Persepolis
Once the Academy Awards were finished Susan (Naked Without Books) and I made the trek into Seoul and she purchased the Persepolis collection and I got the two Maus I and II. I guess Susan has enough reading material at her place because she left both Persepolis books with me, or I guess she just figured I would get them read before she would. They ended up just adding to my TBR pile, which is looking more and more like the leaning tower of Pisa.
This week I eventually got to Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, not because it was next on my list but because I want to get them back to Susan (these are the only books I have that belong to her). I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by what I read and saw. This is far from the first graphic novel I’ve read this year but it one of the better graphic novels.
There are many aspects to the story but the just of the story is Marjane growing up in Iran. Persepolis gives some background of the country revealing the struggles the country has faced over the years. This can be a difficult path to tread but Satrapi did a great job of telling the reader how Iran became the country it is today. The struggles of the average Iranian in the 1980’s were more than I expected and may have lead to my great interest in that portion of the book.
The drawings for the novel were phenomenal. They are very basic and not much clutters the panels, which focuses on the characters and the story more. They are also primarily black and white, which makes the images pop on the page and makes it easy to read.
Overall: great book, great story, and plenty to learn while reading. I’m looking forward to getting to the sequel (but I have too much that I have to read before I get to that). I guess it’s just something to look forward to.
