Maus (Vol. 1 and 2) by: Art Spiegelman

For me Maus surpased my hopes for this class... I merely wanted to be more open minded and find a few more reading options. I was thouroghly surprised to come away so in love with a graphic novel. This just isn't normal for me. I couldn't put it down. I've read numerous stories of the Holocaust but never felt so much emotion and intrigue from a piece. The use of animals as the characters set aside some of the severity of the situation. I found this read intriguing and moving, I lost myself in the story and was able to actually feel disconected from the usual glum thoughts I had whilst reading any history of the time and was open to interpret the story as art. I seem to specifically enjoy a story told from the author's personal experience. It was good experience for me because it was a new one, one that proved comics can have a little bit of something for anyone. They just might have to do a little bit of digging.

I didn't particularly like the illustrations, I felt they were a little bit to dark and contrasting that it was almost distracting from the emotional content. I thought they were appropriate content wise just not matched with the fluidity of the text. I must mention that this was the first piece of work with any historical content that has kept my interest from letter to letter, the pairing of history with an emotional modern timeless tale. Read almost as a film not a strip layout illustrated in black and white, Art really brought it to life using only animals to portray his tale.