The Complete Persepolis in Our Shared Shelf

May 16, 2016 Kressel Housman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoir, our-shared-shelf, graphic-novel

Other than the Tin Tin books I read to my kids when they were younger, I’d never read a graphic novel before this one, and apparently, I’ve got a snobbish streak because I didn’t make this a particular priority when Emma Watson announced as her June pick. I’m glad I got past my prejudice because on top of giving a rare glimpse into life in Iran, it’s a moving coming of age story.

Marjane Satrapi is just two years younger than I am, and I was amazed at how similar our life experiences are, despit Other than the Tin Tin books I read to my kids when they were younger, I’d never read a graphic novel before this one, and apparently, I’ve got a snobbish streak because I didn’t make this a particular priority when Emma Watson announced as her June pick. I’m glad I got past my prejudice because on top of giving a rare glimpse into life in Iran, it’s a moving coming of age story.

Marjane Satrapi is just two years younger than I am, and I was amazed at how similar our life experiences are, despite the obvious differences. My first sense of it came when she was in her early teens, rocking out to “We’re the Kids in America,” wishing she were there. I was there when that song was popular, and though I doubt anyone outside my generation remembers it, that bubblegum pop song gained a whole new level of meaning for me. There were more parallels as she got older, mainly because she was in Europe where she could encounter things like anarchists, punk music, and drugs. Her story only goes to prove how absolutely universal it is to fall on your face repeatedly as you transition to adulthood.

But my review would be remiss if I did not discuss what is different about our lives, and that, of course, is her having grown up in the shadow of Iran’s Islamic revolution. Orthodox Jews keep a strict standard of modesty, too, and no doubt, there are teachers who go overboard in enforcing it, but even our worst are ultra-liberal in comparison to the Islamic regime. Young men and women seen together in public in Iran had better have a marriage certificate with them to show the police or they could be arrested! Emma’s Book Club got into a heated discussion over the hijab (veil) the girls were forced to wear, but to me, forcing young boys to sacrifice their lives in war is far more oppressive. The dark and oppressive spirit of the regime overall comes through not just because of the narration, but because of the black and white illustrations – and they’re heavier on the black.

If you’ve got a prejudice against graphic novels, get over it and read this book. You’re in for a rich and powerful experience.
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May 01, 2017 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: around-the-world, graphic-novels, middle-east, history, memoirs

Persepolis is an outstanding graphic memoir that depicts Marjane Satrapi’s life growing up as a young girl in a progressive family during the Iranian Revolution, the transition to fundamentalism and the Iran-Iraq War and its aftermath. As a child Satrapi is not fully aware of the significance of many of the horrors happening around her, and must learn far too early about the meaning of torture, “martyr-hood” and the risks of protests that turn into massacres, alongside the more mundane lessons o ...more

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