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Maus II

Maus II, being a sequal to the first book was highly anticipated since Maus I had a lot of good reviews and an overal reputation of excellence. Maus I had left a cliffhanger, only giving readers who read Maus I more reason to find and read Maus II. No one is going to read a book half way and put it down; it just doesn't happen. There is actually a reason to read the book, therefore it prusaded people to do so.

The book starts up from where it had left off. Maus I had explained Vladek's life during World War II, and Maus II explained his life in a concentration camp. The good thing about the book being a photographic novel is the fact that one can imagine better the conditions of the camps and what happens in the book.

Maus I may have been confusing a bit, trying to figure out what is going on and if the story mode is under Vladek's point of view, or if it's actually happening, but this was not really fixed. In fact, it's a bit harder to understand what is going on. It starts out promising. As we all know, Art had already recorded the entire story that Vladek told him. While he was writing his story in pictures and word, Vladek dies. Yes, the entire story didn't die with him since he told it all to Art, but Art writes in the book, during all the action and in present time, that Vladek died of a heart condition. Yes, during the book. Not after, not before, but during the story. Yes, Art was writing the book around when he died, so he ends the chapter, and begins about his father's death. Te worst part about it is that it's hard to explain. Some of the book flows by normal like Maus I, but some parts on the book actually have Art talking to a therapist about the book. That is probably the biggest curveball in the book. Everything after that is straight foward, assuming one doesn't stop reading after the confusion. It seems that Art is writing a diary of his life rather then the actual point, not as if that is a bad thing, but very confusing.

Maus II is where all of the action is at. Maus I was dul at a few spots, but Maus II is what readers were waiting for; the good stuff. The part where he survives the concentration camps, the conditions of the camp, how he managed to live through the terror. Art goes into depth on what happens, and every event was illustrated nicely in the novel.

As a result, a good sequal was created. If Maus I was read, Maus II has to be read too. It's a good novel for those who want to seek some information on the Holocaust. It's not only a book to read off of, but it's a book to learn off of.