by Marjane Satrapi, Mattias Ripa (Translator)
A New York Times Notable Book
A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year”
Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s
memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful
black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in
Tehran from ages 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 only child of committed Marxists
and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears
witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
(Summary retrieved from goodreads.com)
Because it's almost hard to believe how much one person can survive, I had a hard time at first remembering that this was a work of non-fiction. Wise, funny, and heartbreaking sum this story up perfectly. I loved it (and the second volume) and look forward to exploring more work by Satrapi.
Especially because of how fraught these times are with tension in the Middle East, it's important to remember that there is no single side that is good or bad. It's only the people doing the killing and spreading of hate that are worthy of our contempt. Everyone caught in the middle should receive our sympathy and admiration, especially since most of us have not had to deal with such extremism first-hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment