On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker).
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust” (The New York Times).
Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.
Originally envisioned as a single work, Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale took thirteen years to create and was first published in two parts, in 1986 and 1991. This definitive 25th Anniversary Edition reunites these sections, enabling readers to read this graphic narrative as it was first intended. This edition is also available as a paperback (9780141014081, $23.00).
“A quiet triumph, moving and simple–impossible to describe accurately, and impossible to achieve in any medium but comics.”
–The Washington Post
“Spiegelman has turned the exuberant fantasy of comics inside out by giving us the most incredible fantasy in comics’ history: something that actually occurred…. The central relationship is not that of cat and mouse, but that of Art and Vladek. Maus is terrifying not for its brutality, but for its tenderness and guilt.”
–The New Yorker
“All too infrequently, a book comes along that’s as daring as it is acclaimed. Art Spiegelman’s Maus is just such a book.”
–Esquire
“An epic story told in tiny pictures.”
–The New York Times
“A remarkable work, awesome in its conception and execution… at one and the same time a novel, a documentary, a memoir, and a comic book. Brilliant, just brilliant.”
–Jules Feffer
Anonymous
Posted Sun May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2010
The Complete Maus was an amazing book to read! Art Spiegelman's description of his father's life during World War II gives the story a personal feel that completely draws you into the book. However, Spiegelman's somewhat blunt descriptions of the horrors that occurred in the Jewish ghettos and the concentration camps also make this a depressing read because Vladek, his father, witnessed so many tragic deaths. Additionally, Maus is filled with "present day" scenes in which Spiegelman shares his difficulties in extracting the story from his father and it also helps tie in aspects of WWII with current events. One of the most heartbreaking parts of Maus was the connection Vladek had with his first son, Richieu, who was killed when he was a very young child. Even after Vladek's wife, Anja, gave birth to Artie (the author of Maus) he still lamented the death of his first son, which is a key part of Maus and helps keep the reader engrossed with the story.
One thing readers should be cautious about is the depth of the story. Although it is written as a comic book, Maus is filled with as much sadness and hope as any other Holocaust book. So, just make sure that if you pick up Maus, you don't begin reading it thinking it will be a "light read," because the truth behind Spiegelman's words will knock you over. Also, readers should know that there are brief references to suicide, hangings, and extreme violence within both Maus novels, so if you can't handle those topics, don't read Maus. However, The Complete Maus is also filled with Vladek's struggle for survival, and although it is over one of the most tragic periods of history, I highly recommend that you read it. I give The Complete Maus 5 out of 5 stars, easily.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu May 11 00:00:00 EDT 2000
this book much like the first maus i could not put down the story boarding is very good. you won't find a better book that teaches both the horrors and hardships of the jews during the holocaust.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Apr 26 00:00:00 EDT 2013
My daughter had to read this for school. She's a sophomore in high school. She loved it.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Jan 19 00:00:00 EST 2013
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Posted Mon Nov 19 00:00:00 EST 2012
Extraordinary! he is a not biased author which I like a lot about Mr. Spiegelman. Maus is really touching. I would read this book over and over again because it is a graphic novel!
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Posted Sat Oct 13 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Beautiful edition.I sought to obtain original editions in hardcover but they were difficult to come by.This edition is the next best thing.A touching account of a Jewish survivor of NAZI occupied europe and his recounting of his experiences to his son.Great for a gift.All my children loved it as I did.
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Posted Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I Also Recommend:
This review contains some minor spoilers in an attempt to better describe this product. First of all, when I purchased The Complete Maus, I was expecting the story to mainly take place inside a Nazi concentration camp. This is not the case. The first book, My Father Bleeds History, slowly brings the Nazis in and has the main character on the run trying to escape them. The concentration-camp portion of the story starts with the second book, And Here My Troubles Began, and is only about 1/4 to 1/3 the overall story. Maus covers the concentration camps well, and I did learn additional facts about them, but I was really expecting to learn more than what was provided. For example, doctor Mengele was barely mentioned in the book. The reason behind this is probably because anyone who ever found out what he did likely died at the hands of him. Nonetheless, I was a bit disappointed to find out that I knew most of the facts about the camps already. I did learn a lot about how the Jews escaped the Nazis' grasp before going to the camps, though, and this made up for it. Also, the main character displays a brilliant knack for getting out of bad situations. I found his cleverness impressive and entertaining. I feel that Maus is on the whole more of a survival story and less of a concentration-camp history lesson, which is entirely supported by its subtitle, A Survivor's Tale. While the two books appear to paint an awfully broad stroke, the details are all there for the taking. If you know nothing or very little about the Holocaust, this is an excellent starting point. Even if you do know about the Holocaust, this should still be an interesting read.
