Fairy tales have intrigued me due to the fact that they’re aimed at children yet carry very adult themes. If you’ve read Grimm’s you know that they almost always end in the maiming or death of someone. I find the fairy tale/folk tale genre is a short lesson that older generations pass on to the younger one. It’s dramatic enough to capture the young imagination, the lesson is clear enough, and there’s just enough fear to keep the young ones on the right path. Since […]
Maus: The Second Act
You need to have read Volume 1 of Maus before you read Volume 2, so this is not something you can skip around on. You need the context and background of the first volume, because Spiegelman takes a leap in time, assuming you have already read the first volume. That said, let’s jump right into Volume 2. You can find the full review on my blog. I also include a reflection as a reader in 2016.
Maus: The First Act
I’d heard of the Maus graphic novels several years ago and read the first volume in a gallop. So I decided, after being gifted both volumes from my sister a few birthdays back, that it was time to read both volumes this year. I was not prepared for the sobering similarities between 1930s Nazi-occupied Poland and 2016 America, but that’s what makes art so crucial in general, and stories like Vladek Spiegelman’s in particular. Read my full review to find out what’s so important. Better […]
I feel sort of guilty that I didn’t connect with this more
The two volumes of Maus are Art Spiegelman’s attempts to document the struggles of his parents before and during the Second World War, as well as his not always harmonious relationship with his elderly father. The framing narrative shows Art interviewing his father Vladek about his recollections of the time before and during the war, as well as trying to deal with his temperamental parent, despite their many differences. The illustrations are famous and the subject matter is, of course, very worthy. So why didn’t […]
How do you tell the tale of surviving?
This is my second time through this book, and it’s still as powerful the second time around. The images are haunting and the story is compelling and horrifying and this book really is a masterpiece in the literary and art combination that is comics. Maus is both the story of Vladek Spiegelman, the author’s father, as survived the Holocaust in Poland and the story of Art getting that story from Vladek while dealing with his aging father. It’s a story about survival and survivors guilt. It’s […]