Best for: Anyone who likes a well-told story. In a nutshell: Young girl growing up in Iran in the 70s and 80s. Line that sticks with me: “In any case, as long as there is oil in the middle east we will never have peace.” Why I chose it: A friend and I were discussing books and I shared how much I enjoyed the March graphic novels. She lent me this one, and I’m very glad she did. Review: I’d heard of this book before, […]
Where I aim for objectivity toward a book that didn’t inspire a great swelling of emotion
I don’t have a lot of well-formed thoughts about Persepolis. I understand, every bit, why it’s a valuable (graphic) novel, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as part of the standard reading curriculum for American teens, who can use all the diverse perspectives they can get. In fact, I think the classroom — under the tutelage of a sympathetic instructor — could be the ideal place for a book like this, because it allows for the integration of historical background in which independent readers […]
“One can forgive but one should never forget.”
Aside from the five stars, I also gave it four Tracey Jordans on the Hard to Watch/Read scale. Don’t get my wrong, it’s an absolutely beautiful book, but it’s also moving and powerful. Lots of emotions in this one. Satrapi chronicles her life as a teen in Iran during the unrest in the 1980’s. The cutesy, childlike drawings are juxtaposed against the atrocities they depict. For example, one panel is a short bio of one of her parents’ friends, newly released from jail for being […]
A remarkable story of childhood and adolescence
Three summers ago, I devoured Persepolis, an amazing graphic memoir about Marjane Satrapi’s education and coming-of-age during and after the Iranian Islamic Revolution. Satrapi’s candid recounting of events and biting humor made the book memorable, so I instantly thought of it when developing my sophomore-level survey for this fall. I haven’t read it since that summer, so it was a great joy to revisit and revel in all over again. Marjane Satrapi was an elementary-age schoolchild when the Iranian Revolution took place in 1979. She […]
“It’s fear that makes us lose our conscience. It’s also what transforms us into cowards.”
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (translated by Mattias Ripa, Blake Ferris, Anjali Singh)
This year as I began making my epic list of things to read for Cannonball I asked some of my friends what they would suggest. While having these conversations my coworker mentioned that she hadn’t read Persepolis yet, but kept meaning to, and had I. I had not, so on the list it went, since she’s the mom of two small kiddoes, I could certainly do a little market research for her reading intake. Good news for her and you is that I *really* liked […]
The Iran We Didn’t Know as Told by a Damn Smart Woman
Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel is both an autobiography and an historical/political education. Her simple yet bold black and white drawings beautifully illustrate the story of her childhood in Teheran in the early 1980s, her teen years in Vienna and her return to Iran in 1989. As an observer of and participant in Iran’s revolutionary upheaval, Satrapi gives a personal view of events and their effect on her family’s welfare while neatly outlining the complicated and complex national story that serves as their context. This is […]