Art Spiegelman's "Maus"

[Violet]

Curious how many here have read it.
Do you think it was special enough to have deserved a "special" Pulitzer Prize? (I didn't)
I found it to be interesting reading though, not only in the creation of characters as different species of mammals by nationality but also through the narration and in the absolute human way that Art dealt with the task he took on in writing it.

[Mr. Mopery]

I think it deserved the prize. As one critic described it, Maus subverted the comic genre with its unprecedented use of such forceful topic matter through such a benign medium.

It does this and more, I think. It is far more self-aware than most Holocaust films, dealing with the events in the past, the relations of survivors AND the next generation, as well as the issue of "selling the Holocaust".

And because Maus is a graphic novel, the experience of it is much more visceral than any book. Even photographs that show the dead and dying are dehumanizing. They don't convey the same anguish that Spiegelman's wailing mice do.

I've studied the Shoah a bit and still I cried a little when I read Maus I and II. Weird, I guess, but it moved me.

Poles, by the way, aren't terribly fond of their depiction as Pigs but I guess Spiegelman did it because the Germans referred to Poles as "Schwein".

[Violet]

Excellent points. [img]smile.gif[/img]
It was (is) a moving story. I won't say I literally cried but somewhere between the middle and the end of Maus II I got a lump in my throat and was brought to the edge of tears.
I don't blame the Poles for not appreciating being depicted as pigs. I'm not even Polish and I found it offensive but then the German reference makes total sense (that was a fact I was unaware of when reading both books - thank you).
The friend who sent me both volumes is a second generation American Pole. He said nothing about anything in his short note accompanying the gifts except that I should enjoy reading them, which I did. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Thank you for your input.

[ 02-25-2005, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Violet ]

[Dajjer]

Maus was alright. Didn't know it won a Pulitzer. A far more moving graphic novel tale was Barefoot Gen, the story of Hiroshima bombing and there were a couple of scenes in that book that made me tear up.

[Mr. Mopery]

More than happy to contribute, Violet.

Dajjer, I don't know much about Barefoot Gen, but I guess it influenced Maus. Not surprising, since graphic novels have been part of Eastern culture for a longer time than here in the West. Taken together, as it seems they often are (for better or worse), we see the critical acceptance of graphic novels as a serious medium in the West.

The two are important--and accessible--symbols for the most infamous tragedies of their era, Eastern and Western.

Maus, for its part, is part of a process which started in the late 70s and early 80. This is when people really started to address the issue and most of what we read today is from that period and later. This is true especially in Germany, where it took 30 years before the older generation was willing to open up to their kids.

Whether or not Maus deserved the Pulitzer seems kind of ironic, though. Few people would argue that it's a powerful description of an important subject...which got a prize named after a guy most famous for sensationalist journalism and fake news.

Lastly...while it seems a bit shallow to resort to one-up-manship on the topic of which real life tradegy causes the most tears...Night and Fog hit me the hardest, bar none. I hope I never have to see anything worse in my life.

[Dajjer]

In looking at the copyrights:
Barefoot Gen 1987
Maus 1986

So as far as publication, Maus was first. But both books have a special standing in my library. And anyone who dares argue that comic books are for kids or are too shallow are shown those books.

I too saw the movie (documentry) Night and Fog, very powerful.

[Mr. Mopery]

Sorry to (metaphorically) poop on you, Dajjer, but according to web sources Barefoot Gen was published in serial form in the early '70s.

http://www.theblackmoon.com/BarefootGen/bomb.html

I think Maus was first published, also serially, in Raw in '80 or '81. I remember reading somewhere that Spiegelman was influenced by Barefoot Gen, but I don't remember where.

And yeah, comics can be as evocative as any other story-telling medium...though it is weird to see stoney-faced businessmen in Asia reading SailorMoon type stuff.