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Posted Sat Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2009
It is a great book! If you like reading about the Holocaust then you will really enjoy it. It is somewhat romantic; telling the story of how it happened during this horrible time and how he deals with what happened afterwards.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The strength of this story is the true account of the elder Spiegelman's struggles to survive the Holocaust as a Polish Jew in Warsaw. It is interspersed with the author's troubled relationship with his father and the strength of the two to tell the story. The father because he has never before spoken of his experiences and the son to understand the pain and suffering his father endured.
All the characters in this work of art are represented as ethnological animals, an insightful and creative machination on the part of the artist. The Jews, for example, are depicted as scrawny mice (thus Maus, German for "mouse"), the Nazi's as plump over-fed cats, and the Polish military officers as prodigious pigs. The only humanistic renderings in the book take place during the back story of the suicide of the author's mother. But these graphic depictions do not distract from the powerful demonstrative story of the struggle to survive not only the worst war of our time but the worst moments in human history. In fact, they serve only to enhance it.
Wonderful storytelling and exceptional art make this a must read for the historians as well as the emotionalists among us. This book is a unique combination of docu-drama, biography, and comic-strip all rolled into one and it works on a grand scale.
5 out of 5 stars
http://thealternativeone.blogspot.com/
The graphic novel, Maus is about a family of mice, which the main characters are Vladek, Artie, and Anja. The mice are Jewish, living during the reign of Adolf Hitler; whose Nazi "workers" are cats, which put this novel in the "cat and mouse" metaphor. The many twists and turns in this graphic novel will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.
The author, Art Spiegelman, wrote this book after his own experience. He is Artie, and his parents, Vladek and Anja, who had an affair with each other in their previous marriages; then they got together and had Artie. Art Spiegelman, in real life, was a comic book writer as a child, and he wrote a book called Prisoner on the Hell Planet: a Case Study. This was about his mother's suicide; it is in the actual novel, like a book in a book. Anja's suicide is the beginning of a downward spiral to the experience at concentration camps.
The fact that the book is a true story, it cannot really be judged; and the fact that it is a graphic novel, changes everything about the book. I personally enjoyed the book, and I am not a wild graphic novel fan myself, and it really interested me. Although some refer to it as a "picture book," it does not distract the reader as some think it would. The pictures actually add a lot of, not only character, but understanding to the book. I followed and enjoyed the book very much. :)
Anonymous
Posted Thu Aug 14 00:00:00 EDT 2008
I have only read the first book... but it's amazing. I loved the comic book style, and the details were great. Plus the whole cat and mouse deal... genious!!
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Posted Sat Oct 27 00:00:00 EDT 2007
I have read both volumes 1 & 2. And they were amazing. i have already recommended these books to all of my friends. I could not put them down!! I read both in a little under a day and they were wonderful. I love reading about the holocaust and this was some of the best i have ever read!! READ THESE BOOKS!!! they are amazing!!!
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Posted Fri Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2006
this book is the best I ever read
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Nov 07 00:00:00 EST 2002
I have read a good number of books about the Holocaust, and I thought this one was one of the best, if not the best. Because of the comic strip style the book is written in, it is very easy to read and gives a new twist to the story of the Holocaust. Highly recommended to anyone interested in this topic!
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Posted Tue Jul 03 00:00:00 EDT 2001
Perhaps one of the best books I've ever read. The author present the story of the Holocaus in a very unique way. The story is both sad and beautiful. A wondeful book about a moment in history that we should always think about.
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Posted Mon Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2000
I have read the first Maus and i am in the middle of the second one. This is an excellent book and highly educating. BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT.
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Posted Wed Apr 06 00:00:00 EDT 2011
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Overview
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker).
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms ...