graphic novel, 296 pages
English language
Published Oct. 2, 2003 by Penguin Books Ltd.
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, 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).
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells 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 …
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, 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).
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells 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.
I am fascinated by World War II and the Holocaust. This is an amazing story. I've read it several times.
Tells an amazing story about incomprehensible tragedy
Vladek and Artie are flawed and complicated--which adds so much humanity
Had a great conversation with ChatGPT about nuances in the style of the art: "present day" is in sharper focus while Vladek's memories are sketchier and rougher
It would be amazing to really listen to someone else's story the way Artie tried to hear his father
We've had these two books for many years, I didn't really understand what they were. Since they looked like comic books they must be silly. My ignorance. I picked them up because some people wanting to ban them from public libraries. I couldn't stop reading them. The young man interviewing his hard to get along with father, who survived the Holocaust, was an extremely effective way to tell the story. Vladek Spiegelman and his family went through hell, many died horrific deaths. The Nazis committed evil beyond my comprehension. Its even more difficult to read today, as the wheel of history has turned and some in the U.S.A. show respect for these evil people.
Di Maus si può dire solo bene, perché parlarne male sarebbe come parlare male della Divina Commedia. Questa Graphic Novel, infatti, non è un semplice romanzo a fumetti: è un monumento, un testo che dovrebbe essere fatto studiare a scuola... tutti i libri, i film, le analisi sulla Shoà impallidiscono di fronte a quest'opera che non ha eguali in quanto a ispirazione, potenza narrativa e sensibilità... Lo si può aprire in una pagina a caso e leggerne 3 vignette di seguito anche senza capire l'impianto della trama per essere letterlmente inondati da emozioni fortissime e da un'empatia che si possono provare solo raramente leggendo un'opera letteraria!!
I liked reading it. The father and son hate/love relationship was funny and engaging. The depictions of father's narration of holocaust was detailed but sometimes it felt like just reading events one after the other without much progress in the story.
Magnificent way of bringing a horrifying true story.
A very gripping narrative on two levels. Totally blew over all my expectations. And it's not even fiction.
I am really skeptical of Holocaust books written in comic book form, but I found this moving and honest narrative to be effective and engrossing. I read it while I had a terrible flu, and I had to keep stopping to moan in agony, take more medicine or throw up. But I still could not put it down and rest until it was all over. I think this would be excellent in a middle school or even under challenged high school classroom.
I am still shocked and disturbed with every new Holocaust memoir and this one was no exception. After reading it I went on a Wikipedia binge and ended up reading about Holocaust deniers. That crap really gets my goat.
A cartoonist has a difficult relationship with his father, a Holocaust survivor. He wants to learn the story of his father’s experiences during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Maus is both of these stories, and they’re told in a compelling way through the initially disarming conceit of cartoon Jewish mice, German cats, Polish pigs and the like.
