Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Very interesting

I thought the book Persepolis was a pretty good book. Some of the things learned reading this book, is when the bombing sirens would go off the unusual places they would hide. For example, some of the places they hid were in their basements or they would just lay on the ground and cover their heads. For school all the girls were required to wear a veil and a long black robe. The people were not allowed to show any of their hair and had to get rid of their facial hair. I was surprised at their rules, they couldn't have board games and were not allowed to have curtains on their windows. Also they were not allowed to listen to music or have posters. I sure would not like those rules and neither did they.
One thing that was confusing to me was when the chapters would end and a new one would begin, the subject would change to something completely different. It was hard to follow the book sometimes. My favorite part of the book was the ending. When the daughter is at the airport and she is leaving her family she turns around to say one last goodbye and her mom has fainted. She says to herself " I should have just kept walking", she said this because this made her sad that her family will miss her and she will miss them.
I would recommend this book because it is a book that keeps you interested. It was a very unpredictable book too and there were some twists and turns that makes you want to keep reading. I am looking forward to reading the second book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Graphical Novel Memoir

In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi uses the graphic novel format to share her life story with readers. Satrapi grew up in Iran during the years that the Shah lost power and the Fundamentalist Muslims became the government authority.

Satrapi was raised in a modern family that valued education and modern life. Her parents were part of the revolution that forced the Shah from power. They were shocked, however, when the ultra-religous government that took over soon made the freedoms they were used to and expected illegal. No longer could women dress as they pleased; they were instead forced to wear the veil. No longer could the Iranian people travel freely; the borders were closed for over three years, and even when reopened, passports were almost impossible to obtain. No longer could one count on an education; the universities were closed for over two years.

Darker items were to follow. There were 3000 political prisoners under the Shah, but there were 300,000 political prisoners under the new regime. Satrapi's family had both relatives and friends that were imprisoned, tortured and some were even executed. Then the government got involved in a war with Iraqi. Bombings were common, and over a million people were killed.

Satrapi's use of the graphic format is a perfect match to the story of a young girl whose life changes so dramatically and who tries to make sense of the things happening around her with a child's understanding. Satrapi ended up being educated outside of Iran in her teen years and later, and chose a graphic artist's career. This book was a perfect match for her talent, and her memoir is chilling. To see freedoms taken away gradually is difficult, and when one looks up and sees where the normality markers have moved to, it is eye-opening. This book is recommended to all readers who care about world events, and those who enjoy memoirs.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great opportunity for teachers

Persepolis has been around for awhile, so as a teacher I thought I would make a plug for using it in the classroom. Since Persepolis is a graphic text, it encourages multiples literacies (different types of reading and thinking) and inferential thinking by requiring students to read images as well as text. In a world that is so dominated with images, teaching kids how to read images is growing increasingly important.

Furthermore, given the tensions in the Middle East right now, Satrapi does a beautiful job on humanizing the Iranian people that most Westerners simply know from 20-sec. newsclips. It also offers historical, yet anecdotal, information on the Iran-Iraq War, politics in the Middle East, gender roles and women's rights. And to top it all off, Satrapi is funny!!! This book is just too full of teachable moments to pass up in the classroom.

Loved it!

I enjoyed reading this book and carefully investigating the graphics. I learned about the book because it is the book that my alma mater chose as the book for the first year students to read. I then decided to teach a mini-course for incoming international students at my own university using Persepolis as the text. Since the book has many interconnected themes, our overarching discussion concerns revolutions, but I asked the students to think about the role economics, religion, and class played in the acceptance/success of the Iranian or Islamic Revolution. The other critically important point to note is that the book is told in an innovate fashion, from the perspective of a child. With such a big world with such complex problems, we almost never think about how children view the changes occuring around them.

You will not be disappointed

This graphic novel is an extremely important one not only for graphic novel lovers and collectors who appreciate them for their artwork and narrative, but also for the racial, ethnical, historical, and political implications this volume holds. Rarely, does a work of art hold such human and such political ramifications. In conjunction, be aware that you are purchasing only the first half of the story. So, if you want the whole thing, which are you going to want, you should consider purchasing the copy that includes volume one and two. Again, you will not be disappointed.

