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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis - original 4 volumes #1)

by Marjane Satrapi, Mattias Ripa (Translator)

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 77,667 ratings · 3,642 reviews

A New York Times Notable Book
A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year”
A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best-seller

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, ye...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published June 1st 2004 by Pantheon (first published January 1st 2000)

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Jul 29, 2007 Bookshop rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir, comics

They are among the rare books that I give a 5 which means:
a. they will come with me wherever I go
b. I will read them again and again until I remember every single sentence
c. I will not lend them to people :p.

Tita introduced me to these books. I have been very interested on Iran and was even contemplating to read the autobiography of Farah Pahlavi, the Empress of Iran. After repeated visits to the bookshop to flip the pages of this autobiography, I wasn't sure if I wanted to part with my money fo...more

35 likes · like · see review

Dec 14, 2009 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novelly-stuff

Well, having read the book, I went also to see the film last night. But I will probably not wish to go to see the musical or buy the soundtrack of the musical with specially commissioned songs by Sting and Bono and Madonna and Cher and several other rock stars who only have one name, all their other names having been given to their favourite charities to auction off.
I didn't read Persepolis Book Two so was interested that the film incorporates both books. However my joy turned to large bananas...more Well, having read the book, I went also to see the film last night. But I will probably not wish to go to see the musical or buy the soundtrack of the musical with specially commissioned songs by Sting and Bono and Madonna and Cher and several other rock stars who only have one name, all their other names having been given to their favourite charities to auction off.
I didn't read Persepolis Book Two so was interested that the film incorporates both books. However my joy turned to large bananas which have been left too long in the fruit bowl of life and are now blackened and soggy, as I came to realise that the perky sassy girl of Part One grew up to be the miserable pain in the ass shoegazing student of Part Two. So the movie demonstrated the curious fact that you can have the most exotic of backgrounds (Iran! revolution! fundamentalism! war!) and still be a dullard.
(I should interpose that the visual aspect of the movie is very pretty, and when one has determined that the political content is close to zero, one can transfer one's attention to the exhuberant cartooning without a qualm).
There are two very odd things about this two-book-one-movie : the word AYATOLLAH is never mentioned, not once. As neither is the other word ISLAM. But if I recall correctly, Iran experienced an ISLAMic revolution led by the AYATOLLAH Khomeini. So this is like "My Life in Germany 1930-1940" without mentioning Hitler or the Nazi Party. That's odd! Maybe she'd be on the receiving end of an icepick haircut if she named names, but still. Also odd is the apparent fact that the author's family could send the author out of Iran to Vienna for years at a time - not once, but twice! What implications does this have for our view of the intolerable oppression of the regime?
So in spite of all its trappings, Persepolis in the end is as political and insightful as Shopaholic, i.e. not political and not insightful, and gets away with it because the author can not unreasonably retort that political acumen was quite outside of her purview as she was growing up trying to score Iron Maiden cassettes and trying on lurid shades of lipstick; whence come all the cardboard cutouts which populate the movie, and whence all the unexplained actions and motivations. The dialogue from the adults in her early life is either "the regime tortured your uncle without mercy. He was a communist" or "I put jasmine leaves in my bra every day". It seems Persepolis has gained its popularity from sheer quaintness. I was looking for more.(less)

27 likes · like · see review

Dec 26, 2007 Nojood Alsudairi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arabic-books, fiction, translations

I got this book in Arabic. Any one who is interrested could borrow it from me (if you are in Jeddah that is!)
أنهيت قراءة الكتاب ليس لأني سريعة في القراءة و ليس لأنه كتب بالعربية و لكن لأسباب أخرى؛ أولها أننا كنا في الطائرة ننتظر مكان للوقوف لمدة ساعة تقريبا(بسسب الحجاج رعاهم الله) و ثانيا لأن الكتاب مصور! أكثر ما شدني في الكتاب، عدا عن كونه مصور، هو استطاعة الكاتبة أن تنقل لنا أفكار طفلة بتفاعلها مع مجتمعها و سياسة بلدها و إيمانها بربها بطريقة جميلة. أحسست و أنا أقرأ بأني كنت بالفعل أقرأ طفلة لي...more

