The best graphic novel I have read... not unreasonable to compare with  Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, which I am pretty sure influenced it. Also very illuminating about what it's like to live in Iran. Terrific book. The film, which Satrapi also worked on, is just as good.

‎دوستانِ گرانقدر، موضوع اصلی این کتاب، واژهٔ بی مفهوم و توهین آمیز و احمقانهٔ «حجاب» است... و سختی ها و مشکلاتِ دختران و زنانِ ایرانی در این سرزمین را بخصوص از بعد از سال ۵۷ در قالبِ خاطراتِ «مرجان ساتراپی» و به صورت نقاشیِ سیاه و سفید بیان نموده است
‎دختر بچه ای که از کودکی در مدرسه و جامعه به دلیل اینکه جنس زن است، از بسیاری از حقوقِ انسانیش محروم شده است و مجبور است از کودکی کفنِ سیاه به سر داشته باشد.... و پدر و مادرش تصمیم میگیرند در سن نوجوانی او را به خارج از کشور بفرستند تا بلکه بتواند مانندِ یک انسان زندگی کند و درک کند که همه جا مثلِ عرب و عرب پرستانِ کثیف با جنسِ لطیفِ زن، همچون یک کنیز و یک ماشین بی ارزشِ تولیدِ بچه، رفتار نمیکنند

‎امیدوارم این توضیحات مفید بوده باشه
«پیروز باشید و ایرانی»

Books such as this and The Complete Maus remind us how powerful the medium of "comics" is. It is not all Walt Disney and Tom and Jerry, folks.

মাঝে মাঝে কোন বইকে পাঁচ তারার অনেক বেশি দিতে ইচ্ছে করে। পার্সিপোলিস সেরকম একটা বই। শুধুমাত্র গ্রাফিক নোভেল হবার কারণে অনেক পাঠকের পড়ার তালিকায় থাকবে না বইটা, এটা ভেবে খারাপ লাগছে। আমি এটা মনে করি না যে কোন নির্দিষ্ট একটা বই না পড়লে পাঠক জীবন বৃথা হয়ে যায়, কিন্তু পার্সিপোলিস পাঠের অভিজ্ঞতা আসলেই অনন্য, অপূর্ব৷ ইসলামিক রেভোল্যুশনের সময়কালে ইরানে বেড়ে ওঠা এক মেয়ের জীবনচিত্র। বারবার পড়ার মতন বই। সুযোগ পেলে পড়ে নেবেন। বাতিঘরে পাওয়া যায়, কালেভদ্রে নীলক্ষেতেও চোখে পড়ে।

I am afraid that I might not be able to tell anything good or great from my limited knowledge of what-went-wrong or what-kept-her-going. Is it the oil which once was a natural resource? Is it her-smoking-cigarette? Is it her hooded-veil? Is it the never-ending war? Is it her make-up? Is it her defiance?

Here it is, I think that it is more appropriate that you hear from someone who knows more:

Elham's review of The Complete Persepolis

Una novela gráfica muy buena, con razón está siempre en todas las listas de mejores comics de la historia.
Con un dibujo sencillo en blanco y negro que resalta todavía más una historia tremenda que nos pone en antecedentes sobre Irán y de como la historia a veces se tuerce. Que no siempre avanzamos y que no debemos menospreciar el poder de aborregar a las masas.
Me ha gustado sobre todo la honestidad con que cuenta su autobiografía Marjane. No quiere caernos bien, quiere contar su historia desde su punto de vista. El desgarro e incomprensión de un exilio con solo 14 años sin tener la mínima preparación para ello, los errores que comete etc.
Nunca deja de estar presente el humor y la esperanza en la pequeña lucha, esos mínimos espacios de libertad conquistados con riesgo y sufrimiento y sobre todo esa familia que, con sus errores y contradicciones, la empujó a ser libre y autosuficiente, que le permitió cometer errores para que aprendiera de ellos y que la educó de forma que se cuestionara siempre todo y rechazara los dogmas.
Una lectura muy recomendable.

A question I heard a lot while I was reading this book was "how does it compare with Maus?" -- and if I were to answer that question, I would say, I suppose, that I thought that Maus was more compelling, with more classically heroic characters, detailed, careful artwork (and-I-mean-come-ON it was about the holocaust, haven't we all agreed that's the official trump card?) -- but I'm not sure that it actually makes much sense to compare this book with Maus. Sure, they're both graphic novels whose subject is generally similar. They're at once historical, tragic, and personal. But other than that, they're just two very different books, written by two very different authors regarding two different conflicts. It would be as if you were reading Red Badge of Courage, and people kept asking "so, how does it compare with War and Peace?"

Aaaaaannyway. So! About Persepolis.

I went into this novel knowing essentially nothing about the war(s) in Iran, and to my surprise I left this book knowing essentially nothing about the war(s) in Iran. Just when the narrator reaches an age when she could really perceive what is happening in her country and act out against it or submit and meld into it, her parents wisely ship her off to Austria, and once there she specifically avoids watching the news and connecting with political developments back at home. Thus, for a large portion of the story we're led through her various musical tastes, hair styles and relationship developments (can you beliiieeeve that first boyfriend and the croissants?). There are no post scripts, tangents, or musical bridges conveying basic information to the reader, no "meanwhile, back at the ranch, lots of people went to jail for silly things, and also there were deaths or something". The narrator was divorced from these concerns at the time, and so are we the readers.

Primarily, this novel is an autobiography: the details of her homeland function mostly to describe the main character, not the country or turmoil therein. Egotistical? It seemed that way, sometimes, but maybe it depends what you expected from the book.

That said, Marjane Satrapi's character is a well-developed one: never the perfect angel, not always striving to even just be good, but continually just trying to figure things out and attain the same, elusive happiness everyone else seems to have. She's likable, interesting, self-deprecating and ever-changing, and for what it's worth I found it really difficult to put the book down. (To me, actually, that's worth quite a lot. I weep for a lost childhood in which I could never, ever seem to put a book down: I finished one and then desperately started another, consuming them like cocaine. Why aren't books like cocaine anymore? Maybe I should just give up on literature and try harder drugs. Or more graphical novels by Marjane Satrapi.)

Thoroughly enjoyable, with artwork that really grew on me with time, and definitely recommended. Just don't expect to want to start a revolution afterwards.

When you read this one, stop and pause for the grandmother's one real advice she gave the author when she was young.

I am quite impressed with how the author presented so many events that happened in her life in just a little over 300 pages!

However, my only issue is this:

Damn the small fonts. It was a real struggle. Otherwise I like how well written and illustrated this memoir is.

I don't have much to say about the political events mentioned or comment on the personal
life of the author in the book.

I just loved reading about the family bonding, especially between her and her mother, that between her and her father. I love the grandmother so much.

Reading this memoir gave me some rare life lessons.

Tips to read this graphic memoir:

*Expect only black ink blunt illustrations/artstyle
*Expect easy to get into writing
*See the people in this as real and be more understanding towards them
*Take your time to read it
*If you are a beginner and cannot enjoy the book, close it and read it after a year or so. But read this graphic memoir once.

Hace poco leí el cuento de la criada y me pareció un libro de distopía inconcebible en la actualidad. Sin embargo, leer Persépolis me ha abierto muchísimo la mente, para una mujer occidental es fácil olvidar la realidad que se vive en los países como Irán e Iraq que están sometidos a regímenes religiosos extremistas donde las mujeres no tienen ningún derecho. Ni siquiera pueden correr en público, maquillarse, enseñar los tobillos o las muñecas... es que es tan surreal para mi pensar que eso pasa en el 2017.
Pero hay muchas personas que se rebelan contra el sistema, mucha gente que no esta de acuerdo y que hace una diferencia. Que importante es leer este libro amigos que en forma de novela gráfica se pasa volando.

Powerful and Honest. I didn't know a whole lot about Iranian history before this story. I knew the basics. Marjane's childhood was much different than mine. I have always wondered how people live through such long wars like they had too and it looks terrible.

It almost reads like a dystopian novel with the repressive government. That has always felt so terrible to me. It seems against God to force people to conform when we are meant to be a garden of varieties and differences. Freedom is not easy when everyone is so different. I am so glad Marjane was able to get out of Iran, even if it has it's wonders, beauty and family. There are obviously some wonderful people there. I guess in some ways it is a mirror of our own country. We have almost half the people who would like to make our country repressive like this. Fundamentalist are more similar than the religions they support are different.

I am thankful for what our country allows us to be in life. It is therefore more important than ever to stand up and make sure we keep our liberties and don't throw them away for entertainment or whatever else. We have a rare gift in human history, especially for women. Nothing is perfect. I hope Iran can loosen up and the people there be allowed to be more free.

This story affected me. It was a window into a very different like. This life was truly threatening and people died. There were horrors all around and she was still able to be successful and tell her story. This story is over 10 years old and it still has an impact and power to share with the world. This is an excellent work of art. Truth to power.

And, I agree with Marjane. They have women cover up because it makes men think unpure thoughts (part of being human), but men can turn women on the same way. Why don't they have to cover up? In college, I had such a huge crush on a guy, that his ankles were enough to turn me on. EQUALITY!E Either both cover up or neither should have to cover up. That is a Western idea I'm sure.

This should be required reading, I want to pass out copies of this book on street corners. Easily one of the best graphic novels--and books in general--I have ever read and I have just finished it for a second time after making my book club read it this month. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is an important look at modern Iranian history, the people caught in the political struggles, and an empowering look at feminism and finding yourself amidst the bombs, oppression, and cultural clashes of the world. The historical events become the landscape for Satrapi’s coming of age story, witnessing the Iranian Revolution and war as a child, then spending her teenage years abroad only to return to Iran and struggle to thrive where women are kept down and the secret police are always lurking. Seriously, get this right now. I openly wept at a bar while reading this (while only on my first drink). I love Marjane Satrapi's work so much and I wish I would have come to it much sooner.
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The graphic novel format for this story is very engaging, able to fluidly move between internal and external observations and depictions from frame to frame. The narration is quite extraordinary as well, with the language matching Marjane’s age as the novel progresses. Late in the book, as an adult, she even breaks the fourth wall, clearly addressing the reader while her cartoon image stares directly at you from the page. Like The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, the graphic novel format makes for a wonderfully accessible look at history while delivering an incredible amount of emotion, empathy while also being a direct, first-person account of atrocities, violence and oppression from the perspective of someone facing it all themselves. Also like Maus, Satrapi’s Persepolis has faced a large amount of book challenges and bannings in the United States. Which is a real shame for many reasons, but a large one is that it puts Iranian history and society in a perspective that differs from the typical Western propaganda, such as showing Western influence in the regime change, countries like the US providing weapons for both Iran and Iraq during the war to weaken both as well as showing that most people living there are not the Fundamentalists and are trying to live a full life full of friendships and freedom.

The second half of the book deals with Marjane living abroad and the perceptions of others about Iran from the outside as well as seeing that oppressive beliefs and racism exist everywhere is a key detail. A favorite scene of mine is when Marjane is invited to hang out with anarchists only to find them playing capture the flag. There is a bit of rib-poking at college aged intelligentsia having heads full of theory but no experience, saying things to her like her having seen war and bodies in the street is “cool”, etc. The disconnect is quite interesting.

Though not everything in this book is about violence, and the coming-of-age aspects are really quite endearing. We see Marjane getting Western music from guys in trenchcoats on the street (her dad smuggling a Kim Wilde poster through airport security is a wonderful scene), witness disasterous relationships and breakups, watch her try to reinvent herself and grow up into who she is. Her story is quite moving and we see her challenge societal norms, such as pushing for better dresscodes for the art school she attends. Along the way we get the idea that she is lucky to have escaped many of the scenarios involving authorities.
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The biggest heart of the story, however, is the family dynamic. The emotional connection and love for her grandmother, the tragic scenes of her Uncle being detained, and the love and care from her parents make for a very moving read. I love the father and his honesty with his daughter and often try to keep him in mind when raising my own daughters. I certainly thought of him when my oldest wanted to know about the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol or when explaining what was happening as Covid began in 2020 and opted to be open and talk to her like an adult when explaining what it meant instead of avoiding it. Satrapi paints a very captivating family story here that is sure to touch anyone’s heart.

But don’t just listen to me rave about this book, pick up a copy as soon as possible. I love it, my whole book club loved it, and I’m guessing you will too.

5/5
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Marjane Satrapi es brutalmente auténtica y honesta en su autobiografía. Con un dibujo simple y en blanco y negro, en Persépolis nos lleva de la mano por los primeros veintipico años de su vida, marcados por la tragedia de la revolución islámica de Irán. Es una historia triste y dolorosa que, con humor y mucha ironía, ensalza la unidad de la familia, la importancia de la cultura y el valor de la integridad. Lectura absolutamente recomendable, al igual que la película homónima de 2007, la cual vi de casualidad hace diez años y dejó en mí una huella indeleble.