There’s not enough me here recently. Me, me, me.
Unfortunately the pressures of the working world mean that these days instead of engaging with the real world, I am trapped in a quagmire of artful euphemisms for government organisations; ‘Penetration Yorkshire’ being the case in point.
The agony of not being able to use the internet all day is tangible (heh) but I have caught up on my reading. And one thing that I have been meaning to read for a very long time, and have only just gotten around to finishing is Art Spiegelman’s Maus. Follow me after the break.
This graphic novel tells the true story of Spiegelman’s father during the Holocaust and how he survived as a Polish Jew during the Nazi regime. Sounds depressing so far eh? Well, it is. But a large part of the strange charm of this book is that each nationality and race is represented by animals. The Jews for example are mice, the Americans dogs, and the Nazi Germans are cats. My initial reaction to this was “hmmmmm” and “I’m slightly worried this will trivialise the war”. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Weirdly, that each person is represented by an animal made me take a new look at the Holocaust and actually affected me more than I expected. There are some genuinely horrific images of Auschwitz that made me shed a tear and gasp in horror.
Now, I know that this book has been out for over 10 years, and we strive to be new new new here, but we do love our graphic novels and I sometimes feel a bit ashamed of not having read some of the more important ones. Well, now I’ve read one important one. Oh, and Watchmen. That’s good too.
All this is really just an excuse for me to prove I’m still here. Hi.
Anyone who reads this, understands it, and doesn’t shed a tear, is a scary person indeed. I still remember where I was when I read a particular part of it years ago. Maus will stick with you for a very, very long time, as it should.