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May 13, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: 2012-around-the-world, biography, comics, contemporary, graphic-novels, history, memoir, young-adult

A blurb on the back described this "graphic memoir" as the "Persian love child of Art Spiegelman and Lynda Barry." Through childlike simple and whimsical black-and-white comic strips Marjane Satrapi gives us her memoir of what it was like growing up in Iran's Islamic Revolution from the ages of six to fourteen, before she was sent by her family out of the country.

I'm not really much of a fan of the graphic novel. For me it just can never have the richness of film or text. A friend of mine who d...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklits, kind-of-depressing, wee-ones-and-bored-teenagers, the-persians

We complain about the religious fanatics in this country, and definitely we should keep an eye on them, because man oh man, things sure could be worse.

I liked this. It was cute but in a substantial way, interesting, and emotionally compelling. Satrapi made a point of representing her childhood self as kind of an asshole in a realistic and endearing little-kid way, which I thought was cool and served the book well. In a lot of stories about political repression the heroes are saintly people, but...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Chandra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir, kids-young-adult, history, 2009-reads, graphic-novels-comics, clever-girls

I was really only vaguely interested in this. I had it on my to-read list more out of obligation because it was something I thought I 'should' read....eventually. But truth be told it didn't look all that appealing to me. First, I don't 'do' graphic novels. Second, the art looked childish and unappealing. Third, the subject matter sounded almost unendurably dreary. But, it sort of called to me at the library the other day - sitting propped up on a staff picks shelf. So, I nabbed it and dove in!

T...more

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Oct 16, 2008 erry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: true-story

Persepolis adalah sebuah ibu kota kuno dari Kekaisaran Persia, terletak 70 km timur laut Shiraz, Iran. Dalam bahasa Persia kuna, kota ini disebut Parsa. Persepolis adalah bentuknya dalam bahasa Yunani.

Perang, revolusi dan pertikaian internal adalah kata yang biasanya terkesan ‘seram’. Tetapi di dalam novel grafis ini, kita bisa tertawa sekaligus mengerenyitkan dahi. Lucu, apa adanya, sekaligus menyentuh. Penuturan yang unik dari seorang Marjane Satrapi berdasarkan pengalaman pribadinya sendiri.

R...more Persepolis adalah sebuah ibu kota kuno dari Kekaisaran Persia, terletak 70 km timur laut Shiraz, Iran. Dalam bahasa Persia kuna, kota ini disebut Parsa. Persepolis adalah bentuknya dalam bahasa Yunani.

Perang, revolusi dan pertikaian internal adalah kata yang biasanya terkesan ‘seram’. Tetapi di dalam novel grafis ini, kita bisa tertawa sekaligus mengerenyitkan dahi. Lucu, apa adanya, sekaligus menyentuh. Penuturan yang unik dari seorang Marjane Satrapi berdasarkan pengalaman pribadinya sendiri.

Revolusi telah berimbas pada semua orang di hampir seluruh aspek kehidupan. Pendidikan, gaya berpakaian, peraturan, dsb. Belum lagi revolusi usai, mereka harus dihadapkan lagi pada serangan dari negara tetangga mereka Irak. Bom, kematian dan dihantui ketakutan. Perang dan pertikaian internal telah menghancurkan sebuah kebudayaan besar yang telah ada sejak beribu tahun SM.

*******
Lucu, apa adanya sekaligus menyentuh. Itu point terbaik dari buku ini. Kalau masalah gambar, menurut pandangan pribadi saya agak unik (mendekati aneh). Mungkin karena saya sudah terlalu terbiasa melihat manga2 japan yang tipikalnya jauh berbeda. He3x.. tapi, tetep menarik buat di baca.

