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.
Most Polish work-camp literature from that period is like that. The experience of war shaped us as a nation. These days we are known either as nihilistic, cynical people who would always complain about pointless shit (sounds familiar, huh?), or "kurwa" swines - as portrayed in the comic. The two prime examples of great Polish works from that period are:
- This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (Proszę państwa do gazu),
- We Were in Auschwitz (Byliśmy w Oświęcimiu)
both by Tadeusz Borowski. They are VERY grim and cynical. The title heroe - Tadeusz - is one son of a bitch, largely on account of moral disintegration caused by the war time and life in Auschwitz death-labour camp. Due to the use of the first name, first person narration and author's own experience in Auschwitz camp it was understood that the stories were autobiographical... which is not entirely the case - they are more accounts of what happens in human mind under extreme conditions and how it destroys person's perception of good and evil. The author comitted suicide some time after the war.
Shielding the Flame: An Intimate Conversation With Dr. Marek Edelman, the Last Surviving Leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
This is basically one huge interview with a Polish Jew and world-class expert in cardiacsurgery - Marek Edelman. Edelman didn't experience the camp life but participated in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. He was one of the few to make out of there alive. The tone of the book is a little bit less grim than Borowski's works. Because the interview took place almost 27 years after the war Edelman sees things from broader perspective and is not as fatalistic about the war time. He is a little bit sarcastic and cynical, but you don't get the impression that he was destroyed by it. While Borowski is naturalistic, Edelman is realistic. Still, it can be a quite depressin gread. A short Wikipedia excerpt is in order:
"We knew perfectly well that we had no chance of winning. We fought simply not to allow the Germans alone to pick the time and place of our deaths. We knew we were going to die. Just like all the others who were sent to
Treblinka.... Their death was far more heroic. We didn't know when we would take a bullet. They had to deal with certain death, stripped naked in a gas chamber or standing at the edge of a mass grave waiting for a bullet in the back of the head.... It was easier to die fighting than in a
gas chamber."
[6]
The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman: A Novel by Andrzej Szczypiorski
Another great read which gives you the entire panorama of Polish-Jewish-German society during the war time.
[/SIZE][SIZE=3][I]In Darkness[/I] (2011 film)
An excellent motion picture - really true to life without the usual nationalist nonsense our filmakers usually serve. In fact it is very critical of Polish society. Nominated to Oscar... and sadly overlooked. If you have a chance - grab it.
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.
I like how Vladek's talks with his son reveal that he is not entirely free of bias. In the "storyteller time-frame" he is much less likeable than he fashions himself to be in his memories, and even then he makes some questionable moral decisions. I like my characters flawed.
Still, a lot of stuff he says about Polish society - the persecution of Jews, the unfairness and stance towards communism rings true. However, I am kinda butthurt about the comic depicting all Poles as swines. :/ Among all the people awarded
Righteous among the Nations title we comprise the largest fraction. I know it's
licentia poetica, but still. :/
Do carry on. It's a mighty interesting read.
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