Journal Entry 1 by tesslouise from Charlotte, North Carolina USA on Sunday, May 02, 2004

This book, which I bought and read for a young adult literature class, is very powerful (don't miss the sequel!). However, it is also both dark and memorable, not a book I am likely to re-read. It is therefore available for trade. 

Journal Entry 2 by tesslouise from Charlotte, North Carolina USA on Friday, May 14, 2004

I'll be mailing this off to a fellow BookCrosser in trade by Tuesday (it's Friday evening). Happy trails! 

Journal Entry 3 by Firegirl from Annandale, Virginia USA on Friday, May 21, 2004

Journal Entry 4 by weeblet from Jacksonville, Florida USA on Sunday, June 06, 2004

that was *fast*! i now regret sending my end of the bargain media mail :(
should be reading this one soonly- thanks again for filling a wish! 

Journal Entry 5 by weeblet from Jacksonville, Florida USA on Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Journal Entry 6 by weeblet from Jacksonville, Florida USA on Saturday, June 12, 2004

Journal Entry 7 by billhookbabe on Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Receivd this morning with it's sequel. I am going to share it with my teenage boys, they don't read books but this being illustrated I am sure will help. Many thanks. 

Journal Entry 8 by billhookbabe on Saturday, July 31, 2004

I found this book amazingly powrful. The drawings made the story so real in the way that they portrayed the story, a way that words may have not. I think also that the Art was very honest about his fathers foibles and his feelings about them.

On to book two, and when both are read they will be sent on to Olifant
 

Journal Entry 9 by Olifant from Porthmadog, Wales United Kingdom on Friday, August 06, 2004

Arrived safely in Holland. I'm really curious about these two cartoonworks of Art Spiegelman.

Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began 

Journal Entry 10 by Olifant from Porthmadog, Wales United Kingdom on Saturday, August 07, 2004

Read this book in one go. This is such a different way of reading about the II WW. At first I was confused. How could a serious theme like the holocaust ever fit in something like a cartoon. To see this personal story of the Spiegelman family through graphics is very real and very confronting too.

The story keeps switching from Art interviewing his father and things that happen then to the past where his parents relive, through the eyes of his father, the events. Arts’ humour makes the story even more intense. There are also many fine details: the number on Vladek’s arm in one of the first pictures, the Zylberberg and Spiegelman family with little Richieu spilling a bowl of food on the table, the precise drawings of hiding spots, de swastika in the form of a road.

‘To die, it’s easy...
But you have to struggle for life!’ 

Journal Entry 11 by illinicheme from Novato, California USA on Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Arrived today. Thanks Olifant! And thank you to weeblet for starting the ring. I read some of Maus I in high school German class, but I look forward to reading the entire work in English. I'll journal again when finished. 

Journal Entry 12 by illinicheme from Novato, California USA on Friday, August 27, 2004

The Maus series is simply incredible. I especially appreciate how Art Spiegelman brings his own conflicts with his father into the story. It was an incredible gift to air such personal pain for the rest of us to share.

The books are now on their way to calvarez4. Thanks for sharing them! 

Journal Entry 13 by calvarez4 from Oakland, California USA on Friday, September 10, 2004

This book (and Maus II) arrived on my doorstep safely. Thank you to all the BCers who have been giving all of us a chance to read it. I have been wanting to read Maus I and II for a while, and think I need to emotionally prepare before cracking the cover. Will hopefully read these in a few days, and then pass them on. 

Journal Entry 14 by calvarez4 at Controlled Release in Tempe, Arizona USA on Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Released 7 yrs ago (9/22/2004 UTC) at Controlled Release in Tempe, Arizona USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

I have just finished reading Maus I and II, as a part of this bookring. I took my time, and paced out my reading of Maus I, only allowing myself to read parts of it at a time, to really absorb Spiegelman's story, and the human condition that exists within the two books. Maus II, however, I devoured. I felt an urgent need to know what happened to this family, to Vladek.

