Maus I/Maus II

I was very excited to read these books (although I am tired of reading sad things). A few semesters back I had read the last snippet of the first book in an anthropology  class and I had no idea such a Holocaust story existed. When I first started reading I was highly worried about getting confused as to where I was supposed to read next since the frames were not always left to right and top to bottom. However, as I read, I realized that I didn't even think twice about where I was reading, it all just flowed naturally together. I feel as though Art's piece of history is very different from every other piece of Holocaust literature. He told it in a way that was very intriguing, but also in a way distracted you from feeling like "oh, another Holocaust story". I feel like the part of the book that made it so compelling was the fact that it was a dad telling the story to the son so it felt, in my eyes, as though my grandpa were telling me a story (if I had a grandpa to tell me a story).

I loved the fact that the first book could stand alone and just be a good story, but the second book is what really engraves the idea into your mind that it is a Holocaust story. I really feel like the way he tells the story seems almost "happy" rather than the depressing idea that you normally see in Holocaust stories. I don't know if it's because other Holocaust stories are usually told from the point of view of someone who was not involved in the Holocaust and was more or less going off of facts whereas this story was more or less a first hand account of the Holocaust so Vladek basically just wanted to remember a happier version of that time in his life? It's really hard to say. All I know is these two books were very interesting and although I do not like graphic novels anymore now than when I first started reading the books, I feel as though I would teach this book in the classroom. I feel as though the pictures are helpful for those who are picture readers and the words are helpful for the readers who actually read. Although they compliment each other well, you could read that entire story without glances at the pictures too often. The pictures definitely give a better sense of who people were because it was hard to keep many of the names straight, but with the different features such as the mice being Jews and such, it was easier to tell who was "good" and who was "bad".