Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi
#47 in my 50 book challenge for the year. This graphic novel picks up where Persepolis left off, with the teenaged Marji sent to Europe to escape war-torn Iran. Abroad she finds a universal truth–at home she felt repressed, but abroad she feels alienated, so neither can give her comfort. My favorite section was the visit from her mother, and the affection conveyed between them. Satrapi returns to Iran to find it both changed and the same. The simple art evokes the story and emotions well. Like Persepolis before it, I found it easy to engage with the story of a woman whose life is very different from mine, and think this is both an excellent story as well as good insight into a different culture.
July 8th, 2005 at 2:54 am
I read both of the persepolis books in one sitting, having bought them as gifts for my brother. As you know, I don’t read graphic novels often but these blew me away. I loved the illustrative style and found the tone very self aware but not knowing - the narrator grew up in line with her observations of her younger self. Wonderful.