I don’t know that there’s anything that I can say that hasn’t already been said better. I was afraid to read the book, partly because I’m always worried that highly rated and hyped books won’t live up to my expectation, and partly because I feared that it would, and that I’d be devastated by the content.

It’s as good as they say.

The story is extremely moving and engrossing, providing high levels of detail about the ordeal that Spiegelman’s father, and many other Jews, suffered in the Holocaust. It’s made bearable, I think, by representing the various nationalities and races as different animals – if we saw these things happening to humans, I don’t think our hearts could take it. The empathy level is still high though – Spiegelman’s able to convey emotion and mood very effectively in what amount to stylized drawings of animals. Also, the way the story is anchored by our trips back to the “present day” when the book is being written provide breaks from the intense Holocaust story and also poignant insights into Vladek’s present-day life. I think the book is much stronger for this manner of presentation.

Powerful and moving. You absolutely should read this.

Thank you to Matt Phillips for the rec.

I tried to find this before I went to Poland, but I’m glad I read this after I came back. Having seen Auschwitz and other camps, and met Holocaust survivors, I’m able to visualize this book more. It’s very powerful in its understated imagery. I love the personal and metacommentary. It’s deeply reflective and introspective.

Devastating. Very difficult at times. I love the personal commentary.

I really, really enjoyed this. it’s probably the first time I’ve read anything about the holocaust. I tend to not really want to immerse myself in that much misery. Besides, I think there’s a tendency to think that we know it all anyway.

I think the reason this really worked for me is that it’s as much about a guy trying to make sense of his relationship with his father as it is about the horror of Auschwitz and the like.

I didn’t even realise that it had won a little thing called the Pulitzer until I’d finished it…