I’ve been on a bit of a graphic-novel kick for the last little while. I’ve noticed that rather than reading actual full-length fiction, my reading list has lately been stuffed with odd arrays of non-fiction philosophy, science, or economics books, and then sidelong peppered with (what amounts to) comics. (Meanwhile, I listen to a lot of plain-old fiction on my iPod via my audiobook subscription.) To give you an idea, when I started these little reviews, I owned four graphic novels, and was reading the last. I now own ten(ish), and have a new stack to get through in the coming months (or years) — and mostly thanks to my mother-in-law who actually paid attention to my Amazon wishlist this year. A couple months after an off-hand mention in my Watchmen review — and thanks to New Years a turn-off-the-TV resolution — I’ve bought and (just last night) finished reading Maus volumes one and two, penned by Mr. Art Spiegelman. And, frankly, I’m still kinda reeling, and literally dreaming for the last week of Auschwitz.

The Mini-Review:

Maus, published now over twenty years ago, is exactly what it purports to be: a survivors tale. It is the author’s biography of his Polish-Jewish father (and to an extent mother, etc) between the late thirties and into the duration of World War II. What sets this apart from other Holocaust war stories, however is three-fold: (1) it is a graphic novel, (2) it is told from the perspective of a reluctant son coming to terms with and trying to mend a fragile relationship with his father, and (3) all the characters are represented, ethnically, as different species of animals; that is to say the Jewish people are drawn as mice, the Germans as cats, the Americans as dogs, the Poles as noble pigs, and so on. I’m fairly sure this has not been done as a pejorative, but rather as a metaphor for the roles played by various groups in this particular story of the Holocaust. I enjoyed it, or I should say I enjoyed it inasmuch as one can enjoy a story peppered with death and hatred and ghosts. Perhaps, though, I should say that it hit me — hard — and not because it was a new bit of history. Heck, I visited the grounds of Auschwitz in 2006 when we visited Poland and had walked through those buildings where so many spent their last days and minutes. (Or maybe it was because I had been there…) I would note however that Maus represents something that is less a masterwork of cartooning and more a masterwork of story-telling. Artistically, drawing-wise, it is okay. But the story is where it shines. It is a story of a story, and the two are entwined in such a way that the mind is left startled with the results. And in my mind, that is the kind of story that deserves praise.

Best enjoyed…

…with a full belly, wrapped in a warm blanket, and not entirely certain of the stability of your own government.

This work tells the world…

…that there is no one who is incapable of terrible things, but in the end there are some ideas — such as love or family — that can ward off even the deepest evil, if only for a while.

Borrow, Buy, or Avoid?

Twenty-plus years after publication the story is, if nothing else, increasingly timeless and relevant. But, if only for the spirit of Vladek Spiegelman, the consummate frugal survivor, borrow it, read it, and pass it on… Or buy it read it, and try and return it to the store later.