The Complete Persepolis in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jun 02, 2016 Debbie rated it liked it

I think the GN format was a wonderful way to share so much truly intense information about history and politics and one person's experience through so much unrest in Iran. I envy my friend, who teaches with it - it'd be fun to talk about when there's narration and when the character breaks the fourth way and talks directly to the reader.

The down side of reading the Complete Persepolis is that I read straight through, without much knowledge about where the author originally put the breaks in act ...more

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Jul 29, 2014 Jeff Scott rated it it was amazing

Shelves: war, iranian-fiction, graphic-novel, female

Marjane Satrapi captures what life was like growing up in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution, being an immigrant in Europe, and returning to Iran. Using the format of the graphic novel, she can convey the raw emotions of the experience as well as inserting the humor and innocence of a young child and later a young woman in very extreme circumstances.

In the early parts, the story is almost a Charlie Brown view of the Iranian Revolution demonstrating the impact on her as a child. She th ...more

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Nov 18, 2008 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: comics, memoirs

I don't know why it's taken me so long to finally finish this book! I bought it for a friend years ago and had a sneaky read of the beginning before I gave it to her. Then I bought my own copy which I must have started because the spine has a crease in it, but I don't remember when or why I tailed off and didn't finish it. Very odd!

Growing up is difficult for everyone - trying to find out who you are, what the world is about, and how you fit into it can be daunting and scary at the best of times ...more

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May 10, 2017 Debbie rated it really liked it

Shelves: graphic-novel

A memoir of the author/illustrator's life growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

Those who don't believe in the importance of the separation of church and state should really read books like this to see how horrible life is when religious fundamentalists are in charge.

The difference between public and private life (especially for women) is an eye-opener. The pure ridiculousness of some of the laws made my jaw drop. For example, the author recounts that art students were not allowed t ...more

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Dec 01, 2010 Melissa Wiebe rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, memoir, graphic-novels, 2010, ownvoices

I read this book due to the fact that I had finished Blankets and wanted to read another graphic novel in the same sort of vain. I felt that the first half was a little slow, as it dealt a lot with the political aspects of living in pre-revolutionary Iran and the war itself. The story from the time she left Iran for the first time till the end of the book had much more of a flow to it and was much better than the first half of the book.

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