Maus

Before reading Maus I had no idea as what to expect. Honestly I have never heard of Maus prior to this class and would have probably never picked it or many of these comics up to read, but I am glad that I have. upon first glance I noticed of course that the books main characters were probably mice but I noticed that the art work was very simplistic and rough. What I mean is it was not your typically over clean lines and bright colors but black and white pen and ink. I felt at first that this was going to be a huge distraction for me and that I might not even like the book due to this. However after the first couple of panels this completely slipped my mind. The book I felt was very interesting and the simplified art was better because I was able to concentrate on the story first and the imagery secondly. The thing I found was that I really did not want to stop reading the book and before I knew it was over and yet I felt unsatisfied. Normally when I read a book or watch a movie I feel that it should be able to stand alone as a seperate work but with Maus I felt that in order to truly enjoy the story one should read both books. Because of this I sat down and read the second book and felt much better when finished.

The books were pretty serious but with some slight humorous moments which helped to alleviate the heavy subject matter. I am glad to have had a chance to read both books and I don't understand why middle or high school teachers don't give this book to read as a requirement. If I read these books when I was younger I probably would have paid attention in history classes.