Sejarah jadi tidak terlihat rumit. Mudah dicerna

Buku yang saya baca adalah buku edisi bahasa inggris (sudah ada yg terjemahannya blm ya??). penggunaan bahasa inggris yang cukup familiar, tdk banyak kosa kata ‘asing’. Jadi, saya yang bahasa inggrisnya pas2an saja, masih bisa mengerti isinya.

Akan tetapi, buat saya, ada beberapa ‘masalah’ dalam kisah ini.

Pertama : latar belakang keluarga Satrapi yang berasal dari keluarga berada, menengah atas dan berpendidikan. Jadi, dampak dan imbas perang tidak terlalu terasa bagi mereka. Bayangkan saja, ketika krisis melanda, mereka masih sempat2nya berpesta pora. Jadi buat saya, pengalaman perang Marji kecil disini tidaklah setragis bocah2 lain yang kurang beruntung yang mengalami hal yang sama.

Kedua : saya menangkap adanya sinisme, sentimen dan justifikasi negative tertentu terhadap revolusi islam di iran ataupun terhadap agama itu sendiri yang hadir pada kisah ini. Hal itu bisa muncul karena sang penulis berasal dari keluarga yang cukup liberal dan terbuka. Ditambah lagi dengan pengalaman perang sang penulis di masa kecilnya. Bagaimanapun, ia adalah korban revolusi dan perang. Mau tidak mau, itu pasti akan mempengaruhi pola pikir, pandangan serta cara penulisannya. Hal itu bisa dimaklumi, karena walau bagaimanapun perang, revolusi, kekerasan dan kejadian yang menimpa seorang anak kecil akan terus terbawa hingga seseorang itu dewasa. Jadi, apa yang digambarkan dalam buku ini belum tentu sesuai dengan kondisi sebenarnya. Tanpa bermaksud mengatakan ini adalah sebuah kisah bohongan, akan tetapi saya akan bilang kisah ini tidak cukup untuk mewakili kondisi sebenarnya. Jadi kita tidak dapat menilai apa yang terjadi disana saat itu hanya berdasarkan buku ini.

Karena kedua point di ataslah, saya hanya memberi tiga bintang untuk buku ini (5* - 2*).

