Product Description

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.


Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

Here is the continuation of Marjane Satrapi's fascinating story. In 1984, Marjane flees fundamentalism and the war with Iraq to begin a new life in Vienna. Once there, she faces the trials of adolescence far from her friends and family, and while she soon carves out a place for herself among a group of fellow outsiders, she continues to struggle for a sense of belonging.

Finding that she misses her home more than she can stand, Marjane returns to Iran after graduation. Her difficult homecoming forces her to confront the changes both she and her country have undergone in her absence and her shame at what she perceives as her failure in Austria. Marjane allows her past to weigh heavily on her until she finds some like-minded friends, falls in love, and begins studying art at a university. However, the repression and state-sanctioned chauvinism eventually lead her to question whether she can have a future in Iran.

As funny and poignant as its predecessor, Persepolis 2 is another clear-eyed and searing condemnation of the human cost of fundamentalism. In its depiction of the struggles of growing up—here compounded by Marjane’s status as an outsider both abroad and at home—it is raw, honest, and incredibly illuminating.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23665 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-25
• Released on: 2005-10-25
• Format: Box set
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780375423963
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She grew up in Tehran, where she studied at the French school, before leaving for Vienna and Strasbourg to study decorative arts. She currently lives in Paris, where she is at work on the sequel to Persepolis. She is also the author of several children's books.

Customer Reviews

Endearing, moving and tragic
These two graphic (pictorial) novels were two parts of the most moving autobiographies I have read. The illustrations showed the body language of the shyness of a child, the utter sadness of family separations, the slyness of bad behavior, the helplessness of living under a totalitarian government. The lack of full prose is more than supplanted by the drawings. The effect that the Iranian revolution had on this family will be felt for generations to come.

JPL

Persepolis 1 and 2 really need to be read as a set.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, written and illustrated by Marjane Satrapi, is a comic book style ("illustrated novel") autobiography of memories of life as a child in Iran just before and after the overthrow of the Shah (roughly 1978-82), and during the war with Iraq. Her parents are well-educated, seemingly progressive, and, through the eyes of a child, heroic.

Life changes. She experiences the mandatory use of the veil, stricter schools, hiding activities from nosy neighbors, and the phrase "...on a trip" as a code for death in war or by execution. Children play games of torturer and torturee. Satrapi reveals her evolution as a child rebel, albeit a selfish one focusing on the narrow-mindedness of youth... rebellion is wearing a Michael Jackson button and tight jeans in public. However, reality gets closer and closer... a favorite uncle is imprisoned and executed, a friend is killed in an Iraqi bomb attack, food is scare, and teachers are more draconian.

This book took about an hour to read. There is good congruence between the script and the drawings, but the style of presentation as an illustrated novel means there is no depth to the story.

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, is Satrapi's second installment of her graphic novel autobiography. After reading it (can the experience of a graphic novel be adequately described as "reading"?), I felt that it was an important and vital addition to the first Persepolis installment. In Persepolis 2, Satrapi is sent to Austria for an Ayatollah-free education. She meets people unlike herself, and unlike the other Iranians she knew. She thought she was a free-thinking liberal, but that was in the context of Iranian culture, not European.

I think this book needs to be read after Persepolis 1. With this boxed set, the novels should be read together.

The detail in 2 is much greater than in 1. I would guess this is related to the richer memories of adolescence and adulthood. Satrapi is very open and blunt about her vulnerabilities and transgressions.

I feel that I need to read a Persepolis 3. That is not a bad result for any author!

Charming, riveting and important
I read these books consecutively - having bought them as a box set - and I really enjoyed them. It gives us a genuinely intimate portrait of what life was like growing up in Iran, first under the Shah's right-wing dictatorship, then during the Islamic revolution which led to a clerical state and through the war with Iraq. The two-part memoir takes us from 1980 when Marjane was 10 years old through the 1990s when she's become a woman who had endured exile at a young age and a return to her country.

Because these are illustrated novels there isn't as much depth as there would be in a traditional novel. The characters aren't fleshed out in the narrative because we have the visual element available. And the visual element is wonderful. Through the relatively simple drawings the fear, turmoil, frustration and even humor of Marjane and her friends and family are easily identified and enrich the story tremendously.

At first I had a problem with the writing style - with the direct and simple prose. However, the more I read the more I became comfortable with the style, pacing and rhythm.

I would definitely recommend that these books be read together as a valuable introduction an overview of the history and traditions of Iran, as well as for the wonderful story of a little girl growing up in an impossibly complex and frightening environment.