The complete Persepolis

The Good: this is one of the best representations of being a "third-culture" kid I've read yet. It really captures the feeling of not belonging to any one culture or perspective and finding a sense of unique identity in that while still feeling lost and confused. The art is well crafted and I never found myself wondering what any of the panels were supposed to be depicting. Satrapi's story is inherently fascinating and the pacing kept me engaged without feeling rushed.

The In-Between: The depictions of the regime in Iran and the ways of life Satrapi experiences give a lot of food for thought. There are some helpful descriptions of words or concepts that are not familiar to western audiences, however a certain amount of knowledge about Europe seems to be assumed of the reader.

The Bad: The ending felt very abrupt and unfulfilling to me. I often felt that the illustrations - although well made - didn't tell the reader much that the dialogue and narration didn't already say, making it feel less like a graphic novel and more like a novella with illustrations.

The first book, the author's childhood in Iran, was a 5 star read for me. It was very interesting and made me want to learn more about Iranian history.
The second book featuring her adolescence in Vienna and her return to Iran, was hard for me to read. Marjane gave me the vibe of a typical only child who thinks she's the centre of the universe. And because adults found her entertaining and mature for her age, she now thinks she's a lot smarter and better than her classmates. But to me, she just seemed spoilt and ungrateful. I understand that it must've been very hard for her to leave her family behind and come to a country where she couldn't speak the language and had no friends. But then again, she came off as a typical rebellious teenager who thinks it's her against the world. Back in Teheran, she judges everybody who doesn't share her views. Everyone's a bigot in her eyes and all her virgin friends are just sexually frustrated bitches. Marjane is just really unlikeable because she feels so superior.

I really wanted to love this graphic memoir but in the end it was a disappointing read to end the year on.

The Complete Persepolis is the autobiography of a girl growing up in Iran, during the Iranian revolution, 1979. Unlike other novels I've read, it's a graphic novel; this means it mostly exists out of illustrations and has some narration and/or speech bubbles. For the reader, this means there's little room for their own imagination and fantasy, as the scene is already drawn.

The illustrations are made by differences between black and white contrast, creating figures and objects. This limits the illustrator's options in colour, as the only two "colours" available are black and white. I think the illustrator has done a great job of portraying the life experiences of Marjane, by using contrast only.

Throughout Marjane's life and thus throughout this autobiography, various topics come to order. This includes the strict Islamic Sharia laws, the identity struggle between Western and the more conservative and Islamic life of Marjane, and some more sensitive topics, such as child soldiers, rape, torture, and (mass) murder are discussed in this novel. It's fascinating to see how a child processes and handles the possession of knowing these R-rated topics. Occasionally there are some swearing words, which surprised me . I didn't expect swear words to appear in this novel, but since there are some other adult topics being discussed, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at adult vocabulary being used.
The book follows a chronological order, meaning the protagonist is a child in the beginning, and an adult at the end. This also makes it a "coming of age" novel, where the main character grows up and comes of age. Normally I'm not into these kind of books, however Satrapi's life is exceptional, and she has experienced things no child should've experienced. Therefore I feel like this novel has a convoluted story with complicated characters and therefore an interesting read.
The novel heavily discusses the topics about the Islam, the revolution itself, the stereotypes about Iran, integration into the Western culture, and last but not least, the identity crisis.
Satrapi has written this book because she wanted to let people know that humans are the same. No matter what culture, what background, what origins someone has, they are still human and make human mistakes. I think she has successfully gotten this message across to the reader, as I (and other readers) have seen and read how Marjane and her (childhood) friends behave the same as any other people in the West. They play, they laugh, they fight, they do anything people do in the Western culture, and more. This contradicts the popular stereotypes about Iran, where people think Iran is "a terrible place to live in".

Additionally, the book discusses identity. When Marjane moves to Austria, to live with her parents' friend, she gets to know the Western culture and lifestyle. This causes her to slowly integrate into the Western society. During her stay in Austria, she discovers the ideas about Iran people have, and starts to feel ashamed of her origin. She starts telling people she's actually from France, and she tells her first boyfriend she's from France as well. By doing this, she renounces her identity. This leads to an interesting series of events, where she feels like she doesn't belong anywhere.

In my opinion, anyone who wants to know more about the Islam, Iran, identity, Iranian revolution, or Marjane Satrapi as a person, should read this book. It contains a lot of information and details about the daily life before and after the revolution in Iran, and it shows that people in Iran are just like the people in the West. To conclude, I would give this a 5/5, as I found it very interesting to read.

A memoir of an Iranian woman who grew up during the Iranian Revolution. I found this particularly interesting because the author is the same age as me, and I can compare and contrast my own memories of the 70s, 80s, and 90s growing up in the US with hers growing up in Iran and Austria.

Overall, I enjoyed the book both as a story and for its insights into the 'other side' of one of the bigger international stories of my childhood.

[Some spoilers ahead]

I find it interesting that her life as a refugee in Austria mimics very closely the lives of runaways of a similar age in big cities in America. I actually felt as if I'd read that part of the story many times before, from the sex and drugs to a stint as a homeless person, the only difference was the frequent contact she had with her family back in Iran.