A New York Times Notable Book
A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year”
A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best-seller

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Persepolis
Comment: I have seen many reviews of this graphic autobiography/memoir on various blogs, but it wasn't until I read one that suggested that Persepolis was similar to the Maus books by Art Spiegelman, that I finally decided to check it out from the local library. I read both Maus I and Maus II in college, where they were assigned reading for one of my husband's English Lit classes, and I borrowed them from him. From the moment I started reading them I couldn't put them down. They were both horrifying and entrancing at the same time in their detail of World War II and it's long-term effects on a Jewish father and his relationship with his son.

Persepolis, while not about the Holocaust, is similar in that it is set during the time of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and part of the Iraq - Iran war. Marjane, called Marji, is 10 years old at the beginning of the story. Her family is at first enthusiastic about the changes taking place with the revolution, until they realize that the government is being taken over by fundamentalists who quickly enforce their strict religious rules.

Marji has an innocent enthusiasm for the heroics of her relatives and friends of her parents who have been imprisoned and tortured. She wants to hear all of the gruesome and exciting details about their imprisonment so that she can brag to her friends about what great heroes they are.

Marji and her innocent antics had me laughing at one moment, and then my gaze would shift to the next panel and my heart would sink as I saw images of torture juxtaposed with images of Marji listening to the story with rapt attention.

Marjane Satrapi's account of life under the new regime is compelling, and her dry wit creates a story that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

I highly recommend this graphic memoir to anyone who is interested in memoirs, war biographies, graphic literature, or stories of how children deal with war. I would also say about Persepolis and Maus I & II, that if you liked one of them then you will like the others as well.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Persepolis: An intriguing look at this period
Comment: This book provides an interesting look at a relatively dark and largely misunderstood period of time. Told from an interesting point-of-view - that of a child - and in a unique way - as a graphic novel, this book brings new insight to this time in history.

As the story begins, the young girls are being forced to wear head coverings, yet the young ones do not understand why. As the story progresses, the reader begins to understand the vast difference between what is portrayed in popular media and what actually occurs. The reader also begins to understand that the thoughts and beliefs of the people are not always reflected in their government. The book tells the story of the rebellion of the Iranian people against their government. What makes it more interesting is that the book is told from the perspective of the child of revolutionaries. We see her parents participate in protests, her parents' friends arrested and tortured, the vast class differences that exist in that culture and their real implications on the people who live in that society, and finally, we watch as her parents send her away to receive a better education and "better life" in France.

The other aspect of this book that makes it so intriguing is that it is a graphic novel. The drawings are all black and white two dimensional drawings with short dialogue, much like you would find in a comic book only without the color. These drawings actually help the author treat the violence very clinically. The drawings evoke a lot of emotion and convey a lot of information and feelings without any of the gore or graphic images.

This book would be well suited for a history classroom, especially side-by-side with a true historical text or textbook. Using this book this way helps provide students with multiple perspectives on a series of historical events. It could also be used as a primary source, because the woman writing this book is doing so from her first-hand account of the events.

A word of caution...this book should be used with high school students or older. Younger students may not be mature enough to fully understand the content.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Biased
Comment: I read this book, and I was very unimpressed with the amount of opinion Satrapi put out as fact. The story is clearly biased against the Islamic Republic, which is fine, but is overly so. Satrapi never gives explanations on events that are critical to the entire picture. She never gives the reasons for why so many of her family members were harassed, and even killed. From what I read, I understand that her family were communists, and at the time, communists were trying to seize power in the revolution. Many of the groups against the existing government including communists spread havoc, and provoked terrorism, but Satrapi never says these things. She just names who were killed. She claims things like Iran rejected an offer of peace in the Iran-Iraq war from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, but doesn't go on and say that the conditions to that "peace" would devastate the economy.

Besides these faults, I enjoyed some parts of the book. It portrayed many parts of Iranian culture in a bad light, but was written and drawn powerfully. I would say it is propaganda, but I think it is written too well to have been motivated for propaganda.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Never got my product, Had to order again.
Comment: This book was needed for a college course I am taking and I never got it. I just hope the one I purchased for the second time gets to me before I need to read the book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A story without the confines of traditional boundaries
Comment: People often associate comic books with childrens' fiction, as if the medium itself is inflexible. Some of us the comic lovers know that is not the case. And case in point Persepolis - where the emotions of a little girl in the politically and socially charged Iran takes us through what would have been a blind journey. I think pictures don't necessarily paint a thousand words, it paints many, and it leaves the number to the reader. While written words force a description on your mind, a picture leaves a lot to your imagination. It lights the spark with the image, and the image takes on its own life in your mind. This is what I felt while reading Persepolis, where just with two shades, Marjane Satrapi gives us enough fodder to ruminate in the visual fields of our imagination. I could see the drastic transformation of one of her neighbours going from a mini-skirt to the veiled burkha.

Marjane Satrapi is gifted and trained no doubt, and it shows in the depictions of emotions that are otherwise hard to describe. You may also want to look for books by Dupuy and Berberian, that tell of personable tales in their lives or fictitious characters drawn with similar dexterity.

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