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

I had previously read part 1 of Persepolis but hadn't gotten around to reading the second part, so I was happy to read the complete collection all together. I feel like Satrapi accomplishes a great deal in this graphic memoir--it's a coming-of-age story, a country's modern history, an exploration of religious tradition and a desire for individuality. I think I could have benefited from knowing a bit more about the Islamic Revolution in Iran ahead of time because I struggled a bit to keep up with the political goings-on, but I think she did as good a job as she could have of condensing such complex issues into images with little text. Her style is so recognizable and works well with the narrative she's telling.

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alyxinthestars's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

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bluejayreads's review against another edition

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emotional sad

4.5

This is a memoir in graphic novel format, which is not something I’ve seen before. The art was very simplistic – not in a bad way, but it cut out a lot of visual detail to get to the heart of the story. I struggle with graphic novels usually, but this one was a little easier since it didn’t have a lot of visual complexity to distract from the words, and Marjane grew a beauty mark as a teenager which helped distinguish her from the other characters.

Being a memoir, there’s not so much a plot as themes. It’s a coming-of-age story, it’s a story of a fairly liberal country being crushed by a religious extremist government, it’s a story of a child struggling to understand the changes in her world as she grows up. It’s dark, sad, and heartbreaking by turns, but there’s also happy moments of joy and love and respite.

I vaguely remember learning about the Islamic Revolution in history – although being homeschooled by extremely Christian parents, it was more “Iran was just about to realize that all successful and advanced societies are Christian and convert, but the wreched Muslims didn’t want to see people following the true god so they took over and forced everyone to be Muslim again” than actual history. Marjane takes the names and dates of history and gives a face to a citizen. She is a single story out of millions, but her story brings to life what it was like to live in Iran during that era, and later what it was like to leave everything in Iran and study in Austria, a country far away from the Islamic Revolution.

Marjane tells her story well, and the accompanying art highlights what she tells. It is fascinating and compelling, and gives a voice to the ordinary people who lived under the Islamic Revolution regime. I think it is very worth reading.

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