Secara umum, ini adalah buku yang patut dibaca karena menghibur dan mudah dicerna.
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Jan 20, 2008 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Cultural relativists as far back as Sextus Empiricus or Michel Montaigne, or as recent as William Graham Sumner or Gilbert Harman, often make compelling arguments that there are no objective standards for judging other societies/beliefs. Yet Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis achieves in 153 pages what cultural relativists deny as possible and what most political pundits can never fully articulate: an informed and justifiable criticism of an existing cultural paradigm. Satrapi's method is deceptively...more Cultural relativists as far back as Sextus Empiricus or Michel Montaigne, or as recent as William Graham Sumner or Gilbert Harman, often make compelling arguments that there are no objective standards for judging other societies/beliefs. Yet Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis achieves in 153 pages what cultural relativists deny as possible and what most political pundits can never fully articulate: an informed and justifiable criticism of an existing cultural paradigm. Satrapi's method is deceptively simple: by using her own life stories as the premise, Satrapi builds an argument for criticizing culture.
Satrapi's autobiographicalized[1] self and society act both with wisdom and foolishness both before and after the revolution. The Iranian revolution meant to replace an unpopular government with one more responsive to the people's will. Until reading this book, I was unaware of any particular details of Iran during their revolution - mostly because I am a Westerner and generally not privy to accounts of day-to-day life in the Mid-East. On that basis, the cultural relativists may be right that I have no foundation on which to critically analyze the current state of Iran. Thankfully, however, Satrapi can criticize - using both an insider's and outsider's perspective. Satrapi undermines the denial of standards posited by cultural relativists by showing the reader that standards of comparison do indeed exist: standards related to varying degrees of freedom of expression, of decision, and from coercion. Satrapi's criticism is much more subtle than "old way good, new way bad." Instead, she draws for the reader situation after situation where real people are swept along with the flash flood of a revolution. Satrapi, having come of age in the midst of such a flood, is able to compare her pre- and post-revolution home and draw for the reader how the people she knew dealt with that change and what they thought of it.
Satrapi's art maintains a consistent, iconic style throughout the book. This allows the reader to identify more fully with the story's characters and makes for a gripping narrative flow. This iconic style is also important in reaching an audience unaccustomed to graphic novels and the myriad ways in which their authors approach narrative (Art Spiegelman's Maus is a prime example of an iconic style's appeal). What really makes Persepolis an artistic tour-de-force, however, are the more experimental panels that Satrapi intersperses into the basic narrative frame she establishes. These larger, and more visually stunning, panels interrupt the narrative, slowing (in some instances stopping) the reader in his or her tracks, drawing him or her into the intricacies of the panel. This interspersion is a type of reader manipulation especially featured in comix. There are an abundance of examples of this technique in Persepolis - panels 15.2, 29.4 are but a few. Panels 10.5, 11.1, and 11.2, in particular, defy, yet wholly contain, prosaic description, poetic symbolism, dramatic interaction, and cinematic imagery.
Satrapi seems to suggest in this work that the way to bring peoples together is to allow an exchange of their cultural ideas. At times, it may appear that the unrestrained steamroller of Western culture threatens anything in its path. But is that really the case? Satrapi seems to hint that a people left free to first experience, then to choose, whether to accept or reject another culture's offerings are always better off than a people punished for experiencing other cultures. She presents with compassion her life in that earlier Iran and draws it for the reader through the filter of her current life in Western culture. She doesn't champion one culture while condemning another. She shows, through autobiography, what works and doesn't work when it comes to governing groups of human beings.
[1] - This phrase refers to the separation of the author as an entity from the literary self they create for a reader through autobiography. (less)

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May 15, 2007 drbarb rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Americans, women, Republicans

Shelves: graphicnovels, educateyourself

I am as middle class (we call it affectionately, the "poor rich" where I live.) I am intellectual. I am like Richard Rodriquez and bellhooks because education took me away from my roots, but gave me who I am today.

So, how could Iranian middle class intellectuals and professionals in the late 1970s have been so different than me and my family? For the young, under the Shah, there was a strong and progressive, very Western group of middle class Iranians. Just like me and mine.

So, how could these p...more

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Mar 20, 2007 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, repeatreads

This book was not at all what I expected -- it was so much more. Normally, I have a large amount of disdain for stories told form the child's persepctive, for I find the children to be a little too wise, a little too precoscious (I know it's spelled wrong, but it's late and I'm lazy), a little too learned, a little too in tune with their fate, etc. (think Mary Anton in "The Promised Land" -- to this day, it is the most tedious piece of self-indulgent crap I ever had to read and the only reason I...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rating: 3.75* of five graphic novel, 5* of five film

The Book Report: So this is the lightly fictionalized life story of Iranian emigre Satrapi, as she grows up in the waning days of Shah Reza Pahlavi's rule, the revolution, and the subsequent theocracy. She emigrates first to Vienna, for school at the Viennese Lycee Francaise, and then after a time back in Tehran, off to Paris. We meet her delightfully outspoken grandmother, her neither-fish-nor-fowl mother, her drippily emotional father, and a...more Rating: 3.75* of five graphic novel, 5* of five film

The Book Report: So this is the lightly fictionalized life story of Iranian emigre Satrapi, as she grows up in the waning days of Shah Reza Pahlavi's rule, the revolution, and the subsequent theocracy. She emigrates first to Vienna, for school at the Viennese Lycee Francaise, and then after a time back in Tehran, off to Paris. We meet her delightfully outspoken grandmother, her neither-fish-nor-fowl mother, her drippily emotional father, and a host of family members of varying degrees of inimicality to the various horrible regimes Iran has suffered in the past 100 years.

