Let's Read All what is left, it's the old photos (Let's Read: Maus)

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I've mentioned this a few times recently, but now I'm posting the Let's Read (as Animal Man is almost over). Art Spiegelman's magnum opus, Maus: A Survivor's Tale (My Father Bleeds History) and Maus II: A Survivor's Tale (And Here My Troubles Began) is collectively recognized as one of the landmark events in the history of all comics, and among the Top 5 of any valid Best Of list of comics. It was one of the works during the 80's that changed the way rest of cultural world looked at comics, and it remains a unique work.

This comic is the story of the life of Art's father, Vladek Spiegelman, and how his shadow loomed over Art's life. The comic is based on notes and tape records of Art's interviews of his father in the years before his death, detailing how he survived the Holocaust.

This time, I'm only going to post one chapter at a time, and there will be no bumps, I'll post once I'm sure people have read what's on the table. I'd like people to discuss, maybe some Poles can post pictures or insights into Vladek's story and the locations in Poland. And of course, anti-semites are free to make asses out of themselves.

Der Juden sure would be a lot easier to exterminate if they were mice.

Frankly, I'm not going to bother with this one since any kind of demonizing of Germany makes me sick to my stomach. Pro tip: Every nation of the world has committed "genocide" at one point or another.

Maus is a very very intriguing work in much more ways than the Holocaust, though you can't separate the two. It would be rather silly to miss out on it because you have some kind of 'standard' about how much genocide should be demonized and how much is overdone.

Righto! I'll SUCK IT UP and let Vaarna_Aarne make me his bitch once more.

Depending on your view this is either incredible funny or incredible sad:

German original text found: http://www.humanist.de/news-13.html

Ah, yes, this comic, I always wanted to read it. Finally I'll see if it is really good or not.

Can you explain a bit? It's been ages since the brief time I studied German.

I found an english article about it: http://www.wittyworld.com/countries/germany.html

Oh lol, that's even more hilarious (and sad) than the time when some poor American bloke was arrested in a Canadian airport as a sex offender for having a manga where the panties of a high school girl could be seen. I guess it's good that Gaiman and others organized the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for situations like these.

Maybe the Hitler is Kaput but spirit of III REICH where everyone help the State to root out all enemies of Master Chosen Race lives.

In before holocaust denial.

More like holocaust acceptance from me. Human life means dick all, and the world could do with a good purging every now and again.... for its own sake.

I hated how they mispronounced his name in Batman Begins.

pls moar

this is really good

Me too, my friend. Neeson can go fuck himself for what he did to one of my favorite villains.

pls sir can i has moar

Yes you can.

Oh yea, local Poles can comment on whether or not Vladek's English is stereotypical Polish English.

That's not Polish English! It doesn't contain the required amount of Kurwa... Impostor!

This is really good. And familiar. I like how Vladek's relationship with his son shines through and reflects on everything he's lived through. Keep going!

Yea, the thing that makes Maus special is that it's so intimate, like a personal confession on Art's part. That being the way how half the story is about him and his father decades after the Holocaust.

One thing why I always say to read Maus instead of other Holocaust survivor literature is that Maus is much more... How to best put it... Nihilistic. There isn't any life lesson or any deeper understanding to be had in all that suffering. Just sadness and pain. At least not for Vladek.

You'll also enjoy later on how Vladek describes the various ways in which he and his family survived and avoided being sent to the camps for years. It's very fascinating.