From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1)

Marjane Satrapi,

Mattias Ripa (Translator)

Start date: December 15, 2019

Finish date: January 15, 2020

Discussion: Group Reads Discussions

Why we're reading this: December 2019 selection for world memoirs.
[close] December 2019 selection for world memoirs.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 405 topics — 3,825 comments total

Group Reads Discussions

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Links to Group Read Discussions
By Diane , Armchair Tour Guide · 3 posts · 1371 views

last updated Jan 18, 2013 07:12PM

I've Been Waiting
By Carole · 1 post · 16 views

last updated Sep 16, 2025 07:57PM

showing 10 of 54 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jan 28, 2013 Ginger rated it really liked it

Shelves: history

This explains it better than I could (from the blog Dinner: A Love Story):

"Incidentally, one of the things he recommends is taking advantage of the massive talents in the graphic novel world right now. If those are the kinds of books that your kid is drawn to, he says, don’t fight it. Anyone who has downloaded our 121 Books guide knows we’re big fans of the genre, and I’m always amazed when I hear readers, parents — and even once, my daughter’s teacher — dismiss graphic novels as junk or “not re ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 15, 2017 Tanya rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017

The librarian had placed this on the rack for a display on banned books; it's the sole reason I picked it up as I had not heard of it before. And now I want to read all of them because I want to know about the daily life and the history of Iran and the Islamic revolution. This was a memorable way for me to be introduced to another culture and it was absolutely powerful. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 13, 2015 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: travel-the-world

I had the pleasure of working with an Iranian woman, who described what it was like to live in Iran during the Revolution. She wanted to come to the U.S. because Iranian women were not allowed to go to college. Luckily she had that opportunity.

I don't read many graphic books, but as with Maus, Persepolis is a wonderful way to learn the history of Iran and Marjane's life. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2017 Diane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: pop-sugar-challenge-2017, graphic-comic

A good insight on the Iranian revolution form a child's perspective. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 07, 2011 Megan rated it it was amazing

LOVED this book and it's sequel! Own the movie but have yet to see it... ...more

Like · see review

Aug 04, 2008 Rachel N. rated it liked it

Shelves: iran

This book was for my book group. I didn't find this book as to be as good as a lot of other people obviously did from their reviews. I don't know much about the Iranian revolution and the war between Iraq and Iran. I feel like this hurt my understanding of the novel. I also feel like the book jumped around suddenly between times and I didn't like that each story was at the most 5 pages long. I would have rather had a full length continuous graphic novel that tells the author's story. ...more

Like · see review

Apr 26, 2008 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: memoir, illustrated, iran

You wouldn't think that graphic novel would be the ideal format to tell the story of living in Iran during the revolution, but it really works - it gets across both Satrapit's childhood naiveté and the strain and brutality of the times exceptionally well. More than worth the short time investment. ...more

Like · see review

Mar 18, 2015 Andy Plonka rated it really liked it

I can't say I'm much of a fan of this genre , but this book was well worth the time and I learned a great deal about Iran's history on a simplistic level ...more

Like · see review