Oh, oh, oh how I hate to write these words, knowing how many people will flee screaming into the distance as I do: This is a coming-of-age story.

Wait! Come back! It's not that bad, I promise! Well, the film isn't, anyway. I suggest viewing the film instead of the graphic novel.

My Review: I don't much like graphic novels, seeing them as pretentious cousins to the comic book. And I never got the hang of comic books. Something that takes me ~10min to read does not make much headway with me. So when I found that my local liberry had both the graphic novel and the film of this title, I thought I'd do a fair test: Read the graphic novel first, then view the movie; compare and contrast.

Movie. Definitely. Movie is as beautiful as the graphic novel, but more deeply involving because it's more nuanced in its storytelling style.

But make no mistake, both versions are aesthetically sophisticated and artistically beautifully realized. I focused very little on the words of the graphic novel, because they were so-so literature and because the images were so glorious. The same, well not identical but similar, words accompanying the moving images...! Orders of magnitude of difference. Had I only experienced the graphic novel, I doubt I would have bothered to write any sort of review. The film is, well and truly, a masterwork, and possibly even a masterpiece. I know it left me wrung out and still curiously uplifted. I can't say it enough: Rent this film. Watch it with an open heart. It will reward you.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 24, 2008 Joe S rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

It was a decently told story, with small shining moments. I don't feel it was worth all the hype, though, and I wonder if it would have been such a success if this weren't the perfect time to tap into liberal, anti-war, pro-vaguely-Middle-Eastern sympathies throughout the West.

In the end, I think the marketing was better than the story-telling.

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 14, 2008 Abigail rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone Interested in Modern Iran, Graphic Art Lovers

Shelves: biography-memoir, comics-graphic-novels, persia-iran

Review Temporarily Removed.

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Nov 20, 2008 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: hard-tack, magic-carpet, political-animal, treasure

This lived up to expectations.

I once lived with an Iranian in exile named Medi, also raised by radical Socialist parents under the Shah - his mother had been a gynecologist running a free clinic in a poor area of the country so their radical leaning s had been tolerated. This so resonated with what he told me of his childhood, and the utter disjunction between the tolerant and intellectual interior life, home life, and what was happening on the streets.

Medi was a wide-eyed believer in the USSR...more

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Jun 18, 2008 Corinne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, orbis-terrarum-challenge, young-adult

Marjane spent her growing up years in Iran, the daughter of wealthy-ish middle class parents. Her formative years were during the Iranian Revolution, in which her immediate and extended family took an active part. Politically, it was a time of great unrest and uncertainty and, if her book is any indication, she spent much of her time mulling over the things she sees and hears as an only child.

She's an interesting character - at times naive and idealistic, and, as she grows older, very aware of t...more Marjane spent her growing up years in Iran, the daughter of wealthy-ish middle class parents. Her formative years were during the Iranian Revolution, in which her immediate and extended family took an active part. Politically, it was a time of great unrest and uncertainty and, if her book is any indication, she spent much of her time mulling over the things she sees and hears as an only child.

She's an interesting character - at times naive and idealistic, and, as she grows older, very aware of the horrible circumstances that surround her and she almost seems to revel in the horror. She is close to her family but becomes increasingly fed up with how restrictive her society becomes after Iran becomes an Islamic Republic. Oh, and of course, there's the Iran Iraq war - this woman lived through a very unstable time.

I think the main reason that I liked to read her story is because it is so very different from my own story. I had no sense of politics until late high school, at least - perhaps mostly because of the country I live in and partly because my parents didn't seem to actively engage with me in discussions about it, as Marjane's parents did. I can't say that this book changed my life, or that I even got a sense of an overarching theme of "war is bad" or "my childhood stunk." She is not a character that I felt pity for, even as horrible things are happening to her - partly because I didn't get the feeling that she was pitying herself.

