Maus: A Survivor's Tale: Pt. 1 (Penguin Graphic Fiction) - Books (Art Spiegelman, Paperback)

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Customer Reviews of Maus: A Survivor's Tale: Pt. 1 (Penguin Graphic Fiction)

Ibrahim Ali
London
4th January 2009

A novel approach
Somewhat of a cliché to say but this book truly was what made me thing of a comic a something other than a mode of communicating with pre-pubescent children. Though the illustrations may not be spectacular the story certainly is and perhaps less simple illustrations would have taken away from this. The book tells the story of the narrator's father in World War 2, as a Jew in the concentration camps and his life afterwards. Interestingly also we get the story of the authors guilt about the lack of meaning in his life after looking at that of his father. A wonderful story, most originally told.

Nobody Famous
The West Country, UK
31st December 2008

An extraordinary achievement !
A lot of people are put off by a comic book. It's not art, it's not literature, it's just kids entertainment, isn't it? Think again. Maus deservingly won the Pulitzer Prize and is one of the most moving and chilling books I have ever read.

The true story of a holocaust survivor and the permanent effects it had on him and his family.

I actually had tears in my eyes at more than one point. At a comic book??? That's how good this is. Don't be put off by the comic book style; it takes a little while to get used to it but once you have done so, you won't be disappointed.

K. Sayn-Wittgenstein
Wittgensteiner Land, Germany
23rd October 2008

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!!
Once you open this book it is nearly impossible to stop. Even people who normally do not like books will love this one. It's a comic but not comical.. (unless your sense of humour is very very dark). It let's you experience the horrors of the holocaust more realistically than any other book or film I have seen about it.

I love this book and could not recommend it more highly. Enjoy.

guerrila fim-maker
Scotland
25th May 2008

Are you trying to avoid it?
I had known of this book for about a year when i finally decided to buy it. I was put off by the slightly dodgy artwork and the very serious nature of the plot which to me is not what comics are about. Anyway,I wanted to read it so i could come on hear and rant about how it is an over-rated waste of time but I cant. The art isnt perfect i agree but it has its charms and as you read the story you really do get into the simplistic nature of it,it works for this,it doesnt distract from the story which over stylised art would. The story is VERY well written and everything i read totally shocked and moved me.
The jist of my review is - if you are put off by the art but you liked schindlers list or have a fascination with hearing about the holocaust from a personal perspective then you have to read this book. It would get 5 stars from me if I genuinely felt that everyone would like the artwork but I know thats not gonna happen but everyone who isnt an anti-semite must read this story!

J. M. Salinas
London, UK
11th April 2008

Masterpiece
Only graphic novel to date to win the Pulitzer Price.

That should be compelling enough to endear anyone to this masterwork.

The drawing isn't perhaps as expressive as that of Sacco, but the novelty in Maus not only comes from the controversial bestialization of the characters (Poles are pigs, Jews are mice, Germans are cats, etc) but also from the timeline jumps that mix the chilling tale of Vladek's survival of Auschwitz and the author's process of discovery and acceptance of his father's personality as he is retold the survivor's tale.

So while we are presented with the horror's faced by Vladek, the book also deals with the strained relationship between the author and his father, his father's second wife and the author's converted wife.

One can only praise Spiegelman's honesty at the less than perfect portray of the old age Vladek and his own insecurities.