Persepolis: The Story of an Iranian Childhood

This graphic novel is the first-hand experience of the author, Marjane Satrapi, of the turbulent years of our country's history. Since the demonstrations against Shah's regime to the post-revolution years of Iran.

Marjane Satrapi has my profound admiration for the way she depicted every subtle thing, from the perspective of the child Marjane to the adult Marjane.

I laughed with her, laughed at her, cried with her, cried for her, and went through everything she went. I could feel every distress she felt when she was at school as a child in Iran and forced to wear veils and obey Islamic rules that she didn't have the slightest idea of. I'm not a girl, but I put myself in her shoes in trying to see the things she saw and feeling the things she felt. When she was sent by her parents abroad to study in Austria and found herself in a foreign country without any clue of how she was supposed to live there, I sensed a huge lump in my throat. How was a teenager supposed to be isolated from her parents and live all by herself in a totally strange atmosphere?

That's all thanks to Marjane Satrapi for her great work and art that I could go hand in hand with her past and experience the things she experienced and see things from her lens. It was a great work that made me contemplate upon all the things our people went through in those years.

#Freedom-has-a-price...

loved this

A special thank you to GR friend, Rosh for her various graphic novel recommendations, this one included. Here is Rosh's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now…I am not saying I am a new fan of graphic novels. I will say that I do like the idea of experiencing storytelling with pictures.

Obviously, I love children’s books. As an adult, I have found great wisdom between their pages.

And…Sometimes, it doesn’t take a lot of words to tell a terrific story, especially if an illustration can show the reader more.

So…I am intrigued by graphic novels for this reason.

What message can they convey through their panels?

What can their characters tell a reader in their bubble discussions?

This is my curiosity.

And now…On to the review.

This feels like…An “autobiography” via comic book.

It is my understanding that this is a creative telling of a “memoir” and a history of Iran’s turbulent 20th century politics.

One comic strip frame at a time.

The author’s protagonist is Marji a sassy, Iranian girl, fighting her elder’s expectations of her.

Shall we start with the veil?

Or…Her birth. Her religion. Her family?

She finds her own way in being an independent thinker.

Which…For a female, isn’t really encouraged.

So…How did I really feel about this book? This reading experience?

This is how I saw it…

There are 2 aspects of this graphic novel that defined it.

First… It is a historical novel that depicted several important events in Iranian history, particularly in the 1980s.

Second… It is a coming-of-age story of Marji, our primary character, protagonist.

It is a personal and insightful journey.

It is published in 2 parts – The story of a childhood and The story of return.

The first part is of 10-year-old Marji and her views of the Islamic Revolution and the overthrow of the Shah and the rise of the Iranian regime, and her having to leave the country for Austria.

It is candid. It is raw. She is unafraid of challenging the hypocrisies she witnessed.

She highlights the horrors of living in a nation divided by war.

And…The fundamentalists and religious fanatics who divided the country.

Telling the story in this way shows how comic books can be powerful mediums in conveying important stories.

The second part is her growing up story.

This part of the story was interesting, insightful, humorous and serious. Definitely thought-provoking.

The author has a distinctive voice.

And…I can’t help but recommend this book.

It is truly a…Worthwhile read.

Thank you again…Rosh.

4.5/5

My first memories of Iraq and Iran consist of mixing the names up, having nothing more than the vague knowledge from television talkers that someone was fighting someone and we, the United States, were fighting everyone. Persia was where my best friend in first grade was from, a place she once told me didn't exist anymore before she changed schools in third grade and we completely lost contact with each other. The intervening years between then and now filled up with reports of war and terrorism and an overwhelming fear mongering, leaving me with the feeling I was being force fed bullshit at such an insidious level that I couldn't even trust myself to seek out the least poisoned method of discovering the other side of the story. Since upgrading the status of literature in my life from hobby to livelihood, I've had more time to get down to the bottom of Introduction to Iran 101 - Autodidact Style entry on the neverending Lit bucket list, and I have to say, I can't imagine a better way than this book.

Graphic novel, really, but with Watchmen on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list and The Complete Maus regularly touted as a modern classic, the faster the academic niches of capital L Literature come to terms with the more than capable qualities of the Graphic Novel in terms of Meaning and Importance and yadda yadda yadda, the better. Three hundred years ago it was the novel in Europe, two millenia ago it was the writing things down in general in Greece,, and really, if you can find a memoir that is erudite as it is hilarious as it is heartbreaking as it is politically conscious in a social justice manner as it is life affirming as it is of a country that has for decades been horrendously misconstrued six ways to Sunday by the United States as this one, please, let me know.

n  Member of the Guardians of the Revolution (MGR): Madam, why were you running?
Marjane: I'm very late! I was running to catch my bus.
MGR: Yes..but...when you run, your behind makes movements that are...how do you say...obscene!
Marjane: WELL THEN DON'T LOOK AT MY ASS!

I yelled so loudly that they didn't even arrest me.n

One of the first popular conceptions that comes to my mind when I think on Iran is how bad the women in that country have it. Now, the Wikipedia page for Rape culture states: According to Michael Parenti, rape culture manifests through the acceptance of rapes as an everyday occurrence, and even a male prerogative. It can be exacerbated by police apathy in handling rape cases, as well as victim blaming, reluctance by the authorities to go against patriarchial cultural norms, as well as fears of stigmatization from rape victims and their families. That description is the United States, complete with dress codes, lack of sexual education regarding consent, incidents such as Steubenville and statistics such as 1 in 5 women in universities have been raped at some point during their enrollment. This commentary has nothing to do xenophobia of the civilized countries of the so called West, or with Iran consisting of all kinds of people worn down by death and fear and love of their homeland and culture being controlled by Persian fundamentalists, or the CIA's involvement in taking down countries so as to slake the US's lust for oil, or the fundamental differences between Iran and Iraq and Kuwait and all those other countries media crews love to lump together and poke at, but it does have to do with my basis for relating with Marjane and her growth from child to adult. In comparison to the big picture of her story, it's not much, but it is enough to get me off my commonly accepted high horse of US superiority and start listening.

n  Marjane: 'I don't want to leave the country right away.'
Reza: 'It's because you are still nostalgic. You'll see, a year from now people will disgust you. Always interfering in things that don't concern them.'
Marjane: 'Maybe so, but in the West you can collapse in the street and no one will give you a hand.'n

It's a crying shame that it took me this long to read a work that wonderfully cuts to the heart of that vague sensationalism that is the US's treatment of the Middle East. It's an even greater shame that this sort of work is a rare breed in the field of public perception. However, while it may have taken me the length of my own path from childhood to adulthood to experience a good introduction to the reality of things, a start in the right direction is a start.

Elegantly drawn in black and white, Persepolis is a poignant account of life in Iran and a touching coming of age story. Satrapi doesn't shy away from her own mistakes or the failings of others.

Imprescindível por variadíssimas razões, das quais falo neste vídeo, a partir do minuto 08:20:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr6iv...

É fabuloso embrenharmo-nos em histórias de não-ficção aos quadradinhos.

First full book of the BookTubeAThon! Woo! This was so great, oh my goodness, addicting and educational with so many ups and downs. It was hard to believe that it was Marjane's actual life and not fiction!

Seldom do you come across a graphic novel that makes your blood boil. A novel so brilliant and so poignant and so horrific that you almost wish it weren't true. Persepolis is one such book. Comically capturing the most painful events of life in Tehran, it is certainly a must read for any reader - anywhere in the world.