Putting this in the mail to BXer Firegirl.

edit: Delivery Confirmation #03031910000074129491 

Journal Entry 15 by Firegirl from Annandale, Virginia USA on Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Journal Entry 16 by midwinter from Tucson, Arizona USA on Monday, October 18, 2004

I finished this over the weekend and have been mulling over what to say since then. I've been wanting to read Maus for years, and jumped at the chance when I found this bookring. I think a graphic novel is one of the most powerful, yet least disturbing ways to read this important story. The fact that the characters are stylized animals does a lot to soften the blow of the horrific reality of the Holocaust, yet the stark black & white drawings add a level of reality and emotion that is very hard to match in other media.
While I wasn't blown away by the story, I am very glad to have read it, and I look forward to reading Maus II within the next couple of days. It is so important to never forget, lest history repeat itself! 

Journal Entry 17 by Aramena from Moore, Oklahoma USA on Friday, October 29, 2004

Arrived yesterday! These should be quick reads! 

Journal Entry 18 by Aramena from Moore, Oklahoma USA on Monday, November 22, 2004

I finished this book last Friday, and will be starting the second book today (I decided to read something lighter over the weekend). I like the way the time jumps back and forth, and we can get a sense of how the father's experience during the Holocaust shaped the man he is in the present time. I also thought it was a nice touch that the Nazis were cats! 

Journal Entry 19 by mysteryfan03 from Moberly, Missouri USA on Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Got these books today! Cant wait to start them, but I do have some rings in front! Thanks 

Journal Entry 20 by mysteryfan03 from Moberly, Missouri USA on Monday, January 03, 2005

I was very moved by this story. I had never read a graphic novel before and was startled at how deep cartoons could be. My kids both read this while they were home for Christmas and were glad that they read the story. It is a very sad story and I was fascinated by how many expressions a cartoon mouse can have, also by all the ways that the author expressed himself through his art.
Thank you so much for sharing this set of books! 

Journal Entry 21 by novasoy from Louisville, Kentucky USA on Thursday, March 10, 2005

Got it today. 

Journal Entry 22 by novasoy from Louisville, Kentucky USA on Friday, March 11, 2005

Wow. This was one heck of a book. Now I understand what the word engrossing means. Using very simple lines and elements, Spiegelman paints a very full picture of his father's experience in WW2 Poland. Very good book. I think I am going to read it one more time before I send it along. 

Journal Entry 23 by novasoy from Louisville, Kentucky USA on Tuesday, March 22, 2005

OK, I am sending this off to YourOtherLeft today. Thanks for this bookring. I've been wanting to read these books for almost 15 years. 

Journal Entry 24 by yourotherleft from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania USA on Friday, April 01, 2005

Came while I was on vacation. I'll read and pass them on as soon as I can. Thanks! 

Journal Entry 25 by yourotherleft from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania USA on Monday, May 02, 2005

I finished both books a few days ago, I was just waiting for an address to send them on. I really liked how Spiegelman used his art to tell his father's story. It was really timely for me as I just finished up a class on the Holocaust, and all semester long my professor alluded to the first scene in the first book with Vladek basically saying "Put all your friends in a room with no food for a week, and see who your friends are," but never actually saying where it was from, so it was interesting to find it in Maus I. Thanks for sharing these books, they were a really excellent and vivid picture of the Holocaust.

I'll be sending them to KarenZero tomorrow. 

Journal Entry 26 by KarenZero from Brooklyn, New York USA on Thursday, May 12, 2005

Just received! I will probably start this tomorrow! 

Journal Entry 27 by KarenZero from Brooklyn, New York USA on Tuesday, May 17, 2005

I finished this on Friday (the day I started) and couldn't put it down. Thanks so much for sharing the book!

Update 05/30/05: Had to go out of town so I haven't been able to send it yet...will send on June 1st! 

Journal Entry 28 by KarenZero at Controlled Release in Controlled Release, --by post or by hand (ie ring, ray, RABCK, trade) -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (6/1/2005 UTC) at Controlled Release in Controlled Release, --by post or by hand (ie ring, ray, RABCK, trade) -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Off to Stensler... Thanks for sharing the book! 

Journal Entry 29 by Stensler from Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA on Friday, June 10, 2005

Received in the mail today... man they went around quick.