The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.99 You Save: $13.96 (56%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $9.07 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Complete Persepolis
Book Review: Very entertaining and informative
Summary: 5 Stars
Satrapi said she didn't want to write a text-only book on her subject because the Western world, the people who she felt needed to know her story, probably would not want to read fine prose about horrible events in Iran from 1970~1994. Making this a graphic novel definitely works because the pictures not only provide entertainment but also show Satrapi's perspective on the world developing perspective as she aged.
I read all 330+ pages in one sitting one evening. It reads really quickly because there's very little text per page. As long as you can take in the illustrations and get the idea pretty quickly, you're good to go. Of course, I also want to recommend going slowly and really enjoying the illustrations. I went over it a second time just to get a good feel for the artwork, and it was absolutely worth it.
The film version of this book is pretty poor by my opinion. There's potentially an entire movie about all the characters who were left out of the film but seemed almost essential in the book. Also, facts were either changed or were left out so that the story appeared differently. For example, instead of showing Satrapi struggling with antidepressants and then quitting, the film seemed to depict a scenario in which Satrapi just kept taking loads of antidepressants until she somehow got better.
The book is really the Persepolis to experience. I'm glad I bought it and read it, and I feel like I was really missing out on quite a bit of history before. Buy it and enjoy it, and you'll eagerly learn a lot about Iran since Western imperialism again began twisting around its people.
Book Review: Wonderful story told in a unique way
Summary: 5 Stars
The books Persepolis: Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: Story of a Return are combined here due to the release of the animated film. It is presented as a graphic novel with illustrations.
Satrapi was born in 1969 in Iran, the only child of educated and intelligent parents who raised her to think for herself. She was surrounded by political and philosophical discussions from an early age. During her childhood she saw the take over by Islamic fundamentalists, the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini, and the Iran-Iraq war. When she was 10 she had to wear the veil to school.
At age 14 her parents decided to send her to live in Austria, where they had friends who could care for her, and they enrolled her in a French school. Persepolis 2 is the story of her disconnected life in Austria. Angry at misconceptions about her country, worried about her parents, and longing to fit in, she struggles a great deal.
After a betrayal by a boyfriend and an accusation by her landlady, she lives on the streets until she wakes up in hospital. She returns home, and suffers from severe depression at all the changes. Eventually she is able to adapt, meets a young man, enrolls in art college, and marries. Her independent spirit, however, ensures she will be unhappy-and she leaves for college in France after a divorce.
These books are praised for their brilliant evocation of turbulent times in a very unusual culture. The art is simple and striking.
Armchair Interviews says: This story is riveting.
Book Review: Persepolis: both hilarious and deeply moving
Summary: 5 Stars
Last weekend I had the joy of seeing the film adaptation of the comic book series PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi. I loved the film. I knew though that I was missing out some key points of Marjane's life so I decided to check out the complete version of PERSEPOLIS in paperback. Although the book is in the form of a graphic novel, the story is a memoir of Marjane Satrapi's life growing up in Iran as well as outside of Iran. I also got the impression that the story is a love letter to Marjane's late grandmother who was a huge influence on Marjane as a young woman. People can nitpick at the details of life in Iran during and after the reign of the Shah that Marjane has written in the book but lets keep this in perspective that this book is not a tome on Iran but an autobiography told from the personal point of view from the author. She told what life was like in Iran through her young, impressionable eyes.
Like the Oscar-nominated film, PERSEPOLIS is told with a lot of humor, sadness, and often anger. I could not put the book down. I found myself deeply engrossed in Marjane's life as as child as well as an adult. I enjoyed the animation. I liked how fluid the shapes of the characters flowed. If you have seen the film adaptation of PERSEPOLIS, the book version is definitely worth reading. There is quite a bit of information from Marjane's life that just couldn't fit into the time constraints of the film.
Book Review: Totally absolutely loved it
Summary: 5 Stars
Without harping too much on what has already been said about the political observations that Satrapi makes or her commentary on the limits faced by everyone (and most especially) women in Iran, the truly inspirational achievement of this work is how honest she can be about herself in the story. That with everything whirling around her, the fact that she can be honest about both the good and the bad of the relationships she'd been in, the despair both at home and abroad, the flickers of hope that she clung to during the darkest times and how (true to the reality of a hopeful young woman) the very worst thing that can happen is ultimately to let down yourself and to let down your loved ones is stark and amazing. The scene where she loses the trust and the good standing with her grand mother is heart-breaking and yet could happen to any teenage girl anywhere in the world. That it's depicted in basic drawings doesn't detract from the power of the moment in the least.
And not that graphic novels these days have any trouble being seen as legitimate art, but Persepolis certainly puts a nail in the coffin of the arguments made by detractors.
Trust this book for it's emotion, for it's personal honesty, for it's attempts to always find something good even under the most extreme circumstances. It is not a history book. It is a personal history book. And it is one that deserves applause.
Book Review: Freedom has a price.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book collects Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. Both books are graphic novels telling the true story of the author's life. Book one tells the story of her girlhood in Iran and ends when she leaves Iran to go to a boarding school in Austria. Book two picks up where book one left off, and tells the rest of her story up to the point where she leaves Iran for the second and last time. This is a great, moving story. I found myself empathizing with this girl, even though she comes from a culture nothing like mine and we have nothing in common. It obviously wasn't easy growing up a progressive girl in a represive culture. I could go on and on about the virtues of this book, but it's better if you just read it and find out for yourself. Or see the "major motion picture". (aren't all motion pictures "major"? at least according to their publicity.)