeling of their race through the words in the book. Five is that I mostly read the words in the book rather than looking at the pictures since they were bland to my eyes. However, the graphic novel approach makes the book an engaging read for the young students. So, my criticism means nothing in this point of view. Six is the presentation of a daunting idea of survival during the Holocaust. Not many people are skillful when it comes to politics and negotiations. This gives a discouraging message for the less bright or less able people that only the smartest or the most able survives. All in all, Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History is a great book that everybody, as long as they are mature enough, should read.
A Creative Look at Pain The story of Maus is an amalgam of one author's troubled relationship with his father, the recounting of the author's father's horrendous experience of living through Nazi occupied Poland during World War II, and the author's struggle to write his father's story. The story begins with Art visiting his father after not seeing him for a few years. The reader is quickly informed that Art's mother committed suicide when he was younger, which adds to the complication of Art's relationship with his father. His father has since remarried a fellow Holocaust survivor. The story focuses on Art asking his father about his life during the holocaust in order to write and illustrate his father's story in the book the audience is currently reading. The book alternates from his father's experiences and time spent with his father. The book goes from tales of how his father met his mother, his involvement in the war, and how they lived prosperously until the beginning of the war, where they would then have to live in horrid conditions to hide from the Nazi's until they are ultimately captured, to the struggles he and his father go through in their strained relationship, while Art asks him about his horrid experience.
The novel is gorgeously illustrated, which entices the reader to read the book further. It is appealing because it is an easy read, and it illustrates what some of the victims of the holocaust endured and suffered. It is great for teenagers because it is an easy read they can enjoy, they can learn about the kind of pain and suffering many had to deal with, and it is a different form of literature which differs from the traditional book that many teenagers refuse to read.
I recommend this book as a creative, profound learning experience and as an entertaining, easy read.
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