Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Maus: Povest preživelog. I, Moj otac krvari istoriju by Art Spiegelman

20 reviews

totsfions's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

I have been meaning to read Maus for years. I've always heard great thing about it, but never actually picked it up. Finally I chose it to be a book discussion title for my library, as it seemed with the rise of far right extremism in the US, and with Maus in particular being the target of book banning's, now was the time to read it. It truly is a remarkable book. Spiegelman does not shy away from his father's less charitable traits, and the complexity this characterization lends to the story is vitally important. What this book does is remind you that the toll genocide takes on those who live through it lasts far longer than the violence itself. Its a fascinating exploration of intergenerational grief and trauma. No one has ever told me about the story-within-a-story aspects of this book, but I honestly don't think it would be as impactful if it was just a straightforward retelling of Vladek's experiences. I am looking forward to reading the second instalment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Antisemitism, Death, Police brutality, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and War

francestea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

As a human being I feel it is our responsibility to listen to stories like Vladek’s. This graphic recounting of his life during (and after) the holocaust is such an easy and accessible way to learn from his experiences. Art Spiegelman is so clever in his artwork. Using animals to represent different groups of people allows the reader to instantly identify their background. It is really, truly, a one-of-a-kind book. Fast paced and incredibly consuming you could easily finish it in one sitting. I’m completely awestruck by how fortunate his parents were to survive in hiding so long before they were taken to a camp. I do lament we cant have had more of his mothers side of the story.  However, I will definitely continue on to book 2 as soon as I can!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Suicide, Antisemitism, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Child death

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Violence, Suicide, Hate crime, War, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Grief, Death of parent, Child death, and Death

Minor: Trafficking and Cursing

marinapetal's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Genocide, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, and Child abuse

madison1239's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, War, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Child death and Death

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

This graphic novel is hard-hitting, emotional, and complex in every way. The Holocaust is always a hard topic to read about, and yet the comic format with Jewish people represented as mice, Polish people as pigs, and German people as cats presents a true narrative of a Jewish family's survival in a way that makes the atrocities they faced seem just as horrific as they were, but somehow also more digestible and readable. I very much admire Art Spiegelman's artistic choice to include imagery of himself at the present time of interviewing his father and the discussions they had about the experiences he would eventually turn into a comic, making the comic meta while also giving a chance to see what his father was like in the present in comparison to how he was in the past while living through life in Poland. The art itself is haunting but brilliantly done, filled with details and expressions of fear, surprise, grief, and more that you wouldn't expect to come across as emotional as they do when depicted on mice. I was interested in reading this book ever since I heard it made its way onto banned books list in America, and I am glad I read it because I now know how important a piece of work like this is in preserving history and personal accounts of the Holocaust, and how its uniqueness in presentation allowed discussions around the crimes of Nazi Germany to be more easily accessible and held especially among children just learning the history today.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, War, Antisemitism, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Police brutality, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Torture

rtaire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Support banned books!

I definitely recommend most everyone read this book (and the second 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: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Genocide, War, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Death of parent, Violence, and Sexism

shanban0303's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

This was a really great book, and while there were definitely great things about it throughout, it wasn’t until the end that a lot of the symbolism and underlying messages hit me. A really great book, and I’m really looking forward to the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Suicide

plxtoprojector's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, and Suicide

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: War, Death, Child death, Racism, Grief, Cursing, Death of parent, and Murder

lauren_loves_books's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Moderate: Child death