The graphic novel format really worked for me - I'm not sure her story would've been quite as interesting without her creative drawings. I think also, it might've been much more "graphic" to have had to read about all the violence instead of just seeing her take on it, which nearly always gave you the sense and idea of the violence without being overly bloody or intense.

As an introduction to modern Iranian history for teens (and grownups) , I think it's fantastic - it puts a face on the masses and she does include background for the events that she experiences or hears about. I think every story we read that makes a group of people seem more familiar and their views more understandable is a story worth telling.(less)

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Aug 13, 2007 Lacey Louwagie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: graphicnovels

Another graphic memoir, this one about the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the 80s. A look at the complicated politics of the middle east through the eyes of a child who lived it, which makes it digestible -- we get the pieces in "child-size" doses, but what is happening is not child-sized at all. We watch Marjane go through the regular rigors of coming of age even as the world around her changes and her family needs to go further and further underground as the government gets more and more oppres...more

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Mar 03, 2008 Hillary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh, it's surprisingly excellent. Remember when you finally, grudgingly read _Maus_ after hearing it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and then it turned out that it was at least comparable to the greatness of bread being already sliced? This is like that. When you see "wise, funny, and heartbreaking," up above in the description, you probably can hear the violins swelling and the announcer saying, "Not since Cinema Paradiso..." but what makes _Persepolis_ so good is its unflinchingness....more

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Nov 12, 2012 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, own, ya, multicultural, memoir, non-fiction, highly-recommended

Persepolis 1: The Story of A Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel which will haunt me, much in the way that Maus still haunts me. Persepolis follows the circumstances of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and how it affected the life of the author who grew up during this revolution. I think this was a memoir, but I could be wrong. This was one of my Readathon picks, and I would say my favorite. Now, I have a whole backlist of books to review, but I am driven to talk with you about this bo...more

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Jun 29, 2007 Nathan rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: other people

Am I an ass if I say I got bored?

And yet, this trailer never fails to bring me to tears:

[http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...]

Cinema > Comic books

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Jul 19, 2009 Harun Harahap rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pinjem, graphic-novel-comic, terjemahan

ni kemaren bukunya sapa yah yang gw pinjem pas di rumah mbak endah??punya indira kayakna negh...yah sambil mereka nonton pelm coraline yang mana gw dah punya..jadi gw mojok sendiri untuk menyelesaikan buku ni..yah komik gitu..bentar doank juga slese...

cerita pertamanya seru n kocak abiz..Satrapi,sang tokoh utama yang masih anak2, ingin menjadi seorang Nabi..hehehehe..parah nia nak..dah gitu dia sering ngahyal gitu klo dia sedang berdialog dengan tuhan..wah parah banged nih bocah..lugu tapi agak...more

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Sep 07, 2008 Jaspreet rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have been thinking a lot about growing up in two cultures and transitioning from various homes. One of the habits I adopted last year which helped make law school less painful was to read a little every day. If I was feeling cranky about getting out of bed, I would read a few pages to jump start my day. On Wednesday morning, I got up early and decided to read a few pages of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Towards the last few pages of the book, I started crying. By the time I finished, I was so...more

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Jul 15, 2008 Patrick O'Neil rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a child I had problems pronouncing words. My first attempt at the English language was “Rowl” – I was trying to put my all into saying the name of the store down the street “Red Owl.” Later, my favorite thing to try and read was the Peanuts cartoon by Charles Shultz, although I continually mispronounced Charlie Brown’s “sigh” as “see-gah.” That I had grown up in several different countries, spoke different languages, had dyslexia, and was general pretty stupid, didn’t help the situation any....more As a child I had problems pronouncing words. My first attempt at the English language was “Rowl” – I was trying to put my all into saying the name of the store down the street “Red Owl.” Later, my favorite thing to try and read was the Peanuts cartoon by Charles Shultz, although I continually mispronounced Charlie Brown’s “sigh” as “see-gah.” That I had grown up in several different countries, spoke different languages, had dyslexia, and was general pretty stupid, didn’t help the situation any. Yet I still have problems pronouncing words.

