"MAUS" is the story of a Holocaust survivor, Vladek Spiegelman, and how he brushed against death to keep his family and loved ones safe from Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. This book is a graphic novel, a documentary, and a memoir all together, illustrated by Vladek's youngest son, Art Spiegelman. Throughout the story, Art visits his father's house and has him re-tell tales from World War II. He records these conversations with Vladek, and later turns them into a comic. Did I mention that all the characters in the story are animals? Yes, Jews are depicted as mice, Nazis as cats, and regular German/Polish people as pigs!
My first impression of the book was a positive one. I have never enjoyed Holocaust stories, to be honest. I've felt badly for the victims and disgusted towards such prejudice, but I never really felt a connection with anyone in these "almost-hard-to-believe" tales of death, but "MAUS" tramples on this problem and goes beyond my expectations. The story is re-re-told by Art from his father, and the occasional dialogue between the father and son give the novel a sense that it truly is vivid storytelling. I found myself wanting to keep reading more and more, which has never happened to me while reading non-fictional historic novels!
After reading the first chapter, I was wondering when the bad part of World War II would start affecting the characters. The entire first chapter was a nice introduction to many of the main characters, and showed how well off Vladek and Anja (Vladek's wife and Art's late-mother) were. It was a good first chapter to help the reader gear up and not have to wonder who is who, when everyone simply looks like a mouse!
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