The Complete MAUS

by Art Spiegelman

The first and only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, MAUS is a brutally moving work of art about a Holocaust survivor -- and the son who survives him

'The first masterpiece in comic book history' The New Yorker

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. Approaching the unspeakable through the diminutive (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), 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, studying the bloody pawprints of history and tracking its meaning for those who come next.

HAILED AS THE GREATEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF ALL TIME, THIS COMBINED, DEFINITIVE EDITION INCLUDES MAUS I: A SURVIVOR'S TALE AND MAUS II.
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'The most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust' Wall Street Journal

'A brutally moving work of art' Boston Globe

'No summary can do justice to Spiegelman's narrative skill' Adam Gopnik

'Like all great stories, it tells us more about ourselves than we could ever suspect' Philip Pullman

'A capital-G Genius' Michael Chabon

• ISBN10: 0141014083
• ISBN13: 9780141014081
• Publish Date: 2 October 2003
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 296
• Language: English

Reviews

[alessio]

Altre recensioni sul mio blog: https://www.artedellalettura.it/.

Definire Maus "Graphic Novel" e basta sarebbe riduttivo. Non sapevo bene cosa aspettarmi da questo libro, ma non potevo di certo aspettarmi una lettura così forte e d'impatto.


Trama
Maus narra della storia del padre dell'autore, un ebreo polacco, durante la seconda guerra mondiale. La prima parte mostra il graduale inasprimento della vita del padre prima della guerra, fino ad arrivare alla segregazione e alla deportazione. La seconda parte descrive la deportazione e la vita nel campo di concentramento di Majdanek prima e di Auschwitz poi.

Le vicende ci vengono mostrate tramite i ricordi in flashback del padre. Tra queste l'autore inserisce anche i dialoghi che avvengono col padre nel presente, come se volesse mostrare al lettore come è stato creato il fumetto oppure le conseguenze che la prigionia ha avuto sul padre.


Disegni
I disegni di Maus sono sporchi, ricchi di nero. Aprendo una qualsiasi pagina salta subito all'occhio la forte presenza di colori scuri e ombre, quasi a voler appesantire ancor di più la storia. Ogni vignetta funziona in perfetta sintonia con la storia, aumentando il senso di angoscia che si ha durante la lettura.


Conclusioni
Una graphic novel meravigliosa, assolutamente consigliata a tutti.

[boghunden]

This was a very interesting read, but somehow very depressing.

I read this in Danish, and the writing style was very annoying. "Den mand, den hus, den vej, den skole." 'Den, den, den,' all the time! I think it would have been much better in English, although I have no idea if that's correct or not. I was told there'd be a lot of humor in this book, but I don't think so. To me, it wasn't humor as much as it was sarcasm. It was really sarcastic, and I loved that.

The illustrations are very dark, but that goes fine with the theme of this book. I wasn't too fond of the drawing style, but it didn't really matter that much, since the story was the important part here.

This book has two storylines; one that takes place during WW2 and one that takes place "now" (1980's). This worked very well for me, and I had a hard time deciding on which one I liked the most.

With another writing and drawing style, this book would probably have gained another star. I'd also have liked to be a bit more invested in the story than I was. I don't know, it just needed that little extra something.

A good read though.

[adastra]

A very gripping narrative on two levels. Totally blew over all my expectations. And it's not even fiction.