When I was talking about Persepolis with a friend, I pronounced it “pair-a-poll-see.” She looked at me kind of funny and politely asked, “you’re reading what?”

“Pairapollsee,” I said. “The graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi.”

“You mean Persepolis,” she said, “it’s the ancient capital of Persia pronounced like metropolis, or Indianapolis.”

“Sigh,” I mumbled.

Persepolis, is Satrapi’s mispronounced childhood. Growing up in a privileged Iranian family, that was once royalty. She had to endure the cultural and religious revolution of the fundamental Muslims as they took back their country from years of capitalistic western influence. While at the same time dealing with her adolescence and constantly struggling to understand the difference between right and wrong. While Persepolis’ subject matter is at times somewhat rather difficult to explain to readers who haven’t an understanding of what the sociological and political ramifications of Iran’s return to Islamic Rule had on its citizens. Satrapi seems to have no difficulties weaving an incredibly beautiful and at times sad and ironic story of a young girl coming of age. Her accompanying illustrations evoke a modern version of traditional Arabic images, while her stark black and white medium is reminiscent of Soviet Era propaganda. Making the juxtaposition of her art and story a metaphor for the clash of cultures that post revolution Iran has become.

Persepolis: is well written, excellently illustrated, and a wonderful commentary on the changing times we all live in.
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Apr 03, 2008 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

Fun story about this book...
Back in the day, I used to frequent the message board of writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina). I was something of a regular. Well, back in early 2005, BKV sold or optioned the film rights for Y, and as a treat to the loyal Caballeros (as we were called on the BKV Cabal) he and comic co-creator Pia Guerra decided to use some of their movie cash to buy pretty much everyone on the boards one graphic novel of their choice from a list of ten over-looked ge...more

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Mar 14, 2008 stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sab, leigh, cate, micole

Shelves: 2008, absolutely-must-read, graphic-novels-comics, would-rec, memoirs, war-literature, adolescent

so the art is simple and perfect for the story. the story, the characters, the setting, the fact that this is a memoir - sometimes i wonder why anyone tries to write a traditional memoir when they could use the graphic novel form.

what i love most about this book is that the art is somewhat true to life - there are no allegorical illustrations of cats and mice, and there's no need to make the story seem more tragic by super depressing illustrations, or somehow more accessible by making it seem s...more

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Mar 06, 2008 Austin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Current Events Fans

Recommended to Austin by: A Lot Of People, Some Good, Some Bad

Chances are if you're interested in reading Persepolis, you probably already know what it's about. It's this kind of reputation that made me hesitant to read it; how many times have we been burned by something that had been hyped before? It's a lesson we learn over and over in our lives, despite wanting to believe otherwise.

Fortunately, Persepolis is pretty impressive in spite of it's reputation. The style and form of the writing and art is focused with a kind of accuracy that few writers give...more

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Feb 11, 2008 Nickie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I do love a good politically conscious graphic novel. In this one, Marjane grows up in Tehran, before and after the Iranian revolution. Starts off as a girl who believes that she was the next prophet, reads comics about dialectic materialism and can't decide whether she should follow God or Marx. After the revolution in 1979 her liberal family are forced to (outwardly) follow the doctrines of Iranian fundamentalists, she has to wear a headscarf and is picked up by vigilantes for wearing a denim...more

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Jan 18, 2008 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

During the same time I was reading "Fun Home, a Family Tragicomic" I was also reading "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi.

It is interesting that both graphic novels are two women looking back on their childhood and the chaos that surrounded it. Granted "Fun Home" is very private and personal while "Persepolis" is looking at Iranian society after the revolution that disposed the Shah.