Graphic biographies are gaining ground

Graphic biographies deliver a new depth to the genre. Sometimes a picture is worth 10,000 words. A wonderful story of the loss of childhood, home and family. Can't wait to read the next volume.

An interesting educational book

I had to read this book for a college course, along with "Kite Runner". Persepolis is an interesting book with originality in its writing style. It is like a political comic book, with nothing funny about it. The black and white ink is a symbol of how things are in her life. Black or white, good or bad. I enjoyed this book very much, and I am looking forward to reading part 2.

Persepolis Provides an interesting and entertaining historical account of Iran's political controversy.

In her book Persepolis, Marjan Satrapi, a native born to Iran in 1969, gives the readers a first hand glance at what it is like to grown up in a politically charged environment. Through black and white graphic illustrations and comedic yet serious narration, Satrapi reveals what it was like to grow up in Tehran from the ages of 6 to 14 (during the late 1970¿s). Her memoirs demonstrate the internal conflicts of a child who lives among the controversy during the overthrow of the Shah¿s regime, the success of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastation caused by the war with Iraq.
Her tale not only reveals her personal experiences, but also validates the stories of other people in her home and public life who faced the conflicts between fundamentalism and democracy. This story is one of heroes and villains, and one of torture and comedy that will give readers a better understanding of the complexities of the past and present Iranian Conflicts.

Persepolis

Persepolis, as the cover reads, is the story of a childhood. A childhood filled with protests, war, and revolutionaries, but told through a young adult¿s eyes and thoughts. Through words and illustrations Marjane Satrapi tells of her experiences as a teen in Iran during the Islamic revolution. The reader watches as Marjane struggles to find her identity as a young woman in a world of turmoil while at the same time trying to figure our the people she loves and those that are intent on making their lives miserable. The readers feels involved in the story as if they were beside Marjane as she questions her faith, her government, and yes, even her father.

While Marjane is in the midst of a relentless revolution, the reader gets the chance to see all of this through a young adult¿s experiences. She is still a normal teenager. While she is busy going to protests and hating having to wear a veil, she is also buying Michael Jackson buttons and posters of American rock stars are hanging in her bedroom. While it does not make the revolution any less severe it is nice to see it from her perspective. Young adults may not be able to identify with what she is going through, but they can probably identify with the way she thinks about the events and handles certain situations.

What Marjane does not write she shows through the illustrations of the graphic novel. In certain frames the pictures tell so much more than the words. They tell the information the author could not put into words, such as revolutionaries being tortured and the remains of her friend¿s house that was demolished during an attack. For this reason and the concepts presented by Marjane, such as communism and religion, along with some strong language this book is more suited to older readers, probably high school age. Even with these age groups there will still be many concepts they will need explained and discussed.

Overall a beautifully written and illustrated book that will open the eyes of young adults and adults alike to the events Marjane and her friends and family witnessed and lived through.

Persepolis

As a personal experience Persepolis really opened my eyes to the prejudice in other countries. Although it is not your typical memoir with only your imagination to lead you through the writer¿s experiences, with Persepolis you can really get into the book because Marji leads you through extremely important events in her life leading up to who she is today she had to fight through many negative influences and people in her life. Persepolis may be a comic book but for that very reason is why it is an honorable book and she put you into the story so know exactly how she felt or what she saw. Persepolis is a shockingly tremendous page-turner. Like a lot of other books what would the book be with out a movie? Although I have not seen the movie I would love to watch it so I can compare my previous notes from the book. Concluding how intrigued I was with the book I feel that although the movie is a cartoon and in black and white I feel that it would definitely bring me to the verge of tears.

Wonderful twist of lititure and art

Amazing tale of a girl just trying to live through the Islamic revolution. Wonderful use of cartooning to get points acrosed. A Uniquely heartbreaking novel.

best book I've ever read

Great book about the hardships of an Iranian child growing up in a revolution. It got me thinking of how hard it must have been to be her. Overall, a fabulous book.

