Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

I thought I'd get a head start on Persepolis and I found myself so engrossed that I finished the whole book. The story was engaging, and although there is tragedy and sadness, there was also a measure of humor and love and the pure perspective of childhood. I think it's really important to the narrative and the structure of the book as a graphic novel that it is told from a child's perspective. That voice came through clearly and allowed us to watch events unfold with her without too much political commentary. It felt honest, and let us see what it was really like to grow up during that time. I loved her obsession with Michael Jackson and jean jackets and Nike. Her concerns were both simple and complex, but we learned about the war and the history and reasons for it along with the narrator.

That being said, I was still confused about what was going on and who was who. I appreciated the introduction by Satrapi but I still occasionally had to review in my head who the Shah was and whether being a revolutionary was a good thing or not. I'm not sure there would have been any way to avoid that, though, since the conflict and problems were so complex.

The choice to make this a graphic novel instead of a text-only memoir was an interesting one, but I think it was the right choice. The accompanying illustrations gave us a visual representation that softened the horrors of the story but still deepened our understanding of what it all looked like. I especially appreciated the different depictions of the veil the women had to wear. I would have had a very different picture in my mind if I had read it without being able to see it. I have read one other graphic novel and it also dealt with horrific events (MAUS by Art Spiegelman about his Jewish father's experience in Auschwitz during WWII), and to me it feels like the black and white drawings highlight the starkness of the story and both emphasize and undercut the feeling that life is black-and-white, easy to figure out. However, I think that it does leave the story somewhat on the surface. There wasn't a lot of room or opportunity for in depth reflection from the narrator. I don't think this was necessarily a weakness of the book, but I did wish for a deeper understanding of the narrator and her experiences.

I think the real power of this book is that it is the story of just one girl in Iran during the revolution, but her experience reflects the national experience of that time. We get to see the conflict between religion and politics, family strife, inequality of the social classes, the phycial danger of the war, loss of friends and loved ones (for various reasons), and the finality of saying goodbye. It covers a wide range of topics, but they are all worked into this one girl's experience in a way that gives them more meaning. This is reflected in the title, "Persepolis." I realized I had no idea what that was or meant, so I looked it up. It's the name given to the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire, and its ruins are considered some of the wonders of the world. It connects this memoir to both the majesty and final crumbling of the Persian Empire, which is encapsulated in the story.

I am glad there is a second volume, because I felt like this book ends very abruptly. Granted, it is subtitled "The Story of a Childhood" and I think that it's clear the girl has left childhood by the end. But it's good to know that there is more, that this isn't the end of the story.