Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood
Book Reviews | Feb 19th, 2007
Author: Marjane Satrapi
Publisher: Pantheon
Genre: Graphic Novel/Autobiography
Pages: 160
Retail Price: 9.99
Buy on Amazon.com link
Just ask Coozer, I generally drag my feet when it comes to writing reviews but once in a while there comes a book that I feel compelled to write about. Persepolis is a book that’s garnered rave reviews both locally and internationally and it’s easy to see why.
This book is a collection of comic book-style memoirs about life in Iran between the end of the Shah’s regime and the Islamic Revolution through the perspective of a precocious young girl growing up under the wing of committed Marxist parents, and it provides much needed insight into the events that unfolded in Iran during this period.
Against this backdrop, Satrapi takes the reader through the hardships imposed by the Iraq-waged war on the country during the 1980s, a time when Tehran and other parts of the country were bombed repeatedly and young Iranian boys were lured to their deaths on the battlegrounds.
The comics are excellent both in their graphic and narrative content, and while parts of the book are hard to stomach in a similar vein as that of Maus, other portions I believe will pleasantly surprise the reader in its depiction of the protagonist’s youthful rebellion. The book is alternatively grim, poignant, humorous, and heartbreaking. I highly recommend this book for both comic-readers and non-comic readers alike.
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