Book Review- Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale, 1 My Father Bleeds History

Last winter, on an exceptionally slow day at the bookstore where I work, I decided to read Art Spiegelman’s graphic memoir, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale; 1 My Father Bleeds History.

This graphic novel is based on Spiegelman’s father’s recollections of being Jewish in Poland during WW2, including life in concentration camps. I read the first volume in the series, which flips between Spiegelman speaking with his elderly father and his flashbacks to his father’s memories.

I’m surprised that I had not read this sooner, as it was originally published in the 80’s. I’m not sure when it started becoming part of school curriculum, but I graduated high school in 95 and I did not encounter it in lower education or at the university level. I was really curious about it, because of the recent surge of book bans, with Maus being a target.

Ostensibly, it is banned for adult content, including language and nudity, however, after a read, it seems like a weak argument. The “adult content” is not excessive, even by standards of today’s movies or television. It’s also not gratuitous. It’s fitting to the themes of the book and the storytelling. It is a shame that some that parents and school boards would throw out this important work in an effort to shelter teenagers. Exposure to books and stories helps people develop empathy and gain perspectives. Maus is an excellent educational tool and it seems whatever might be objectionable to some is far outshined by the positive gains from reading it.

I’ve been trying to expand my horizons and read more graphic books. Maus is particularly engaging in this format. I thought the story framing of having Spiegelman’s interactions with his father and flashbacks worked particularly well. There is some humor and comfort that Spiegelman reveals in his interactions with his father which serve to balance the heaviness of the overall story. It also helps with the pacing.

Maus is important and memorable. I highly recommend it to everyone, and if you're a teenager facing school book bans, find a bookseller or librarian that will help you get the books that you should be allowed to read!

Book Review- Rebecca Serle's In Five Years

Dannie Kohan is a lawyer who has her whole life plan figured out. She does not like surprises. In line with her plans, she gets engaged to her long time boyfriend and lands her dream job. Bella, Dannie’s best friend, couldn't be more different. She is a free spirit who takes every opportunity to travel and experience new things. Childhood friends, Dannie feels protective over Bella, who comes from wealthy, yet emotionally and physically distant parents. Bella felt abandoned by her parents, who were always off traveling or meeting their own desires, rather than the needs of their child. This made Dannie even more protective over her friend during their childhood, a dynamic that continued into adulthood.

On the same night that Dannie gets engaged, she has a vivid and visceral premonition, where she’s having sex with a man who is not her fiancé. It feels so real that it shakes Dannie to her core and makes her question her real-life relationship.

Years later, Bella shares news of a new boyfriend named Greg. When Bella meets him, she is shocked to realize that he is the same man from her premonition. Is it possible that her premonition is real?

Just weeks into their relationship, Bella thinks that she is pregnant with Greg’s baby. They are both elated at the news, but are crushed to learn that Bella isn’t pregnant, she has cancer. Dannie must now navigate co-caring for Bella with Greg, hiding her feelings that she might end up with him.

My neighborhood book group selected In Five Years for their June book pick. It was my first time attending our local book club and I had great time. I actually owned the book for several years, but had not read it. I found the start of the story to be a bit slow, but about a third through I became captivated by the relationship between Bella and Dannie.

I think the romance parts of the book are a bit of a ruse, as the heart of the story is the friendship between the women and their dynamic. I didn’t really care about the men in the story or think that they were very important. Dannie is a workaholic, control freak who struggles to let go of her master plan. The men serve as a plot device to show that Dannie will and can have relationships outside of Bella. She does not have a romantic relationship with Bella, but their friendship is the most important and dominate relationship in each other’s lives. This is the core of the story.

The premonition drove the story, but I’m not sure I liked it. We see it mirrored at the beginning and end of the story. It’s a plot device. It works as far as framing the story and adding intrigue. It serves to show character development with Dannie, but it also seemed to be a bit of a gimmick. I have mixed emotions about it. It did keep me turning the pages.

In Five Years is a solid friendship story and a tear jerker. It would be a good vacation read, assuming you can handle crying in public. I also found the story to be more layered and interesting when we discussed it at book group, than when I finished it initially.

Book- Bonnie Garmus' Lessons in Chemistry

Primarily set in the 1950’s, Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott, a chemist who only wants to be taken seriously in her career, but faces an uphill battle due to her gender. After years of struggling, she finds career success in an unlikely source, as the host of a popular cooking show. Zott infuses her show, Supper as Six, with chemistry lessons that in turn, empower her mostly female audience.

Lessons in Chemistry has been an enormously successful book. I’m a bookseller and it has been hard to keep on shelves. It’s a popular book club pick and will soon be turned into a tv mini-series starring Brie Larson. I can now understand the appeal of Lessons in Chemistry. The story is a good blend of humor and heart with a strong feminist theme.

Elizabeth Zott is a complicated character. She is often too hard for her own good and has experienced so much heart break that she has trouble opening up to others. She further complicates relationships with coworkers by taking on a directness regarding her duties and her dreams. She is blunt and what you see, is what you get. This directness both gets her in trouble and allows her to seize opportunities. Elizabeth is conventionally attractive, which makes her a target for men’s attention and jealously of other women, even though Elizabeth doesn’t use this quality to get ahead.

The most interesting dynamic is Elizabeth’s relationship with her daughter, Mad. Mad is incredibly intelligent and inquisitive, but similar to her mother, she struggles in social situations. Elizabeth feels the pain of seeing her daughter experience similar struggles to her own, but also does not want to compromise her daughter’s abilities or dreams. However, we are left feeling that each generation of women will have it a bit better and that Mad’s struggles will not be exactly the same as her mother’s, especially as her mother helped pave the way.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Six-Thirty, the dog. I knew going into the book, that we would get inside Six-Thirty’s head to have the dog’s perspective and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how that would work. I’m an animal lover, but I wasn’t sold on this aspect of the story. It’s actually very sweet and helps move the narrative. We see Elizabeth and Mad through the dog’s eyes, seeing them in ways that they don’t quite see themselves, giving emotional resonance when the characters cannot be emotional themselves. The dog also serves as a protector, which helps set the reader at ease, especially when the characters are in danger.

Overall, I enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry and I can understand all of the positive reviews. I did find sections to be a bit uneven in pacing and tone, but not enough to damper my enjoyment. I think the limited series might be better than the book, or at the very least, I’m excited for the costumes and sets. Stylistically, it should be eye-candy!