The Complete Maus

I've learned about this twice in high school, in the Philippines and then in Canada. I have also read the Anne Frank Diary and heard a survivor talk about her experiences. And every single time, I wonder how cruel human beings can be.

I think Vladek was still a prisoner of the holocaust, he may have survived but he never became happy. He couldn't free himself entirely of what happened. I feel sorry for him but if he was my dad, he'd most likely drive me nuts, too.

One of those “this is important to read” books, but an enjoyable ones. Beautiful artwork and a very personal feeling story.

I was surprised at how Spiegelman managed to give a new layer to a time in history that has countless books written about it and movies made and that many people think they know everything about. Vladek Spiegelman was a surprisingly unlikable narrator and the characters, be they Jewish mice, Nazi cats, Polish pigs or American dogs were frighteningly human.
Full review here: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/art-spiegelman-the-complete-maus/

I really enjoyed the meta dimension of this book. The simultaneous absurdity/inadequacy and importance of Holocaust stories has always been interesting to me, and Spiegelman weaves this in with the narrative really well.

I tried.. I really tried, Mr Spiegelman, to like graphic novels.