World Famous Comics: The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale
The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale
By: Art Spiegelman Publisher: Pantheon Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Pantheon Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 296 Publication Date: November 19, 1996 Release Date: November 19, 1996
Product Description: At last! Here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker). It now appears as it was originally envisioned by the author: The Complete Maus.
It is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust” (The New York Times).
Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.
Masterpiece! As a Jew Living in Israel, holocaust related books are important to read, but it's hard to do it actually. I can remember several holocaust-era semi-biographic novels which are great but those are the exceptions. Most of the books are a bit bothersome though true. Maus just captured me.I consider it one of the best books I've ever read in my life. It was just breath-taking, adding to that the fact that this was my first graphic novel ever, not to say first comic ever. I gave it to my wife, her parents, brother and so on. The book came back to me after 6 month. all worn out. The book touched me in the deepest levels, and was able to do what many other holocaust books tried to do and failed. Take you inside one of the the darkest eras of human kind. You NEED to read to. You have to read it.
A stunning testament to survival, forgiveness, and the human spirit Putting something as unbelievably tragic and indescribable as the Holocaust into comic book form with the Jews portrayed as mice and the Nazis as cats sounds as kitschy as it gets and even a little insulting. But Art Spiegelman manages to pull it off. The Nazi's labelling of Jews as "vermin" puts the allegory on a new level with each nationality represented by a different animal. The story is incredibly personal weaving in and out of WWII Poland and the author struggling with his irritable father in 1980s America. It also dabbles in the metafictional, referencing other comics Spiegelman has done, his mother's suicide, and his own disbelief that writing about the Holocaust will change anything, especially after so many books and films have already addressed the subject. Don't be fooled by the comic appearance. Spiegelman takes the graphic novel into new territory with "Maus." Whether or not you read comics, this is a stunning testament to survival, forgiveness, and the human spirit.
Maus excellent book. i already had it in softcover but the pages began coming out; very nice to have it in hardcover. excellent service; received the book in perfect condition in only a few days.
Maus I and II This set of books was a read for our book club. It is a poignant, revealing look at the holocaust. Spiegelman maintains the respect that is due when discussing the holocaust and it's many victims; while still conveying a very personal story. It amazed me how graphic and detailed the story could be told through the use of characters/animals. You would think there would be a certain detachment when using animals to portray humans, when in fact it was a very poignant, personal, private story of survival. The story makes you re-think your views on survival, and what it really means to survive. I highly recommend this set of books.
A masterpiece Elegant and bittersweet. Humorous and horrifying. Astonishing original and intuitive. The author poured his soul and marrow into interpreting the nightmare his parents endured and survived, showing also that that the genocide of WWII continued its reach far past 1945.
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