I have always detested gossips but once again, books came to my rescue and proved how wrong this outlook was (because of the binaries I had established). Marjane Satrapi's Embroideries is about those teeny-tiny bits of gossips and discussions which after a long and oppressing day can prove to be an elixir for life. Marjane, or Marji, as her grandmother (I love her so much) called her, is surrounded by her grandmother's friends and acquaintances, who, over a cup of tea (I think it was tea), would gather together and talk about stuff that I, in my wildest dream, would never have imagined. This book is a nudge towards the reality of women in Iran.

"Başkalarının arkasından konuşmak ruhun vantilatörüdür..."

"Hayat böyledir işte! Bazen atın üstüne sen binersin, bazen de at senin üstüne biner."

4/5

Con esta novela gráfica, Marji Satrapi nos lleva al universo femenino de Irán: qué significa ser mujer en un país islámico y, al mismo tiempo, que significa ser mujer en cualquier lugar del mundo.
Creo que este review de Sophie Harrison en The New York Times Book acierta de pleno: «Un libro pensado para provocar y entretener. Pero no se lo enseñéis a un mulá: le volará los sesos.»
Esta novela gráfica la he encontrado muy en la línea de Persépolis. Vale la pena leerla.

8 de 10*

Opinião:
https://abibliotecadajoao.blogspot.co...

Family gossip is my Achilles' heel. I live for those moments when my mother and I get to discuss old memories of hers and mine.
So this graphic novel fit right like a glove.

Embroideries starts out with Marjane Satrapi and her family and friends sitting down with their drinks to devote themselves to their favorite activity: discussion.

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There was talk of marriage, love, unfeasible men, sex, double standards, body image... simply put, Embroideries included everything I love discussing with my family and so much more.

Here are a few of my favorite talks between Marjane's tough-talking grandmother, stoic mother, glamorous and eccentric aunt and their friends and neighbors:

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(I was cry-laughing at this part.)

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...This is why I adored Marji's mother in Persepolis 2.

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Her grandmother was as wise as ever.

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I laughed out loud multiple times,which I truly wasn’t expecting. And the one part I most vividly remember making me laugh too loudly was when 6-year-old Marjane was talking about her grandmother’s nose:

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I almost choked laughing so hard. This conversation really hit home for me.

Also, this:
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This is seriously 100% like all the conversations I've had in the past with my family.
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To put it plainly, Embroideries was all I could have wanted from Marjane Satrapi and yet... I long for more and more.

*Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying Embroideries, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!*
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This review and more can be found on my blog.

4,5

Soy FAN de estas señoras

Told with humor, a sad look into the sex lives of women in Iran.

Embroideries adalah buku karya Marjane Satrapi kedua yang saya baca. Sebelumnya saya beruntung memperoleh buku Revolusi Iran, Dongeng seorang anak ditumpukan buku bekas di Pasar Buku Palasari.

Jika dalam Dongeng seorang anak, cerita-cerita yang disajikan cukup "kelam", bagaimana Marji kecil menghadapi revolusi Iran, dalam Embroideries (diterjemahkan menjadi Bordir) dibahas kisah lucu sekaligus getir yang terjadi di antara para wanita Iran tersebut.

Dibuka dengan makan siang bersama di rumah keluarga Marji, setelah makan siang, para pria tidur siang. sementara para wanita bebenah dan dilanjutkan dengan menikmati teh sambil berdiskusi (baca :bergossip) atau menurut istilah nenek Marji adalah
"membicarakan orang di belakang punggung mereka berguna untuk melepaskan unek-unek"

Bersamaan dengan dihidangkannya sajian teh sore, dimulailah acara "melepas unek-unek" ini.

Dimulai dengan cerita nenek Marji yang menceritakan tentang Nahid, temannya yang ketakutan setengah mati karena kehilangan keperawanan sebelum menikah, sedangkan 3 minggu lagi ia akan menikah, dan nenek Marji yang cerdas memberikan ide untuk mengelabui calon suami Nahid. Lanjutan ceritanya...ditanggung membuat terpingkal-pingkal.

