|
Maus is simply groundbreaking. I bought it because I had the notion that antropomorphic animals and WWII could make a good mixture, but I didn't even know what it was about. When I read it I finished stunned, it's absolutely fantastic, how Spiegelman manages to squeeze out his own past, his own life and the one of his father, spoof his prior work, describe with detail but without being weary the life in the concentration camps, warm the coldest of hearts with the story of his parents' love... it's just pure bliss. It has its Pulitzer very well deserved.
Another story which is harder to find but still very interesting is the whole set of Paracuellos, by the Spanish author Carlos Giménez. It depicts the lives of different orphaned or abandoned children in a post-Spanish civil war orphanage which resembles more a concentration camp. It is heart-wrenching and crude, but it still shows that the children haven't lost hope and the will to live and have fun in spite of all the cruelty displayed to them. If you happen to find it, it's very recommendable.
|