Book Review: Persepolis
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
To be honest, I don’t really read many memoirs. Of course, I’ve heard of some incredible memoirs, such as Viola Davis’s book and Michelle Obama’s, but I’ve never really taking the time to read them. I always thought it took too much work to really immerse yourself and somebody else’s life and to solely focus on their struggles and their past and also the fact that these were actually real events, I thought it was a bit boring.
But I did want to put myself out there and try one for the first time and I couldn’t think of a better way to start my journey of reading memoirs than starting off with Marjane Satrapi’s groundbreaking graphic novel, Persepolis. No, I have to admit, I was a little bit, shocked that this memoir was told in a graphic novel format. I had always thought of memoirs as being a long, lengthy book that could practically bore you to death, no offense to all the memoirs out there. But this book was different. The format was very simple, plain black-and-white drawings with fairly simple drawn characters, and despite this plainness, it’s still intrigued me.
So there I was, reading this novel, not really knowing to expect. And the only thing I can say after reading this is that it completely blew me away. I was shocked by how vivid these recounts were Islamic revolution and how author was able to blend her personal life, family and experiences with the history of our country. It taught me a lot historically, emotionally and it was definitely a fun read. It took us through many stages of her life, starting when she was very young up until the time when she was almost at the end of her teenage years being sent away to go live in Austria.
I loved being able to see the author’s development throughout these life-changing events that occurred throughout her life. From strict laws to intense war, we could see how deeply this impacted her childhood and how she chose to reflect upon that part of her life as an adult. It was like these stories all came to life through these intense, intricate drawings that dazzled me so much, I could not put the book down.
To conclude, for anyone looking to try a new genre that they don’t immediately reach for, I’d say don’t knock it until you try it and if you’re like me, starting out with memoirs, I’d say definitely check out Persepolis. It is truly amazing, and I cannot wait to read the second installment in the series!
Review by Teen Volunteer, 10/16/24.