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Maus: A Survivor's Tale
Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale is the only book in recent memory that had me up all night turning pages. This Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel masterfully captures both the devastation and the hope that characterized the plight of the Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Told from his own perspective, Spiegelman tells two stories, that of his father's struggle in Poland and survival in Auschwitz, and that of his relationship with his father in present-day New York City. With raw honesty, Spiegelman portrays these compelling stories in a graphic novel, a medium that uses both picture and text to construct a fascinating (albeit slightly unconventional) narrative. Drawing Jews as mice and Nazis as cats (Americans as dogs, French as frogs, etc.), Spiegelman propels his memoir with a visual commentary that invites you to experience the story along with him. You may have reservations about reading a graphic novel - I did - but I suspect you will find it surprisingly rewarding. Be sure to read Spiegelman's Maus II for the completion of his father's story. (It is perhaps even better than Maus itself!)
Recommended by Leah Youse
COMMENTS
I recommended this as an alternate medium to my teenage son who had just finished reading "Night" and visiting the Holocaust museum. He found it engrossing.
I will definitely have to read this now that my interest in the German Occupation of Europe has peaked from reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" And "The Zookeeper's Wife" both of which I would recommend. The Zookeeper's Wife is specifically about the Jews in Warsaw, Poland, while the other one is about life on Guernsey, one of the channel islands off of England. Both were very interesting, but the format of the Guernsey story is written as letters between the characters. It was the first I read and the one that peaked my interest in WWII. Amazing!
My husband, who never reads, devoured this graphic novel. He was incredibly moved by the story and loved it. A great read!