Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi
I know I've read a graphic novel before, maybe in middle school, but I don't remember it at all, so I'll just count Persepolis as my first real graphic novel. Yay.
When I think of graphic novels, my mind immediately spirals to funny, anecdotal, and generally amusing content. Like the comic strips in the news. The story of Persepolis is a true autobiographical account of Marjane Satrapi's childhood (preteenhood? young-adulthood? eleven-to-fourteenhood?) in Iran in the 1980s, during the Iranian Revolution.
The juxtaposition of the serious story and the less serious comic book format worked well, in my opinion, especially so because I had little prior knowledge of the topic. It was laid out in a manner that was very easy to understand and follow.
Throughout the story I admired how ballsy Marjane and her family were. Though they were in a terrible situation they still managed to have fun: they threw illegal parties and housed illegal things in their homes. Marjane herself was brave (or stupid) as well, sneaking out of school, wearing improper clothing in the streets, and coming into adulthood by testing cigarettes. That made me laugh. Marjane's an amusing girl.
If you haven't read a graphic novel before, or maybe you have, or maybe you're just looking for something a little bit different from what you've been reading lately (something that's not that crap that your English teacher assigned you), then I recommend you read Persepolis. And if you don't like it, it's really short and not likely to do much serious damage.
♢♢♢♢ - 4/5
If you want to find out more about the Iranian Revolution, visit your local library today! Just kidding—here are some links. I know Wikipedia is, like, the cardinal sin of researching, but:
The juxtaposition of the serious story and the less serious comic book format worked well, in my opinion, especially so because I had little prior knowledge of the topic. It was laid out in a manner that was very easy to understand and follow.
Throughout the story I admired how ballsy Marjane and her family were. Though they were in a terrible situation they still managed to have fun: they threw illegal parties and housed illegal things in their homes. Marjane herself was brave (or stupid) as well, sneaking out of school, wearing improper clothing in the streets, and coming into adulthood by testing cigarettes. That made me laugh. Marjane's an amusing girl.
If you haven't read a graphic novel before, or maybe you have, or maybe you're just looking for something a little bit different from what you've been reading lately (something that's not that crap that your English teacher assigned you), then I recommend you read Persepolis. And if you don't like it, it's really short and not likely to do much serious damage.
♢♢♢♢ - 4/5
If you want to find out more about the Iranian Revolution, visit your local library today! Just kidding—here are some links. I know Wikipedia is, like, the cardinal sin of researching, but:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Without_My_Daughter
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZfO_A7mNVM&feature=related
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W2SUn1ZNU
No comments:
Post a Comment