Reviews with content warning for War - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return

A very eye opening and honest novel of life in Iran in the late 20th century. Being half-Turkish myself, the idea of belonging and identity really struck me and I found myself identifying with some interpersonal aspects of MarJane. A very bleak novel yet you felt like you were learning as she was, about life and relationships and politics. I really liked it.

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markwillnevercry's review against another edition

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0.5

So, there is a bit to tell. I really did not like this book. You might think "Ah, so you did not like it, because it was bad", but it wasn't. Marjane Satrapi does a very good job of showing how she grew up and how stuff changed her. However, it felt a bit like listening to your friend go through absolute shit, without recognizing that you also have problems that you have to deal with. Marjane Satrapi just kept going, because she wanted to tell her story and it was uncomfortable to read, specifically the Vienna part. As a separate note, this book is just in general giving the vibe of "i do not care about the way you feel, because i will never reflect on this", so we got slutshaming and fatphobia. I kind of feel like I wasted my time with this book.

Reading notes:

Momo sucks ass.

She just accused man of a crime he didn't commit? And what she accused him of is not even comparible of her wearing lipstick? And her and her boyfriend are so happy about it? They deserve each other.

The scene with the pills in uni. Just like, girly, if you have something on your heart, maybe don't throw it at the first person you see?

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fatfrog's review against another edition

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blueteacup's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

5.0

Persepolis is an extremely interesting and captivating look into life in Iran during and after the revolution. Satrapi uses political ideology and her graphic art style to paint a picture of what it was like to be a child in a war-torn country, and after that her experience as an immigrant from Southwest Asia in Europe.

Her socialist leanings lends itself to giving an objective view of the horrors that happened to anyone who was a “threat” to the regime. She’s not afraid to describe what happens to a Communist young girl before she’s killed for her beliefs, or showing images of people drowned in their own bathtubs. I appreciated that she didn’t shy away from these graphic descriptions and images when other authors will usually describe things as “unspeakable” and leave it at that, or, worse, describe things in a way that’s meant to be voyeuristic to Western audiences and simultaneously paints Iranaians as both poor and helpless and ruthless and “backwards”. Her sympathy and love for her country really comes through, even if she is describing horrific scenarios brought on by the government.

Satrapi’s art style lends itself well to the graphic novel medium. Her simple but still descriptive drawings allow for the novel to be very accessible while still being understandable. Her expressive depictions of her family, friends and acquaintances paint her life as colourful and full of intrigue.

I really enjoyed this series of graphic novels and would highly recommend them to anyone who wants a better understanding of Iranian history, war and culture, or to anyone who’s interested in auto-biographies of interesting people.

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