Product Description

Wise, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking, "Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood" tells the story of Marjane Satrapi's life in Tehran from the ages of six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken child of radical Marxists, and the great-grandaughter of Iran's last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Amidst the tragedy, Marjane's child's eye view adds immediacy and humour, and her story of a childhood at once outrageous and ordinary, beset by the unthinkable and yet buffered by an extraordinary and loving family, is immensely moving. It is also very beautiful; Satrapi's drawings have the power of the very best woodcuts. Persepolis ends on a cliffhanger in 1984, just as fourteen-year-old Marjane is leaving behind her home in Tehran, escaping fundamentalism and the war with Iraq to begin a new life in the West. In Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return we follow our young, intrepid heroine through the next eight years of her life: an eye-opening and sometimes lonely four years of high school in Vienna, followed by a supremely educational and heartwrenching four years back home in Iran. Just as funny and heartbreaking as its predecessor - with perhaps an even greater sense of the ridiculous inspired by life in a fundamentalist state - Persepolis 2 is also as clear-eyed and searing in its condemnation of fundamentalism and its cost to the human spirit. In its depiction of the universal trials of adolescent life and growing into adulthood - here compounded by being an outsider both abroad and at home, and by living in a state where you have no right to show your hair, wear make-up, run in public, date, or question authority - it's raw, honest, and incredibly illuminating.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #967 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis is an exemplary autobiographical graphic novel, in the tradition of Art Spiegelman's classic Maus. Set in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, it follows the young Satrapi, six-year-old daughter of two committed and well-to-do Marxists. As she grows up, she witnesses first-hand the effects that the revolution and the war with Iraq have on her home, family and school.

Like Maus, the main strength of Persepolis is its ability to make the political personal. Told through the eyes of a child (as reflected in Satrapi's simplistic yet expressive black-and-white artwork), the story shows how young Marjane learns about her family history and how it is entwined with the history of Iran, and watches her liberal parents cope with a fundamentalist regime that gets increasingly rigid as it gains more power. Outspoken and intelligent, Marjane chafes at Iran's increasingly conservative interpretation of Islamic law, especially as she grows into a bright and independent teenager. Throughout, Marjane remains a hugely likeable young woman

Persepolis gives the reader a snapshot of daily life in a country struggling with an internal cultural revolution and a bloody war, but within an intensely personal context. It's a very human history, beautifully and sympathetically told. --Robert Burrow

Socialist Review
`the simplistic black and white style of the graphic novel belies a richness of emotion, creating an absorbing narrative'

The Times
`A tour de force to rival Maus'

Customer Reviews

Highly Recommended
This is a fantastic comic that will appeal to both comic fans & non-comic fans alike.

Despite the Amazon title, this edition "Persepolis. The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return" actually contains the complete Persepolis series.

"The Story of a Childhood" was original published in France as Persepolis 1 & 2, "The Story of a Return" was original published in France as Persepolis 3 & 4

A comical view of tragic events
The comic-strip format of this book took me awhile to get used to. Following the author-child through the events of the Iranian Revolution, I could sympathise with the upheaval she must have experienced, although I felt she was only skating on the surface of her emotions. In some ways there is a curious, almost surreal lack of depth to this understated approach, although to be looking at the comic-book child helps keep her perspective in view. It may not appeal to all tastes, but it is a provocative introduction which may lead you into a more detailed study of the time it represents.

recommended but don't take it seriously
As an Iranian living in the UK reading Ms Satrapi's book took me years back to the hell I experienced as an adolescent during the rule of the Islamic Republic. I remembered the fear of air attacks, went through the same sadness and joys which made most of my formative years.
The book is intriguing and takes you with it. Ms Satrapi has a gift of writing with a dark humour which at the same time makes you laugh and cry. It deals with raw emotions of a young child in the middle of the war and turmoil. These emotions are the building blocks of our lives and this makes everyone from different backgrounds understand an empathise with that little girl and in this regard the author should be congratulated.
The cartoons are of great quality and despite simplicity you can see wide range of emotions expressed by the characters.
Living through the war and revolution is not an easy experience, displaying it with humour is a hard task which the author fulfills with proficiency.
On the other hand one must not try to learn Iranian history from this book.
Most of the events are from the eye of a Marxist which makes the narrative biased. In other words seeking iranian revolution history from this book is like learning WW2 history from the film U-571!
Many of the accounts are inaccurate e.g. the last Emperor of Qajar dynasty had no child. Also the fact that the cinema was burned by Shah's regime is something that even the Islamic Republic does not claim now!
All in all I enjoyed reading the book. I recommend it to anyone who wants an emotional account of the revolution and war in Iran.
Best of luck for Ms Satrapi's future books.