Setelah itu mengalirlah berbagai cerita (bahkan unek-unek) dari ibu, bibi, teman dan tetangga Marji mengenai masalah cinta, jodoh, suami, selingkuh, operasi plastik, pengalaman jadi wanita simpanan, bahkan hingga urusan perdukunan dan tentu saja....Bordir...
Bordir di sini sempat membuat saya kecele (dari judul dan gambar sampulnya tentu) karena bordir di sini bukan bordir membordir kain tentunya....ah...baca sendiri saja lah

Semua ini tentu saja disajikan dalam bentuk gambar yang menarik khas Marjane Satrapi. Gambar hitam putih tapi bisa menggambarkan emosi para wanita dalam bincang-bincang ini
Membaca buku ini mengingatkan saya pada bincang-bincang dengan ibu-ibu di kampung saya...juga ibu-ibu di sekolah Tio, juga ibu-ibu kelompok arisan lain...sepertinya masalah yang dihadapi perempuan dimana pun sama saja...di Iran, di kampung Cijawura, di kota Bandung atau di mana saja. Lucu sekaligus getir...tapi inilah hidup.

Seperti apa kata nenek Marji di akhir cerita
"Begitulah yg namanya hidup! Kadang kau yang menunggangi kuda, kadang kuda yang menunggangimu"

Es como tener el ojo de una cerradura por el que poder espiar a un grupo de mujeres persas sin pelos en la lengua. Directo, mordaz, sencillo pero no simple. Muy recomendable para tratar de entender que lo que para ti es inconcebible otros pueden darlo por sentado, y viceversa.

llegit en una sola tarda!
una sentada de safareig entre mares, àvies, tietes i amigues que et fa rumiar sobre el radicalisme en el que viuen les dones en països islàmics

"To speak behind others' backs is to ventilate the soul." – a dictum from Marjane Satrapi’s grandmother.

Reading ‘Embroideries’ from Marjane Satrapi was like reading some missing pages from ‘Persepolis’, her renowned autobiographical series. In ‘Persepolis’ she gave much insights to the reader about the social and political life of Iran during her childhood, but through ‘Embroideries‘ Satrapi manages to illustrate the closed personal world of Iranian women in an amusing manner.

In this slice of an autobiography, Satrapi let’s the reader experience the joy, sorrow, disappointments and frustrations narrated from the personal viewpoint of a bunch of charming, highly spirited and intelligent female characters living in Tehran during early 1990s. The effortless gossipy manner in which they discuss their private lives, which Satrapi captures in her Spartan yet fluid black and white illustrations, are equally touching and a delight to read.

Observing a young Satrapi in the company of her mother, grand mother, aunts and other female friends sitting around their tea – while the male members are enjoying a nap after a family dinner – and gossiping, is an experience like the observer is right among them sipping tea – at times even feeling like a voyeur - and listening to their confidential lives, their anxieties, their own personal struggle against social and personal oppression and their intimate feelings of guilt and pleasure.

There is no inhibition among the members of such an intimate gathering – where Satrapi’s grandmother takes the central stage and regulates the flow of this family chronicle – and no topic is a taboo on such an occasion and the reader is privileged to hear a string of anecdotes and ruminations, which can be funny and raunchy, at times sad or even provocative and controversial. They discuss their sex life, their fantasies, about keeping up the appearances for the sake of saving marriages, about getting an ‘embroidery’ done – a slang term for a hymenorrhaphy or hymenoplasty -, about performing plastic surgeries, about the obsessions of the society on the virginity of a girl, about homosexuality, about failed marriages, about extramarital affairs, all with a casual grace and traits of independence even under restrains imposed by their society.

The charm of the book is in its simplicity of narration. It merely narrates these thoughts as conversations aimed at the reader while offering no solutions, conclusions or judgments for the various issues discussed by its participants. It is left for the reader to think about. A perfect candidate for light weight reading, but if you are reading Satrapi’s works for the first time, then I will recommend ‘Persepolis’ before enjoying ‘Embroideries’.

Actual Rating: 3.5 / 5