Music has helped me through pain and celebrate joy. Architecture has given me chills. Paintings and sculpture have inspired me. But one work educated me. One work changed me forever. You can read what I wrote about it here:
https://www.myretrospect.com/stories/terror-reified/
But one work changed me forever.
Dave VentreA hyper-annuated wannabee scientist with a lovely wife and a mountain biking problem.
Tags:
Art, knowledge, wisdom, Maus
Characterizations:
well written
Yes, “Maus” was IT for you. And it infuriates me that this book, along with so many others are being banned in Florida because it hurts those “delicate” (that’s my sarcasm) sensibilities down there. Heaven forbid those children actually learn HISTORY, as brutal is it.
Any state that insists that slavery has a good side will promote anything. I keep remembering the old cartoon where someone, I think Bugs Bunny, saws Florida off of the US and it floats away into the Atlantic….
Dave, I well remember reading your story Terror Reified, and good to read it again.
I’ll written two Holocaust-related stories that still feel like a gut punch when I reread them.
https://www.myretrospect.com/stories/our-special-guests/
https://www.myretrospect.com/the-diary-of-a-young-girl/
Dana, I find myself wondering if the same tale, by the same writer, if written as straight prose, would have had such a profound effect upon me. Or if the graphic novel form of Maus was what put it in another league. I’d read a number of Holocaust accounts, but NOTHING ever hit me like Maus did.
Thanks for reminder about this powerful book and story. May we never forget.
Thank you so much for the necessity of reading Maus.
But, I could not overcome my negative feelings in the early pages that used cats and mice for symbols.
It was one of the main books in a sociology course at my University. I feel the need to join those students and you in reading it.
I thought the cats-vs-mice metaphor was extremely effective at immediately getting us readers into the atmosphere of the book’s universe. We all know from cartoons what the dynamic is between mice and cats; aggressive pursuit on one side, fear and hiding on the other.
Just read your piece on Maus, Dave, and commented on that prompt’s page. Now I want to read the book myself.
Maus also affected me deeply. It was my first graphic novel and a masterpiece. So sad that it has made the banned lists for kids in middle and high school. It should be read.
Yeah, David, let’s hear it for Die Maus. Spiegelman’s work has freaked out many a reader, as well it should. Thanks for bringing it into this lexicon of impactful art!