Book Review: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Publisher: vintage books
Genre: autobiography/graphic
ISBN: 978-0-099-52399-4
This book is written as a storyboard and the style suits it perfectly. I have never read a book written using this method but I found it to be a very enjoyable experience. For this particular book it works extremely well as it carries the volume of dialogue, if this had been written in straight prose it would have resembled a play rather than a novel.
Marjanes general writing style is warm and inviting. As she narrates her story you can hear her voice and it brings the action to life. She captures the horrors of war and the difficulties of love in a style which makes all the subjects in this book seem very real to the reader. I have never been to Iran but I could connect with Satrapi and understood he point of view because it was explained so well and so easily.
This book gave me a totally new perspective of muslim women and what they may have been thinking while living under oppressive regimes. Young Iranian girls are not so different to European girls once stripped down to just their thoughts and emotions.
A very cleverly written book on a subject which I normally would not read, excellent.
Personal read 5/5
Group read 4/5 Plenty to discuss but not everybody’s choice of subject.
