week seven: maus and the legitimization of the graphic novel

For this week we were assigned to read MAUS.
I remember finding this book in my house because my sister had to read it in class, she's three years older than me. I picked it up and I burned through the book, I was amazed, shocked, and touched from each page I read. I think it was one the first real graphic novel I read.
What I mean by "real" is that it was so human, terrifying, and genuinely scared me. It was something that scarier than any graphic novel I read, but much more real than any other story I had come across. Art Spiegelman's visual metaphors and symbolism were beautifully thought out and executed.

I'm glad that we are embracing the novel in this class, because when it was time to read MAUS in my high school, it sadly didn't touch the other students in my class. Honestly, the class fell behind schedule because no one read enough, and we didn't even get to the second book in time.

I could go on and on about how much MAUS affected me, and how much I respect Art Spiegelman.
I just wish that others, like my dad, wouldn't just write off the story Art has to tell just because its a graphic novel.



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