Satrapi, Marjane - Persepolis
Persepolis is a memoir covering a childhood spent in Iran, before and after the 1979 revolution, in comic book form. I really liked the drawing style -- it's very simplistic, all in stark black and white, no grey tones, heavy lines.
It's particularly interesting watching the political events through kid-Marjane's eyes. She idolizes the revolutionaries and heroes and badgers her uncle, who has been jailed under the Shah's rule, for stories. There's her own desire to first be the last prophet of God, which later changes to a desire to be a revolutionary. Everything is told with very simplistic language, but because of that, the book feels much more direct and real. There isn't much sentimentalism to be found, and I think that's why it's so effective.
It's hard not comparing this to Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran. Despite liking Reading Lolita in Tehran, I think Persepolis had a greater impact on me because it wasn't trying to persuade me, like I felt Nafisi was. And while Nafisi talks about more ideological things, it feels like she leaves out some of the more concrete bits on living life in Iran (not her fault, given the focus of the book), but it just felt so much more real thinking about Marji and her friends playing revolutionary in the streets, or wanting to beat up some kid whose father tortured other people.
Links:
- inklings_lj's review roundup
It's particularly interesting watching the political events through kid-Marjane's eyes. She idolizes the revolutionaries and heroes and badgers her uncle, who has been jailed under the Shah's rule, for stories. There's her own desire to first be the last prophet of God, which later changes to a desire to be a revolutionary. Everything is told with very simplistic language, but because of that, the book feels much more direct and real. There isn't much sentimentalism to be found, and I think that's why it's so effective.
It's hard not comparing this to Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran. Despite liking Reading Lolita in Tehran, I think Persepolis had a greater impact on me because it wasn't trying to persuade me, like I felt Nafisi was. And while Nafisi talks about more ideological things, it feels like she leaves out some of the more concrete bits on living life in Iran (not her fault, given the focus of the book), but it just felt so much more real thinking about Marji and her friends playing revolutionary in the streets, or wanting to beat up some kid whose father tortured other people.
Links:
- inklings_lj's review roundup