Belated thoughts on Persepolis

[rilina]

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Persepolis.

I had read general descriptions about the book before starting it, but I wasn't prepared for it to be so much a family story. That is, I expected tales from her childhood, but I didn't expect them to be so closely framed by her interactions with her family and friends. In retrospect

Comments

[oyceter]

I guess what I responded to in Satrapi's drawings was its playfulness. It wasn't trying to be beautiful, nor did it strike me as technically brilliant, but it had its own charm.

I think you've pinpointed what I liked most about the art as well! I also like how well it goes with the voice of the memoir, the wryness, the humor in face of tragedy, the juxtaposition of the personal and the political.

[rilina]

I think the juxtaposition of tragedy and comedy also plays into a long tradition in war novels--the often horrible absurdity of it all. I'm thinking of books like Catch-22 here.

[gwyneira]

I liked the simplicity of the art, too. I was expecting to have a hard time reading the book, having had bad luck reading graphic novels in the past because I read so fast that I can't force myself to slow down and take in the art. Here, the clarity of the drawings allowed me to take them in quickly, and they really added to the emotional experience of the book.

[rilina]

I was expecting to have a hard time reading the book, having had bad luck reading graphic novels in the past because I read so fast that I can't force myself to slow down and take in the art.

I've had the same experience of reading too fast and consequently ignoring the art. It's funny how I'm still surprised by how different the reading experience is; by now I know it will be, but I still always need a few pages to get my brain in the proper frame of mind.

[rilina]

What really struck me in the writing was the juxtaposition of absolutely mordant yet sidesplitting humor with genuinely horrific situations.--I need to hunt down my copy so I can add more specific comments.

Yes, as I commented on oyceter's comment above, that sort of a classic trait of modern war literature--the sometimes horrific absurdity of war and its consequences. (Classic example: all of Catch-22, which only we appreciated in IBH World Lit.) I think particularly of the scenes of very young Marji dressing up as a revolutionary; it's so funny and creepy at the same time.