Review: Persepolis I and II
So, in the vein of my earlier post, I sat down this evening and went through the two volumes of Persepolis - that is, the graphic novel, rather than the movie. I've seen parallels drawn between this and Maus, and to be quite honest, I found Persepolis to be far more coherent than the latter. The aesthetic is very similar, as is the memoir format, and while Spiegelman's subject is undoubtedly more raw, Satrapi's execution is smoother and draws you into the story with ease.
The very complex portrait of Islamic Revolution-era Iran is muted somewhat by the age of the narrator in the first book, but the picture of a fairly modern society that has been oppressed by fundamentalism is unmistakable, genuine, and missing the patina of terrorism that is invariably found in English-language depictions of Islam generated after September 2001. The family ties and basic human impulses are all there for the reader to identify with, even as the vast majority of the "West's" attempts to relegate the Middle East to "Other" status. It was a quick read and enjoyable, even when the narrative touches on the narrator's brushes with relatively heavy-duty political, social, and moral philosophy. There are clear messages that can be drawn from the books, but none that are beaten to death, thankfully.
Recommended. I put the film adaptation on my Netflix queue as soon as I finished the books. If it's even half as enjoyable and thought-provoking as the graphic novels, I won't have wasted my time.
The very complex portrait of Islamic Revolution-era Iran is muted somewhat by the age of the narrator in the first book, but the picture of a fairly modern society that has been oppressed by fundamentalism is unmistakable, genuine, and missing the patina of terrorism that is invariably found in English-language depictions of Islam generated after September 2001. The family ties and basic human impulses are all there for the reader to identify with, even as the vast majority of the "West's" attempts to relegate the Middle East to "Other" status. It was a quick read and enjoyable, even when the narrative touches on the narrator's brushes with relatively heavy-duty political, social, and moral philosophy. There are clear messages that can be drawn from the books, but none that are beaten to death, thankfully.
Recommended. I put the film adaptation on my Netflix queue as soon as I finished the books. If it's even half as enjoyable and thought-provoking as the graphic novels, I won't have wasted my time.