MAUS by Art Spiegelman

 

SYNOPSIS

Vladek and Anja were soul mates. They went through every type of emotion together in the Holocaust, but after years, Anja committed suicide and Vladek was left heartbroken. One day, when Vladek had to tidy up, she found Anja's diary. The diary brought back a lot of memories but he was not in the mood and destroyed the only physical memory he had of Anja. For me, that is an unexpected behavior that Vladek had because he still really loves Anja. Love can be very painful! This book tells the story of the era of Nazi rule under Hitler. As it is evident, the massacre, pain and suffering that took place in those lands will go down in history. The importance of what the Nazis did lies in learning from history in order to build a world that is more fair, tolerant and respectful of human rights. On page 112, Vladek describes specifically the bunker they had in Srodula to hide themselves from the Germans. He draws for Artie how the bunker was planned in the cellar. Clearly, I would ask the author in an interview. How a person can keep stood after all that suffering?. I would ask him that because the mental strength they had to have to keep looking forward is unbelievable.

PERSONAL OPINION

The only thing I would say about the book is that it is a little bit complicated to locate your mind in those villages and towns. They all got long and unpronounceable names like Częstochowa, Sosnowiec, Bruckberg… and I find it difficult to set my mind in those areas.

REVIEW BY ENEKO MARTINEZ