Hardship forces people to change. The author walks us along the path of political turbulence in Iran and shows us how different people react when everything around them turns upside down. Some adapt by throwing away their values and becoming more like the ruling power. Others try to fight it and get imprisoned, tortured, exiled, killed. And then there are the survivors who combine adaptation with resistance: the little girl and her parents are among them.
Through the eyes of a little girl it is terrifying to see how kind intelligent loving people have to bend and twist to the destructive whims of the powerful.
For me this was an emotional rollercoaster. Hope, despair, tenderness, rage, love, fear. I kept silently shouting at the characters: "Why are you doing this? Don't you see you are hurting others?"
( )

A graphic novel describing how it was like growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

This book was fascinating. I'm not a graphic novel fan, but I'm glad I made the exception here. I do, however, feel again the stark reality that I am completely ignorant and privileged. And I don't know what to do about it, other than learn more. This book was a good start in that direction. ( )

Each time I read a graphic memoir, I think how marvelously this genre and medium complement one another.

Persepolis is fascinating examination of the Islamic Revolution and its consequences in Iran through the eyes of a child raised in a modern Iranian home. It's both an interesting story and an educational opportunity to see this important part of history through Persian eyes. It's a sober reminder of humanity's inhumanity to read parallels to Atwood's Handmaid's Tale and other dystopian tales in non-fiction. One can readily forget that the fiction authors have more than adequate inspiration from real-life events. ( )

It's good, emotional. The art style is excellent, very clear, minimalistic, strong lines blocks of black etc. It's a pleasure to look at it and it makes the few horrible scenes it illustrates (eg a dismembered body) all the more shocking. The writing is good too and emotional and gets across the impact of living on the edge well. It's v personal and keyed to her very particular experience and don't expect like in depth analysis of her family's existence, the causes of the revolution or whatever. It's great ( )

This book deserved more than a three but I'm not sure it was a four. I am anxious to read the second book. It was haunting. ( )

This was a truly fantastic -- spare, haunting, starkly illustrated, in turns innocent and worldly -- memoir, depicting the coming of age of a young, Iranian girl. Like the best of such memoirs, the author spends equal time on the political and historical events in Iran, the day-to-day life in such a regime and normal childhood experiences. ( )

Clever and unexpected. I also saw the movie based on this autobiographical, graphically depicted account of life in Revolutionary Iran.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis_(film) ( )

Books are the way I can learn what life is like for a very different person in a faraway place. ( )

much better than the movie
second book not as good ( )

Persepolis is a fascinating depiction of a the tumultuous 70s and 80s in Iran - the overthrow of the Shah, the rise of the Ayatollahs, and the war with Iraq.

One criticism I have read is that Satrapi has a very limited perspective of Iranian society - she lives in a bubble of upper-middle class intellectuals in Teheran. It is clear that she is very privileged - trips to Western Europe, private school, the ability to afford contraband from the U.S. - so we don't really have a firm understanding of how Iran became so conservative so quickly.

It is this privilege, however, that makes Marji so sympathetic to Western readers. After reading this memoir, it is tempting to think that, culturally speaking, Iranians are just like us. ( )

Delighted to finally read; I remember the film but was so taken by the artwork that I didn't absorb enough of the story. ( )

I came across this book recently which blew my mind. The way in which the story is told is fantastic although its a pictographical book but seems like you are living into that tenure Marjane Satrapi choose a brilliant way to express her biography, its beautiful at the same time heart racking experience of reading this book.
Its a story of a precarious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during Islamic revolution. As she grows up the complexity increases. The book shows her love of her family and her country came across very strongly. A very moving and entertaining book as much as it is educational about post 1979 Iran.
Reading this book will make you sad because in this you read about how the freedom of people of Iran during that time got compromised and what makes it masterpiece is you will find dark humor. Marjane Satrapi able to extract humor out of people sufferings. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/jmVBqYzFNHo

Enjoy! ( )

Persepolis is a memoir about Marjane Satrapi’s life since her childhood until her adulthood. The first half is about her childhood in Tehran, Iran, and addresses the Islamic Revolution and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The second half is about her teenage and young adult years and addresses mostly the struggles of adult life and of being an immigrant.

This graphic novel was very informative, emotional and occasionally funny. I like how the author kept to the most important events in her life and didn’t omit her flaws. If I have one complain is that some words are outdated. This was a very educational and insightful read. ( )

I came back to this book after reading it in my ninth grade English class. It was just as heart-breaking and impactful as I remembered it to be. Such an insightful and honest look into the life of a young woman growing up in a war zone. The most impactful part of the story comes from the illustrations. They so accurately depict the mood and simplicity of life.

Wonderful comic book, reminiscent of Maus and the Hernandez brothers work in its honesty, humanity and stark, simple visual style. ( )

This graphic memoir tells the story of the artists’ childhood in Iran starting just before the 1979 revolution, when Marjane was 10, to her departure from Iran at age 14 to study in Vienna. Marjane’s parents allowed her as much freedom as they could, and she felt empowered to stand up for her beliefs. As a 10-year-old, she was reading comics about dialectical materialism, with conversations between Descartes and Marx. She bonded with her uncle, who had been a political prisoner for his communist beliefs. She also loved pop culture like jeans, makeup, and pop music (Iron Maiden and Kim Wilde were favorites). These pleasures provided an outlet from the constant threat of bombs from the Iran/Iraq war and from the revolutionary government and its strict enforcement of Islamic behavior, which for women meant being properly veiled, among other things.

The Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis were a part of my teenage years. My knowledge of these events mostly comes from the daily news broadcasts as the events unfolded. It was interesting to view these events from an insider’s perspective. The bold black and white illustrations perfectly suit the story Satrapi tells. Recommended. ( )

Not much of a fan of comic books. I observe this book is proclaimed by many fans as "deep". ( )

The author is the same age as I am, and the events in the book were sort of on the periphery of my knowledge when they were happening, as I think most 10-11-12-year-olds are aware of international news. I really liked this insider's view of what happened. ( )

A comics memoir of a childhood in Iran during the Revolution and the Iran/Iraq war. It is in the same vein as Maus, without the visual metaphors, but still really great. It was so good, upon finishing, I immediately went and reserved its sequel at my local library. ( )

2011 (my brief review can be found in the LibraryThing post linked)
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104839#2623268 ( )

I found this at the public library, and I read it in one night. It was amazing. The narrative was excellent. There is a combination of sweet, humor, and moving that makes for a great memoir as well as a history lesson. As a reader, I was not too happy that her parents did not choose to leave the country when things were turning for the worse. Sure, the Shah was bad, but as history showed, the clerics and their fundamentalist revolution turned out to be worse. Talk about jumping from the frying pan to the fire. However, the book not only looks at the events from her point of view as a child, but it also teaches you a history lesson. I do recommend this, and I will be reading the sequel. In fact, I read it so fast that I did not get time to add it here as "currently reading." This book is a good example of what a good author can do with the graphic novel format. ( )

I get what all the hype is about! It's an important story, one told with great warmth and affection despite the trouble and war that are always looming. The art style wasn't totally for me, but it was a great medium for a rather sobering memoir. Satrapi's quirky childhood personality shines throughout the book. ( )

better than a handmaid's tale ( )

I liked this, but didn’t love it. I think this is the only way I enjoy memoirs, especially those told from a child’s viewpoint - via graphic novel. This was a quick read, but still informative and poignant. I will definitely pick up part two. ( )