Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Marjane Satrapi

13 reviews

theabee's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring fast-paced

5.0

Powerful, irreverent, beautifully told!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Pregnancy

pacifickat's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

I have been enjoying the sub-genre of 'graphic novel memoire' recently, and this duology was a solid addition. Both books are interesting and informative about the history of Iran in the 1980's and '90's. However, while the book is fairly nuanced, I found it lacking a bit in empathy. 

I don't always love young adult Marjane, even if her overall story is worth the time to read. (Her father, however, is an absolute gem.) I often perceive her as quite selfish, although she had to live alone in a foreign country starting at age 14 so her self-centeredness may be fueled by survival instict. There is one particularly disturbing scene

when she is in her twenties and returned to Iran where she accuses an innocent man of sexual harrassment, which gets him arrested and carted off, all so she can avoid police attention due to wearing makeup outside her home. She seems genuinely confused when her grandmother is mad at her for behaving in such a way toward another person.

Furthermore, her family's relative wealth helps her get out of a lot of situations without physical harm, and she seems unaware of the privilege this is. Then she judges her friends and peers when they make choices to 'play it safe' rather than fighting the oppressive government, attending covert parties as a form of protest, or pushing back against gender norms and expectations. She doesn't seem to fully grasp how much others around her stand to lose if they hold on too hard to their idealism. 

I also found the internalized sexism of the women the author portrayed to be really sad and disturbing. There are lots of scenes of women glaring at each other when one is receiving a man's attention seemingly out of jealousy or disapproval. Plus, Marjane's internal dialogue often calls other women names like 'fat cow' when she finds them interacting with a man she is interested in, or she doesn't like the same things they do. I found her pretty mean and catty much of the time. However, while she is a very flawed character, she still suffers as a victim of racism, mysogeny, abusive laws, and police brutality. Her plight and suffering should still matter to the reader. This type of representation is actually a bit refreshing to see, even if it is challenging or uncomfortable to spend time in that narrator's shoes.

These books have faced recent bans in the US, so even more reason to check them out in my opinion. I don't see any reason why Part 1 would be inappropriate for age 13+, and Part 2 for age 15+. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, War, Mental illness, Police brutality, Death, Self harm, Racism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Rape

Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy

Pressure to become pregnant, pressure to conform to religious ideology, restrictions on freedom of thought, restrictions on bodily autonomy, false imprisonment, homelessness, internalized sexism

tree_branch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Violence, Suicide attempt, Addiction, War, and Torture

Moderate: Misogyny, Islamophobia, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

The second part of Marjane Satrapi’s life. In this memoir she discusses her journey in Europe, the events that led her back to Iran, and eventually to France. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the format, if I had to choose one format for memoirs to read forever it would be graphic novels. It gives the reader a unique experience to see more than words and adds to the identification with the main character. Having this book and her first in graphic novel format helped me to see and understand what her life was truly like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Islamophobia, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Misogyny, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, War, Grief, Infidelity, and Gun violence

Minor: Murder and Medical content

lizzie24601's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Satrapi is a great cartoonist and memoirist. She balances very well between detailing the emotions and faults of her youth and providing added context in hindsight. There's something here for every reader to relate to (regarding this coming of age), as well as a lot to learn about life in 1980s-90s Iran.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Police brutality, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death, Torture, Xenophobia, War, and Alcohol

kaypringle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

This Book touched me in a different way than the first. The first shocked and informed me as I didn’t fully understand the effects and lives of those in Iran, I’ve only heard bits and pieces and seen news stories. This one continued to form my world view but I also found it more relatable; I felt closer and more empathetic to Satrapi, and maybe this was just from having the amazing context from the first book, but I felt that she was more human instead of just someone behind these pages. She shared her growth but her struggles as well - her success and courage but her fear and cowardice were all brought to the forefront of these pages, she was someone who made mistakes but also someone who learned from them to do better in each new chapter of her life. It is through this that the message of education being one of the most impactful ways to grow truly touched my heart and made me absolutely adore this book. I hope everyone has a chance to read this, of all ages too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Islamophobia, and Violence

gin_and_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Addiction, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Alcohol, Deportation, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Islamophobia

dylweed's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, War, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death

sallytiffany's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

This was a good story and I loved the progression of growing up. I still had a hard time understanding the story at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.0

Part 2 of Marjane's story continues where the first left off with her arrival in Austria, in her parents' attempt to free her from the oppressive life in war-torn Iran at the time. We see her go through huge life changes both physically and mentally, as she ages 4 years before her decision to return to Iran. She doesn't shy away from her experiences with drugs, alcohol, partying, racism, good and bad influences from friends, formative dating experiences, poverty, and homelessness that shaped her time in Austria. The difference between the young Marji in part 1 and the grown Marjane in this part is astounding, but we see and empathize with her struggles with loneliness, identity, and depression along the way. She continues to change even after her return, getting a degree and even getting married and eventually divorced. Although this is the story of her return home after time abroad, it ends on a melancholy note with her conscious decision to leave Iran for France for good in seek of freedom from the government's strict rules, with the knowing support of her parents and grandmother.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Torture, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Blood, Police brutality, and Racism