Review: "Maus I: A Survivor's Tale," by Art Spiegelman

Author and artist Art Spiegelman interviewed his father to get his perspective on what life was like for him during World War II and the Holocaust. Art's father, Vladek, recounts the horror of hearing about Jews sent straight to gas chambers or firing squads. He was a prisoner of war first, made to work in prison camps, and when they were forced to sign papers saying they were freed, he managed to escape because if he hadn't, he would've been marched to the gas chambers himself! The horrors he and his wife and other family members and friends endured at the hands of the Nazis were unimaginable, but Art Spiegelman's art and depiction of the characters as mice (or pigs) helps dampen the harshness a bit. Don't get me wrong, there are atrocities and hardship that are clearly on display but the way it was done does give it a slightly less harrowing view. To be continued in part 2!

Mrs. Denney's Rating: ***

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