Makes the political personal - Rated 
This wonderfully informative graphic novel makes the political personal and meaningful, within simple black and white images that reminded me of the work of Art Spiegelman, who took the world by storm with his recreation of the Holocaust as a tale of cats against mice. This graphic novel doesn't have quite that ambition and bite, but it is a brilliant potted history of Iran. Told through the eyes of a child in Satrapi's simplistic yet expressive black-and-white artwork, the story shows how young Marjane learns about her family history and how it is entwined with the history of Iran, and watches her liberal parents cope with a fundamentalist regime that gets increasingly rigid as it gains more power. Outspoken and intelligent, Marjane chafes at Iran's increasingly conservative interpretation of Islamic law, especially as she grows into a bright and independent teenager. Satrapi left Iran when she was twelve years-old when her parents decided she would have better chances of a good education in the West and sent her to live with friends in Austria.
Persepolis gives the reader a poignant if highly stylised picture of a country struggling with an internal cultural revolution and a bloody war with Iraq. It's a very human history, briefly yet sympathetically told.
Lovely suprise! - Rated 
As soon as I received this book I was ready to return it because I hadn't realised the story was told using a totally different way to the one I was used to reading. Anyway.
Once I started reading it I was engrossed. The story flows easily and is a very interesting one. The characters are well formed and likeable. I couldn't put it down! Unbelievable (if you consider my first reaction) but so very true.
I'd highly recommend it to anyone because it tells a very serious story in a fun way without making fun of the context.. if you know what I mean..
Persepolis - Rated
This is a very good book. The black & white pictures are well drawn and convey very well the horror of war, the effects on ordinary people of oppression and the humour still to be found in these situations. For example when she goes to see a childhood friend who has ended up in a wheelchair during the war against Iraq and they end up laughing and joking
about it all. I would recommend this book to any one interested in knowing what it's really like for people in Iran who were hoping for so much from the Revolution and ended up with an even more oppressive regime.
Buy this version as it's a compilation of two books and works out cheaper.
A heartwarming read - Rated 
Persepolis is based on Marjane Satrapi's life but as she has repeatedly said in different interviews it is not her biography. In other words what goes on in the book is not what exactly happened to her.
The story begins by describing the revolutionary environment of her childhood and the sudden and radical social changes that took place around that time. Some of the accounts are exaggerated and many are closer to urban legends than truth, although, it is understandable that, as a child, even milder versions of what happened could have had the same traumatising effects on a child that the reader gets from the first few chapters.
As an Iranian I identified myself much more with the events that followed her departure to Europe. Satrapi depicts the rebellious character of hers brilliantly. She runs away from the accepted norms of the society in Europe as she does with the new social codes forming in Iran. On the other hand she lacks confidence in expressing her self and faces an identity crisis which leaves her feeling "as a westerner in Iran and as an Iranian in the west". After her return to Iran and the end of the war she faces yet more new realities. Again the depiction of the modern/westernised looking society that remains ultra conservative underneath the surface is excellent.
Overall I think the book is very successful in showing the realities associated with a certain forgotten class of society in Iran but is unnecessarily exaggerating the behaviour of the new government. This I believe is the direct result of her not being engaged with the lower social classes which form the majority of the population of Iran.
Illustrated Revolution - Rated
Marjane Satrapi was ten-years-old when the Islamic revolution took away her freedom and rights, thrusting Iran back into the Dark Ages. Through simple but elegant illustrations, Satrapi tells the story of her childhood in Tehran during this time in her country's history. She shows the horrors and deprivations caused by the rise of religious extremists, as well as the bitter humour and courage that each ordinary citizen found to survive such a period.
The amazing thing about this graphic novel is how Satrapi can convey and stir emotions through illustrations. The themes she explores are universal - families torn apart, innocents persecuted, evil gaining power - but she makes them all the more powerful by injecting her young self's punk humour into the storytelling and making the reader care for her and her family. There's a sequel, which I can't wait to read, as well as a film, which is being touted as 2008's winner of the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
With Iran so often villified in the media, it's good to be reminded that the people in that country are just like you and I: not necessarily the choosers of their regime; and certainly not deserving of any bombs coming their way.
|