"Persepolis" caught my attention due its stark black and white -- almost chunky-looking illustrations. The subject m...more

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Dec 12, 2007 Ollie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone, especially George W. Bush

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...more

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Aug 06, 2008 miaaa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to miaaa by: prima, ica & vasthi

Shelves: favourites, ophelia-s-library, graphics-comics-illustrated

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 06, 2007 cheeseblab rated it 3 of 5 stars

OK, so I'd been intending to read this pretty much since it was published, but then with the film version coming out in Dec., I thought, "OK, do it now," so I buy it, and it comes w/ a damn "Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture" sticker on it that says, FIRST READ THE BOOK, THEN SEE THE MOVIE. OK, assholes--this is why I don't belong to a book group or a movie group, because I DON'T FUCKING WANT ANYONE FUCKING TELLING ME WHAT FUCKING BOOKS TO READ OR WHAT FUCKING MOVIES TO SEE, OK????????? So I wan...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
BYU-Adolescent Li...: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi	1	1	Jun 13, 2013 12:29pm
BYU-Adolescent Li...: Persepolis	1	3	Jun 03, 2013 08:16pm
Kissena Library: Banned books	1	4	May 04, 2013 04:12pm
Graphic Novel Rea...: Persepolis getting banned in Chicago schools	17	39	Mar 20, 2013 05:53am
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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi	10	75	Dec 08, 2012 09:07am

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About Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi (Persian: مرجان ساتراپی) is an Iranian-born French contemporary graphic novellist, illustrator, animated film director, and children's book author. Apart from her native tongue Farsi, she speaks English, Swedish, German, French and Italian.

Satrapi grew up in Tehran in a family which was involved with communist and socialist movements in Iran prior to the Iranian Revolution. She att...more Marjane Satrapi (Persian: مرجان ساتراپی) is an Iranian-born French contemporary graphic novellist, illustrator, animated film director, and children's book author. Apart from her native tongue Farsi, she speaks English, Swedish, German, French and Italian.

Satrapi grew up in Tehran in a family which was involved with communist and socialist movements in Iran prior to the Iranian Revolution. She attended the Lycée Français there and witnessed, as a child, the growing suppression of civil liberties and the everyday-life consequences of Iranian politics, including the fall of the Shah, the early regime of Ruhollah Khomeini, and the first years of the Iran-Iraq War. She experienced an Iraqi air raid and Scud missile attacks on Tehran. According to Persepolis, one Scud hit the house next to hers, killing her friend and entire family.
Satrapi attended the Lycée Français de Vienne

Satrapi's family are of distant Iranian Azeri ancestry and are descendants of Nasser al-Din Shah, Shah of Persia from 1848 until 1896. Satrapi said that "But you have to know the kings of the Qajar dynasty, they had hundreds of wives. They made thousands of kids. If you multiply these kids by generation you have, I don't know, 10-15,000 princes [and princesses]. There's nothing extremely special about that." She added that due to this detail, most Iranian families would be, in the words of Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian, "blue blooded."

In 1983, at the age of 14 Satrapi was sent to Vienna, Austria by her parents in order to flee the Iranian regime. There she attended the Lycée Français de Vienne. According to her autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis, she stayed in Vienna through her high school years, staying in friends' homes, but spent three months living on the streets. After an almost deadly bout of pneumonia, she returned to Iran. She studied Visual Communication, eventually obtaining a Master's Degree from Islamic Azad University in Tehran.

During this time, Satrapi went to numerous illegal parties hosted by her friends, where she met a man named Reza, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War. She married him at the age of 21, but divorced roughly three years later. Satrapi then moved to Strasbourg, France.(less)

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Quotes from Persepolis: The Story ...

“In life you'll meet a lot of jerks. If they hurt you, tell yourself that it's because they're stupid. That will help keep you from reacting to their cruelty. Because there is nothing worse than bitterness and vengeance... Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself.” — 261 people liked it

“One can forgive but one should never forget.” — 51 people liked it

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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis - original 4 volumes #1)

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