Vonnegut vs. Spiegelman: What's the Same, What's Different

Vonnegut and Spiegelman are both fantastic writers in their own. Maus so far is interesting and I think it will get even better, but I really did like Vonnegut's style of writing. Spiegelman uses animation and cartoons to help get his image across and I like it because it is a nice change from the novel format of Slaughterhouse 5, however it does not leave as much up to the imagination as SH5 did. Spiegelman also has his story much more rigid than Vonnegut's. Even though this was a little bit confusing at sometimes I really like the loose feel of Vonnegut's novel because it doesn't focus on anything in particular for too long. That turned a lot of people off but I though it pulled you into the novel even more because of the way it made you pay attention to the time periods and who was telling the story. However Vladek is much more appealing to me than Billy Pilgrim was. I'm sure many people feel this way because Billy was not meant to be liked that much but still it is refreshing to have a main character that you actually support. I think it is interesting that Spiegelman uses the cat and mouse analogy for the Nazis and Jews in his book. It makes sense but i think it takes away from the brutality and realness from the actual terror that the Jews must have faced when confronted by Nazis. It makes it more childish and dulls the reality of the horrors that went on during the war. Vonnegut's novel was a bit grittier and I think that helps us understand the concept of war a lot more. Never the less I am looking forward to getting deeper into Maus and seeing what Spiegelman has to tell us about his vision of the war.