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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
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Jun 01, 2004 | ISBN 9780375714573

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    Jun 01, 2004 | ISBN 9780375714573

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Praise

New York Times Notable Book • A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year” • A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best Seller

“Delectable. . . Dances with drama and insouciant wit.” –The New York Times Book Review

“A stunning graphic memoir hailed as a wholly original achievement in the form. There’s still a startling freshness to the book. It won’t age. In inky shadows and simple, expressive lines—reminiscent of Ludwig Bemelmans’s “Madeline”—Satrapi evokes herself and her schoolmates coming of age in a world of protests and disappearances . . . A stark, shocking impact.” —Parul Sehgal, “The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years” The New York Times

“A dazzlingly singular achievement. . . . Striking a perfect balance between the fantasies and neighborhood conspiracies of childhood and the mounting lunacy of Khomeini’s reign, she’s like the Persian love child of Spiegelman and Lynda Barry.” –Salon

“A brilliant and unusual graphic memoir. . . . [Told] in a guileless voice . . . accompanied by a series of black-and-white drawings that dramatically illustrate how a repressive regime deforms ordinary lives.”–Vogue

“Odds are, you’ll be too busy being entertained to realize how much you’ve learned until you turn the last page.”–Elle.com

“[A] self-portrait of the artist as a young girl, rendered in graceful black-and-white comics that apply a childlike sensibility to the bleak lowlights of recent Iranian history. . . . [Her] style is powerful; it persuasively communicates confusion and horror through the eyes of a precocious preteen.” –Village Voice

“This is an excellent comic book, that deserves a place with Joe Sacco and even Art Spiegelman. In her bold black and white panels, Satrapi eloquently reasserts the moral bankruptcy of all political dogma and religious conformity; how it bullies, how it murders, and how it may always be ridiculed by individual rebellions of the spirit and the intellect.” –Zadie Smith, author of The Autograph Man and White Teeth

You’ve never seen anything like Persepolisthe intimacy of a memoir, the irresistability of a comic book, and the political depth of a the conflict between fundamentalism and democracy. Marjane Satrapi may have given us a new genre.” —Gloria Steinem

“I grew up reading the Mexican comics of Gabriel Vargas, graduated to the political teachings of Rius, fell under the spell of Linda Barry, Art Spiegelman, and now I am a fan of Marjane Satrapi. Her stories thrummed in my heart for days. Persepolis is part history book, part Scheherazade, astonishing as only true stories can be. I learned much about the history of Iran, but more importantly, it gave me hope for humanity in these unkind times.” —Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street and Caramelo

“I thought [Persepolis] was a superb piece of work, not only for the child’s eye view—the developing child’s eye view—of a society unknown to many of us in the west, and feared and suspected in proportion to being unknown…. Satrap has found a way of depicting human beings that is both simple and immediately comprehensible, AND is almost infinitely flexible. Anyone who’s tried to draw a simplified version of a human face knows how immensely difficult it is not only to give the faces a range of expression, but also to maintain identities from one frame to the next. It’s an enormous technical accomplishment.” —Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass.

I cannot praise enough Marjane Satrapi’s moving account of growing up as a spirited young girl in revolutionary and war-time Iran. Persepolis is disarming and often humorous but ultimately it is shattering.” —Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde

“This witty, moving and illuminating book demonstrates graphically why the future of Iran lies with neither the clerics nor the American Empire.” —Tariq Ali, Author of The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity

“I found the work immensely moving with depths of nuance and wisdom that one might never expect to find in a comic book. It’s a powerful, mysterious, enchanting story that manages to reflect a great swath of Iranian contemporary history within the sensitive, intimate tale of a young girl’s coming-of-age. I didn’t want it to end!” —Diana Abu-Jaber, Author of Crescent and Arabian Jazz

“A rare and chilling memoir that offers every reader a personal, honest portrait of Iran’s recent political and cultural history. Ms. Satrapi’s provocative, graphic narrative of life in Iran before and after the Islamic revolution is an extraordinary testament to the level of human suffering experienced by Iranians tossed from one political hypocrisy to another. Aside from the humanistic dimension, the beautifully minimalist Persepolis gives further evidence of Marjane Satrapi’s sensitivity and superb skill as an artist.” —Shirin Neshat, visual artist/filmmaker

