REVIEW: Maus - A Survivors Tale

 Maus: A Survivor's Tale
Author: Art Spiegelman|

I have been fighting an inner battle over reading this book for years. On the one hand I wanted to read it because books don't win the Pulitzer Prize for no reason. But, I always stopped short of actually picking up a copy because the idea of a Holocaust graphic novel where nationalities are depicted as different animals bothered me. I guess I felt like it would somehow demean or belittle the deaths of my family members at the hands of the Nazis? I'm not even completely sure, to be honest. I just know I was very conflicted.

Turns out my aversion to book banning is even stronger than my qualms about a Holocaust graphic novel.

Banned Books Week 2022 is September 18 - 24th. Leading up to it, I'm reading several books that have been banned by schools and libraries for being too graphic or too controversial. Apparently Maus ends up on many banned book lists for language, nudity, and subject matter.

I'm glad I finally decided to suck it up and read this book. My preconceived notions about Maus were completely wrong.

Maus tells the story of Vladek and Anja Spiegelman, a Jewish couple that survived the Holocaust, and also includes some insights into the relationship between the author/artist Art Spiegelman and his elderly father.  It's a rough and raw subject to read about by its very nature, but this book tells the Spiegelman's story beautifully. It tells a very human story. Vladek talks about people he knew. He recounts stories of people who survived and many who did not, memories of his now deceased wife, and recollects betrayal, fear and persecution. Outside of sharing his recollections of the war and the Holocaust, Vladek also fusses about his new wife, stubbornly attempts home repairs, and has little tiffs with his grown son. The author/artist also depicts his struggle to get his father to tell his stories, the difficulty in understanding and tolerating some of his father's behaviors, and his deep emotions and even anger over his mother's suicide.

While the Holocaust is a difficult subject, I didn't find anything in this book that made me agree in any way with those who pushed to ban it from school libraries. Teens hear stronger language from television, video games, and their own peers. The topic does include war, violence, and genocide, but it isn't depicted in an overly graphic manner. There are more graphic descriptions of war and its effects on people in books frequently used in classrooms like The Things They Carried and even The Book Thief.

This book is wonderful. I understand now why it won a Pulitzer. I highly recommend everyone read it -- including teens. The events described actually happened. This isn't a made up, over dramatized war story. People endured these events. Millions lost their lives in horrible ways. And their stories should continue to be told. It is the only way to prevent this from ever happening again.

I was wrong to form preconceived notions about this book before I even looked at it. That was an error in judgement. The artwork depicting people as different types of animals just brought the story into better focus. Jews were forced to hide or try to blend in by pretending to not be Jewish. The mouse characters in the book sometimes are shown wearing masks of other animals to try and hide in plain sight.

Can anybody in first world countries today really understand what this was like? Even down to the poorest citizens of most nations, we live a life of privilege and relative safety in modern times. I can't even imagine what it would be like to watch my neighbors, friends and even my children rounded up by the military and police and to never see any of them again. I have never had to hide from the police in a hidden bunker because they are rounding up people to kill them. I have never spent months or years starving because the government imposed severe food rationing for people like me. I've never had to live in a government restricted ghetto where dead bodies are frequently laid out in the street, most naked because others scavenged their shoes and clothing.

We can't ban the teaching of history. These things happened. And I believe teenagers should have access to this book. But, if I'm completely honest, I believe everyone should have access to all books. I am totally 100% against book banning or restrictions of any sort. If parents want to restrict what their children or teenagers read, then that is their choice. But, nobody has a right to restrict MY son's access to books at school, at a public library, or anywhere else at any time. My son can read any book he chooses to read. We might talk over certain subjects or books before, during or after he reads -- but I do not restrict my son's access to books. Period.

I'm moving on to the second book, Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began.