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Her experiences as a third culture kid, in a country without parents, are a valuable insight into the loneliness and isolation of that situation. Persepolis is a graphic memoir, a coming of age story of a girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution. The story doesn't end with a difficult and confusing childhood, but rather sees the author through her maturing process.The simple pen and ink drawings fit the story well, the author is obviously talented and the starkness of them serves to convey the mood. It's sweet, funny, educational, serious, and sad all in turn. The reader acutely feels the longings of the author for love, for normalcy and for acceptance, but in an irreverent and lighthearted way.The second half of the book focuses on Satrapi's time spent in prep school in France. It's a graphic book that's accessible to those less familiar with the format and is well received by readers of a variety of backgrounds. (9/10)
A very good read. The art is good, and it gives a very good insight into the cultural revolution in Iran. I studied history at university, and this graphic novel still showed me things that I did not know.
And through it all, Marji's never the same, but her love for her homeland is unshaken. Now an award-winning animated film, Marjane Satrapi's part-comic-book/part-memoir is now available in a complete paperback. This true story chronicles "Marji's" childhood in revolutionary Iran, her life under the thumb of a new regime, her misadventures in Europe, and her return home. She grows in body and mind like everyone else, and yet the reader still marvels at the transformation. All philosophical interpretation aside, "Persepolis" proves itself to be a literary contender.This comic is unrated: Violence, Adult Language, Adult Situations.
I also liked how the author included everything from her life. One thing I thought was sad about her living on her own was that she sometimes wanted comfort from her parents and that was not possible since they were still in Iran. He said that he still loved her and that they should move to France together. She ended up marrying him, but since the day they got married and moved in with each other, their love for one another faded. You can sympathize for her because it is always nice to be around your family.Later on in the book, when Marjane is older, she returns to Iran. It was hard for them to be together because they could easily get in trouble because men and women were not allowed to be seen in the streets or cars together unless they were married.
The author explains her life as a child very well and it is good to learn about different people from all over the world. During this time they both went to the same school. When she returned, she had forgotten some of her cultural norms. She attended a French school there, and like most people, she had a hard time fitting in at first but eventually did. Also when she returned she met a guy named Reza who she fell in love with.
She was also rebellious and strong, and I look up to that because no matter how bad things were she always tried to move forward. I really enjoy that it was written in a comic strip style because it is appealing to the reader's eye which makes it fun to read. The author described this part of her life very well and detailed that you can almost put yourself in her shoes.Since things were hard for them being in a relationship, Reza asked Marjane to marry him. The book is written in the format of a comic book. Since they were not married it made things hard for them. She had to live without her parents for years, and this was very hard for her. This time when she left Iran it was her decision and for her freedom. Something I thought was interesting was that Marjane seemed to be very religious as a kid and even wanted to be a martyr, but while she was in Europe she broke a lot of her religion's rules.
Book ReviewThe Complete Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, tells the story about her life growing up during a time of revolutionary war in Iran. At the time it was very hard to get into schools so they were very lucky. Boys and girls were separated and Reza and Marjane had to pretend they were not a couple because they could get kicked out. Marjane told Reza that she didn't think things were working out and they should get a divorce. She had sex before marriage, and when she told her friends from Iran about this, they were ashamed of her. This taught me that people in other countries do have similarities to people in the United States.Overall I would recommend this book to people of all ages. The war was the main thing that affected her life but she also talked about her family and love life.Due to the war, Marjane's parents sent her to live in Austria. It was fun to read and the author makes it easy to understand a different culture and religion.
She forgot that she would have to wear her veil, but she easily got back into the habit of doing so. You learn about the cultural norms and religious beliefs about different places, and it helps you to realize what life is like for these people. Instead they got the divorce and Marjane decided to leave Iran. I think Marjane, the main character, is a complex character and reading this book really makes you understand how the war forced her to grow up fast.
The backdrop, largely set against the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, comes to life through the experiences of these people, not just a historical run down.Major coming-of-age themes are present; rebellion, alienation, identity, isolation, and disillusionment all factor heavily in Satrapi's story. We forgot, of course, that they are freshmen and will resist all attempts to read/learn over the summer regardless.However, loving graphic novels, I checked it out myself and loved what I found. *For Foucaultians, I use 'Satrapi' to reference the author, and 'Marjane' to reference the character in the book.We tried having the freshmen at our school read this book over the summer, thinking that they might have less resistance to a graphic novel than an onslaught of straight text. What is particularly well-served by the graphic novel format is Marjane's struggle between the external forces dictating her situations and the internal convictions she relies on to respond to them.Satrapi's story is more exciting and tumultuous than many people's experience growing up (certainly mine), but she doesn't stress these external events. First of all, Satrapi's simple style of illustration was perfect for setting the tone of this coming-of-age story. Subtle variations in the appearance of the characters reveals more than the story on the page. It would have been easy for her to succumb to the tendency of memoirs to force oneself onto the historical timeline of one's time; yet for all that is going on around her, that doesn't represent Marjane's conflict. The heart of the graphic novel is about that confusing experience of self-identification, stretching across countries, cultures, and all of history.
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