“Readers who have always wanted to look beyond political headlines and CNN’s cliches should plunge into this unique illustrated story. Let Marji be your trusted companion, follow her into the warmth of a Persian home and out along Tehran’s turbulent streets during those heady days of revolution. Persepolis opens a rare door to understanding of events that still haunt America, while shining a bright light on the personal humanity and humor so much alive in Iranian families today.” —Terence Ward, author of Searching for Hassan

“Blending the historical with the personal is not an easy task, to blend the individual with the universal is even more challenging. But Marjane Satrapi has succeeded brilliantly. This graphic novel is a reminder of the human spirit that fights oppression and death, it is a witness to something true and lasting which is more affective than hundreds of news broadcasts.” —Hanan al-Shaykh, author of Women of Sand and Myrhh

Awards

Alex Award – YALSA WINNER 2004

Booklist Editor’s Choice for Young Adults WINNER

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age WINNER

School Library Journal Adult Books for Young Adults WINNER

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults WINNER

Author Essay

The following pages are excerpted from Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Copyright © 2005 by Marjane Satrapi. Excerpted by permission of Pantheon, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

 

ON WRITING PERSEPOLIS
By Marjane Satrapi, as told to Pantheon staff

Chances are that if you are an American you know very little about the 1979 Iranian Revolution. "This revolution was normal, and it had to happen," says Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, a totally unique memoir about growing up in Iran after the Shah left power. "Unfortunately, it happened in a country where people were very traditional, and other countries only saw the religious fanatics who made their response public." In her graphic novel, Satrapi, shows readers that these images do not make up the whole story about Iran. Here, she talks freely about what it was like to tell this story with both words and pictures, and why she is so proud of the result.


Why I Wrote Persepolis

From the time I came to France in 1994, I was always telling stories about life in Iran to my friends. We’d see pieces about Iran on television, but they didn’t represent my experience at all. I had to keep saying, "No, it’s not like that there." I’ve been justifying why it isn’t negative to be Iranian for almost twenty years. How strange when it isn’t something I did or chose to be?

After I finished university, there were nine of us, all artists and friends, working in a studio together. That group finally said, "Do something with your stories." They introduced me to graphic novelists. Spiegelman was first. And when I read him, I thought "Jesus Christ, it’s possible to tell a story and make a point this way." It was amazing.

Writing a Graphic Novel is Like Making a Movie

People always ask me, "Why didn’t you write a book?" But that’s what Persepolis is. To me, a book is pages related to something that has a cover. Graphic novels are not traditional literature, but that does not mean they are second-rate. Images are a way of writing. When you have the talent to be able to write and to draw it seems a shame to choose one. I think it’s better to do both.

We learn about the world through images all the time. In the cinema we do it, but to make a film you need sponsors and money and 10,000 people to work with you. With a graphic novel, all you need is yourself and your editor.

Of course, you have to have a very visual vision of the world. You have to perceive life with images otherwise it doesn’t work. Some artists are more into sound; they make music. The point is that you have to know what you want to say, and find the best way of saying it. It’s hard to say how Persepolis evolved once I started writing. I had to learn how to write it as a graphic novel by doing.

What I Wanted to Say

I’m a pacifist. I believe there are ways to solve the world’s problems. Instead of putting all this money to create arms, I think countries should invest in scholarships for kids to study abroad. Perhaps they could become good and knowledgeable professors in their own countries. You need time for that kind of change though.

I have been brought up open-minded. If I didn’t know any people from other countries, I’d think everyone was evil based on news stories. But I know a lot of people, and know that there is no such thing as stark good and evil. Isn’t it possible there is the same amount of evil everywhere?

If people are given the chance to experience life in more than one country, they will hate a little less. It’s not a miracle potion, but little by little you can solve problems in the basement of a country, not on the surface. That is why I wanted people in other countries to read Persepolis, to see that I grew up just like other children.

It’s so rewarding to see people at my book signings who never read graphic novels. They say that when they read mine they became more interested. If it opens these people’s eyes not to believe what they hear, I feel successful.

You Have to Think Freely to Know What to Write

My parents were very proud when they read Persepolis. If I criticize them once in a while, it’s because it’s the truth, and they laugh. My father always says, "It is only an idiot who never changes his mind." My parents accept that times change, and they are not right anymore. They’ve taught me that you can make mistakes.

They were extremely open-minded about what I said and they were demanding. I’m also tender with them because they were magnificent parents. They gave me the most important thing — the freedom of thinking and deciding for myself. The best present anyone can receive is not being formatted because the world or a religion wants you to be.

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