Persepolis 1-4
2000
- comic books, strips, etc.
- emigration and immigration -- psychological aspects
- families
- girls
- graphic novels
- history
- iran-iraq war
- islamic fundamentalism
- personal narratives
- revolution, 1979
The story
From inside front cover: The story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a ... loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a coutnry plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trails of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming -- both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland.
What it’s like
Stark black-and-white ink drawings, all hard blacks and clean whites with almost no grey, so the pages read like woodcuts or shadow puppetry. The line is simple and childlike, and the panels are often framed in tidy, flat rows, which makes the small domestic scenes feel warm and the sudden scenes of street violence land with a jolt. The voice is wry and quick, a child's sharp observations turning into an adult's dry, self-aware narration, so the book moves briskly and often ends a chapter on a joke that stings a little. Its emotional register swings between tender, funny, and grieving: kitchens full of family talk, a teenager's rebellion and heartbreak in Vienna, a homecoming that is both sweet and crushing. The intensity is moderate. Executions, bombings, and war casualties appear in brief, stark panels, with some blood and death rendered plainly rather than lingered on; there is no gore for its own sake, and some sexual content is only implied. It suits a quiet afternoon with a long read, or a slow evening alone. It is for readers who want history told through a single family's kitchen table, and for anyone drawn to coming-of-age stories about exile, identity, and belonging.
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