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Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel)


Polka Dot Rock

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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

 

"Now in one volume, both parts of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi's brilliant memoir-in-comic-strips about growing up in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution." - Blurb from the back cover

 

The narrative of Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel appears to be a basic one: Part One details her childhood from the age of ten, encompassing her relationship with her family and her family's history, all against the backdrop of the Islamic revolution and war with Iraq. It ends with her leaving Iran at fourteen, after her family decided that it would be best for her safety (and liberal sanity) if she continues her education in Europe.

Part Two picks up from this point, with Satrapi in Austria. The first half of Part Two shows how Satrapi battles her isolation and cultural identity, only to end up on the streets and very depressed. At hitting bottom, she concludes that she must return to her family in Iran. However, upon returning she discovers that her isolation and identity problems are not exclusive to Europe... The rest I'll let you read for yourselves if you should so wish!

 

Satrapi's graphic novel has had a lot of press attention, not least because it tackles the issues surrounding contemporary Iran. In this respect, Satrapi pulls no punches and her perspective allows an understanding and empathy that many written accounts of Iran have not been able to convey.

The issue of the veil is ever-present throughout, as Marjane must adapt to wearing it twice: once as a child, then again upon her return, after years of not wearing it.

 

I enjoyed both parts of Persepolis, although I found Part Two especially riveting as Marjane struggles with adapting to life in Iran again and relating to other Iranian women.

 

Despite the serious and occasionally harrowing themes of Persepolis, it is wonderfully funny and very witty - particularly the young Marjane. One of the central philosophies of Marjane's life appears to be "If you don't laugh, you'll cry".

 

The illustrations are deceptively simple; bold, monochrome, line drawings. Yet, like the understated prose, they capture a whole wealth of feeling and detail.

 

I'd wholeheartedly urge everyone to read Persepolis, particularly if you're interested in Iran, as Satrapi's novel really helps you understand the history of modern Iran, as well as the religious and political tensions, in a ridiculously easy-to-digest way.

I also think that it'll be a great starting point if you fancy delving into the wonderfully varied world of graphic novels, as it was a straight-forward narrative and it's very traditional in it's lay out and style. I managed to finish it in three days, and I was pacing myself!

 

On a personal note, after reading this and Art Speigelman's Maus (one of my favourite books), I think I have an idea of what I'd perhaps like to research for my future studies, which is auto/biographical graphic novels.

 

9/10

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  • 1 year later...

Oh I hope you both ended up reading it! It definitely is worth it, and not at all heavy as you might think of a book 'dealing' with modern Iran. It doesnt 'deal' with it really, it just (and wonderfuly so) conveys it in the background of Marjane's account of her journey from childhood to adulthood.

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  • 4 months later...

Hello,

This is my first time posting on this forum so I thought I should ask about one of my favorite novels (actually a graphic novel) called Persepolis. I found entire novel to be captivating story of Marjane Satrapi's experiences growing up in Tehran, Iran. The experiening the eventual fall of the Shah of Iran, the Islamic Revolution, and war between Iraq and Iran really sculpted Satrapi to the person she would become later in life. I understand that throughout the novel, Marji attempts to figure out her identity while at the same time trying to preserve it.

But there are somethings about the book that I have yet to understand and I was hoping that maybe someone here could potentially give me some insight on the questions I have.

 

Questions :

1) Why is this graphic novel called Persepolis? I understand that Persepolis relates to the ancient Iranian city but why name the graphic novel after this? How are the title and the novel connected?

2) How does the author utilize the conventions of the graphic novel genre to communicate the significance of Persepolis both to Iran and to Marji?

3) How does Marji's story relate to the history of Iran? An extension of this question is how is Persepolis and Marji connected (other than this book being her autobiography of her life accounts in Iran)

4) How would you parallel Persepolis to Marji?

Your thoughts?

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