Persepolis : The Story of a Childhood

Rating:
Summary: A compelling graphic novel
Review: This book was so enveloping that I ended up reading it in one sitting and often returned to it later to look over all of the great images. Satrapi's black and white drawings evoke wood block printing and draw the reader into the initmate world of her family and neighbors as they cope with the drastic changes in their society and its effect on their social lives and education. The author is honest and up-front about her privileged upbringing, which in no way detracts from her legitimacy to tell the story of life under under the theocratic regime. ...

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding memoir
Review: At last this gem reaches us in America, after raking in awards all over Europe. Not only is it a very timely and revealing peek inside daily life in Iran, it's also a very personal, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking slice of one remarkable girl's life. There really is nothing quite like it, it's true. I've given copies of it to all my friends, many of whom never read graphic novels or comic books, but they all agree: this is something special. It's not suitable for kids though, because of its depiction of torture and violence and other mature themes you might expect in a society under the yoke of fundamentalist islamic rule. But for everyone else, I highly recommend PERSEPOLIS.
This is an exceptional childhood memoir, that ranks with Angela's Ashes for its depth and authenticity. This one will be around forever.

Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: This is the autobiography of a spunky, smart girl growing up in Iran, in the time of the revolution. At first, since it is done in a black and white cartoon format you may be tempted to think this is going to be a kids book. It's not. With each page you will become more and more afraid for the high spirited girl and her sophisticated, educated parents. Although she's just a kid, her questions and taste for Western music and clothes is dangerous. How long before the secret police come knocking at the door? How will it turn out? You've got to read the book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Autobiography
Review: <br />The Autobiographies/Memoirs have it this year, i haven't read one i didn't like. "Persepolis" is at the top of the list of spell binding, well written gut wrenching truth and honesty. <br />Other books to read are: Nightmares Echo, Dry,Reading Lolita,Running With Scissors<br />

Rating:
Summary: A child's perspective on the crisis that swept a nation
Review: For some of us it is hard enough to deal with our growing pains and make sense of the world during our childhood, but things get even tougher when political crisis has swept the nation.

This book is full of expression of emotion, in every page and illustration, and it is all beautifully done.
By the time you've read it, you feel as if you have watched a good short movie!


Rating:
Summary: A Refreshingly Innovative Memoir
Review: The revolution in Iran is something that few Americans understand. This work provides a view of Iran that is highly accessible even to the most uneducated reader. At the same time this should appeal to the expert for its frank and interesting depiction of everyday life in Iran. Furthermore the author has taken a difficult topic but approached it in a light-hearted way that proves to be much more enjoyable and entertainable for the reader. This work is certainly worth the short amount of time it will take you to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Finding humor even in the worst of times
Review: This book is the fastest read - it's comics, and who says comics can't be a literary form. I applaud Sartrapi for sharing her childhood in Iran with us. She projects humor, irony, hope, outrage, even a laissez-faire attitude at times. Sartrapi took what was a troubling time in Iran's history -- the Islamic Revolution -- and made it accessible. It's a also a great read in the context of today's troubling times.

Rating:
Summary: Coming of Age, Female, in Tehran
Review: Marjane Satrapi was eleven years old when the Islamic revolution ousted the Shah, sending Iran into another era of turmoil and new forms of repression. Persepolis is her story, told in short pieces that weave personal experience with historical facts.
The graphic frames provide a humorous counterpoint to darker episodes described by text. For example, on page 3, the text reveals: "Then came 1980: the year it became obligatory to wear the veil at school." The artwork in the frames show a scattering of small girls who are playing with their veils, using them as monster masks, horse bridles for piggy-back games, or even tying them together for jump rope.
On a darker note, a friend of the family named Ahmadi never returned from jail. As the family is told, "In the end he was cut to pieces," (52), the frame shows a child's paper doll-like figure, separated into pieces of torso and each limb.
Highly recommended for adults, and for adolescents who want to discover the way of life in other cultures, other times. For anyone trying to make sense of difficult political situations and / or cultural repressions.
Marjane Satrapi is an important international voice, finally available in translation.

Rating:
Summary: A quick, okay read...
Review: Persepolis follows the life of the author as she is growing up in Iran amid wars and uprisings. Told in graphic novel form, it reminded me a lot of Maus, the only other graphic novel I had read before. Personally, I liked Maus better, but this could be because I read both parts of Maus, while I have yet to get my hands on the second volume of Persepolis. In its own right, it did teach me lots about Iran that I didn't know before, and I was interested enough to want to pick up the follow-up. Maybe I'll like it more after I get the whole story.


Rating:
Summary: The Emperor's New Clothes
Review: This is the case of the emperor's new clothes. Personal stories from the Middle East are comparatively few in the U.S. and as this one is in an "accessible" graphic novel form, everyone is gushing over it. However, the visual storytelling staggers forward and the primitive graphic style makes it hard to distinguish characters and to form a connection with them, especially the girls. If you want to read a compelling, heart-wrenching, as well as educational graphic novel about the Middle East, go to "Palestine" by Joe Sacco instead.