Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History |  | Author: Art Spiegelman
Publisher: Pantheon
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $4.71
as of 11/25/2009 07:31 CST details
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New (101) Used (223) Collectible (22) from $4.71
Seller: hippo_books
Rating:  165 reviews
Sales Rank: 2088
Media: Paperback
Edition: Later Printing
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.4 x 0.4
ISBN: 0394747232
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9780394747231
ASIN: 0394747232
Publication Date: August 12, 1986
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Some historical events simply beggar any attempt at description--the Holocaust is one of these. Therefore, as it recedes and the people able to bear witness die, it becomes more and more essential that novel, vigorous methods are used to describe the indescribable. Examined in these terms, Art Spiegelman's Maus is a tremendous achievement, from a historical perspective as well as an artistic one. Spiegelman, a stalwart of the underground comics scene of the 1960s and '70s, interviewed his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor living outside New York City, about his experiences. The artist then deftly translated that story into a graphic novel. By portraying a true story of the Holocaust in comic form--the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs--Spiegelman compels the reader to imagine the action, to fill in the blanks that are so often shied away from. Reading Maus, you are forced to examine the Holocaust anew. This is neither easy nor pleasant. However, Vladek Spiegelman and his wife Anna are resourceful heroes, and enough acts of kindness and decency appear in the tale to spur the reader onward (we also know that the protagonists survive, else reading would be too painful). This first volume introduces Vladek as a happy young man on the make in pre-war Poland. With outside events growing ever more ominous, we watch his marriage to Anna, his enlistment in the Polish army after the outbreak of hostilities, his and Anna's life in the ghetto, and then their flight into hiding as the Final Solution is put into effect. The ending is stark and terrible, but the worst is yet to come--in the second volume of this Pulitzer Prize-winning set. --Michael Gerber
Product Description
A story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 165
 A masterpiece of storytelling November 13, 2009
Richard C. Katz (Scottsdale, AZ USA)
Maus is a artistic masterpiece and like any masterpiece, it is from the artist's singular perspective. It does not tell everyone's story, just the storyteller's. The story's horror is amplified by justaposing a comic book format and cartoonish animal characters. If you are distracted or offended by the choice of animals or focus of the story, you are missing the point and are truly welcome to tell your story from your perspective and in your own way. That is the point of being the storyteller. Maus is not meant as an comprehensive account of the Holocaust. Spending a full day at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC will bring you closer to that goal. Another is the 8+ hour 1985 documentary, "Shoah," which is available on DVD on eBay for $17.50 US and should be available on Amazon for about the same amount. Using a simple interview format and no stock footage, you hear incredible stories from Jews and Christians, Poles, Germans, and others, eye witnesses and scholars. You meet evil and good. They tell you what they saw, heard, felt, and did. You see the sites as they are now. Like any good documentary, you draw your own conclusions by the end of the film. Maus is a great work of art designed to make the reader feel something of what it was like for the storyteller, but it is not a documentary. Maus uses facts and impressions to create images that take the reader on an emotional journey to a place where mere words and numbers on a page can never go.
 A quick and easy read October 27, 2009
Thamanjimmy (Jacksonville, Florida)
I bought this product and then later found both Maus I and Maus II, together in one book and for the same price, at my school bookstore. I would recommend buying both in one package to save money.
It is a well told story and is worth the read. I would recommend "American Born Chinese" if you like the style of this book.
Graphic Novel for ESL classroom October 19, 2009
R. Scarth (Kamuela, Hawaii)
I've used Maus in my classroom for two years now and it's a wonderful book to introduce students to a serious topic using an easily accessible format. It leads to a nice study of the holocaust, allows students to explore the ideas of discrimination, generational differences and using pictures to share a story.
 It's a comic book, but not kid-friendly September 15, 2009
Janet Allen Vandermeulen (Newburyport, Massachusetts)
This was required 7-th grade reading for my daughter, but since it is a sensitive subject, I read the book to together with her. Also, in Massachusetts the state education curriculum doesn't touch world history until 9th grade, so she had no clue what any of the historical references were. Therefore for each page that took 10 seconds to read (it's in comic book format), we probably spent 5 minutes in explanation of what was going on.
Bottom line: if you are familiar with the history of the Holocaust, this book is an interesting take on the subject. If you have not studied WWII, the book will be confusing.
nice book July 19, 2009
Abdullah Al Tafif (va,usa)
the book is like new and i really surprise when i see the book like this
Showing reviews 1-5 of 165
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