The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
Publisher: Pantheon
Genre: YA, Graphic Novel, Historical, Ages 16+
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

A brutally moving work of art—widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written—Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author’s father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats.

Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history’s most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.

Haunting, sad, but also educational.

I picked up this book because I was told it was a fantastic read. It was. The art is great and depicts the characters as mice, cats, dogs and some pigs. The characters might be animals, but the meaning shines through. The Holocaust was a terrible time in human history and should be dealt with. We should all learn about it so we’re not destined to repeat it.

I cried during this book. I didn’t think a graphic novel would make me so emotional, but I got invested in the characters. I wanted to see them survive. Art Spiegelman’s father is the main character in this book. The story is told through his stories to his son about his time in the war and concentration camps. The emotional fragility, the strength, and the colossal devastation are evident in this character, his situation and his future. It was painfully obvious this man saw stuff and it messed with him.

I wouldn’t recommend this to a younger read, but this is powerful stuff and would be better for an older YA reader. It’s hard to read, emotionally, in spots, but worth the read.