Fantastic!

This is a book people should read to see the wrongdoing that have happened and still happen in Iran. It is a great example of how a government uses the name of Islam to cover up horrible acts which alter the True relgion of Islam. Good Book Marjane~

5 star

Blatantly honest, wrenchingly emotional, humorously witty, politically invigorating, comfortingly nostalgic. Who would've expected this much from a simplistic, black-and-white graphix book?

AWESOME!

This is an increrdible book...yeah it may not look interesting but for me someone who dislikes to read and was assigned to read this book when began could not put the book down and finished it in 1 day. It is AMAZING! I highly recommend it.

Gorgeously heartwrenching, hilariously sombre

Persepolis was immensely wonderful. I completed the book in one sitting, and my laughter would intermingle with my tears as my fingers flipped through Satrapi's wonderful drawings. A feminist magazine (whose name is a five-letter word that begins with 'B') interviewed Marjane Satrapi, which is how I found out about this book. I've mentioned it to a few friends of mine, and one of them started to read it while over at my house. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequels to this book. The tale is a powerful one, and adding to the strength are the simple sketches that give us glimpses of Iran during this turbulent time. Many Americans don't know much about Iran or the Middle East, and even though this wasn't meant to be a history book, I found out a lot of things that I was unaware of. Persepolis shows us that we aren't much different from our counterparts in Iran, and that the love of family is worth more than any government decree.

Persepolis is Graphic and Elegant

The most captivating thing about Persepolis is the medium - stark black-and-white cartoons. The images are engrossing, and as the story unfolds, the reader looses sense of time. I finished the book in a few hours, without even realizing how fast things were going. What is incredible about Persepolis is that through this page-turning graphic prose, the author relates a personal story about a life lived under oppression. I first learned about this story in Amnesty Now magazine, a publication of Amnesty International, USA, and I was excited to find that Persepolis is not only a great example of human rights writing, but is also a solid piece all-around.

Imaginative and Poignant

I started reading Persepolis yesterday. I finished reading Persepolis yesterday. I couldn't put it down! I found Persepolis to be a touching, witty, and imaginative story of life in Revolutionary Iran. As an Iranian-American, I found myself relating to Persepolis on many levels. Satrapi does a brilliant job balancing the depth and seriousness of the story with humorous familial antidotes and comical illustrations. This book is a must-read and I'm happily recommending it to all of my friends!

A moving masterpiece

I read most of this book in one sitting, at a cafe, where I tried (with little success) not to laugh out loud, and to hide my tears. Fortunately, I left the last few pages for home and no one saw me bawling my eyes out at the ending. * Marjane Satrapi is a great storyteller. Her artwork wonderfully portrays the world, as she saw it as a 10 to 14 year old in Iran. The text has a great deal of nuanced humor, for which the translators must get a lot of credit. * I appreciated being reminded that the revolution in Iran was NOT an Islamic one; it was a popular uprising against a repressive monarchy squandering the country's resources in ways that pleased the western powers that put the shah in power. In the memoir, we share the author's joy as non-Islamist revolutionists are freed from the shah's prisons; in the next couple of years, we see them back in prison (or executed), we see the veil forced on women; in short, we see the Islamists brutally hijack the revolution. * I also appreciated the fact that less than a page is dedicated to the US embassy and hostages. Everyone in the US asks about the hostages, but the embassy thing was an incident of no particular interest to people in Iran, for whom the revolution and the war were the major issues. * I hope I am not portraying the book as a polemic, because it is, above all, the memoir of a spunky girl growing up in extraordinary circumstances, her relationship to her strong-willed and permissive parents, her cool grandmother, her classmates, her relatives--former royalty, revolutionaries, a suffering uncle who had to send his son to the West. What a great book!

Wonderful

Witty, heartbreaking, unique, and absorbing. It is remarkable to see how people bravely push ahead with their daily lives in the face of oppression and war. Persepolis should be considered a classic.