Maus

Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegleman

This post discusses both Maus I: My Father Bleeds History and Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began

This is yet another unique non-fiction book I discovered through school. It is the story of Vladek Spieglman, a Polish Jew during his life leading up to and in the midst of World War II. The author and artist is Art Spirgleman, his son. The narrative being told is only part of the vision that Art had because his mother passed away a while before he decided to write the book, an his father was so upset by everything that he had burned her journals. For this reason, the story is completely from Vladek's perspective, so when Art's parents get separated, he doesn't always know what happened to his mother in that time. Through it all, it was so amazing to see just how much Art's family survived, despite all odds being against them.

The retelling is framed by the discussions between Art and his father, the story jumping between present and past. The art is simple, but effective as it uses animal imagery to identify races (since a comic can't rely on narration to do all of that).

It is really neat to hear the first-hand account of the war, including Aushwitz, even if it is mediated by memory loss/alteration and the creative interpretations of the author. This should be a must-read for all people.