Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here my Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman

30 reviews

chaos_animates's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, War, Slavery, Murder, Gore, Antisemitism, and Violence

Moderate: Torture

cuntbarton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, War, Death of parent, Genocide, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Sexism, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, and Child death

Minor: Suicide

madisone's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

This one was only slightly better than the first. The stories of Auschwitz were hard to read, but very informative. The end of this one was more emotional, but it was still beautiful. This is a good series for anyone interested in the Holocaust or just looking to learn about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Antisemitism, Genocide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death and Child death

aladriel0901's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Racism, Suicide, Genocide, and Death of parent

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Racism, Torture, Child death, Animal death, War, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide

nikexistiertnik's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Torture, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Grief

rtaire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

 Support banned books! (This review is a copy-paste of my review for Vol 1)

I definitely recommend most everyone read this book (and the first volume). It's a beautifully nuanced memoir of a holocaust survivor and the complicated relationship between him and his son, the comic artist writing/drawing the book. Glad I read the book now when I am struggling with all the grey space of my own relationship between myself and my mother. Makes me feel more at ease about the lack of clear distinctions of "morally good" and "bad", the messy in-between of reality.

The art style really helped to put some distance between me and the extremely difficult subject matter of the Holocaust, which allowed me to keep reading when I might have otherwise needed to stop to preserve my mental health. Still, some of the images are truly haunting and it helps to be prepared to know that these books cover the worst of what humanity is capable of. I still think it is very worth it to remember these atrocities, especially at a time when people are trying to erase them and ban important books like this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, War, Alcohol, Mental illness, Murder, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Racism, and Sexism

author2223's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, and Death

Moderate: War

Minor: Death of parent

bookgirllife's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale takes a deeper dive into Spiegelman’s relationship with his father while unpacking Vladek’s time at Auschwitz. Spiegelman’s storytelling is so poignant and emotive, while the narrative style is rooted in authenticity.

The writing style follows on from Vol. 1, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. Upon reading the complete collection, I stand firmly that this was the most accessible history book about the Holocaust that I’ve ever encountered. It is easily comprehendible while conveying the emotional impact of the Jewish experience of the Holocaust.

Maus II gives the reader a greater insight into the author’s life, post-publication of Vol. 1. I thought this was a very interesting perspective to add to the story of the lasting effects of the Holocaust on the Jews of today, and how generational trauma can affect people that weren’t directly traumatised by the events of the war. It lends an understanding of the fractured relationship Spiegelman has with his father. Vladek’s story is horrifying, as a reader. I can only imagine how much more horrifying it would be as his child.

Family and love are actually greater themes in this collection than I had first given credit to, and it is further highlighted in this volume, which spends more time “in the present” (i.e. when Speigelman was writing the comic). Not only do we see that through the father-son relationship that underpins the whole collection, but we also witness it through the dread that Vladek and Anja endure not knowing if the other is alive during their time forced apart at Auschwitz. The love they had for each other was powerful and perhaps the only form of hope available to them during that harrowing time.

I don’t think it is possible to overstate how moving this graphic novel, this collection as a whole, was.  Maus is powerful in an almost unsuspecting way. Of course any literature about World War 2 is bound to be heavy, but seeing the events of the Holocaust through the lens of comic strips is a lot more hard-hitting than I would have ever expected from the genre. I am pleased to say this shattered every expectation I could have held. I would highly recommend everyone read the complete collection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Violence, and War

Minor: Death of parent

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Genocide, Murder, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, War, Dementia, Racism, Gun violence, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Excrement