So I think I am going to label myself a lover of novels about the modern Middle East. That’s actually a ridiculous claim for me to make, considering I have only read three novels by modern Middle-Eastern authors, but I have really loved each one, so I’ll go ahead and take the label! I had heard about Persepolis for the first time a few years ago when the movie came out (which I still have not seen, by the way), but have just now gotten around to reading it. I have nothing but praise to give Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel. It is simply exquisite!
If you are completely unfamiliar with Persepolis I will quickly summarize. It is subtitled “The Story of a Childhood,” and that’s basically all there is to it. Satrapi recollects her unique childhood growing up in Iran in the 1970’s and 80’s – a volatile time in the country’s history to say the least.
As I was reading the novel, I kept having to ask my husband questions about Iranian political history, because I was quite confused. I will put out there as a disclaimer that Satrapi does not do the best job in making everything clear to someone like myself who took a college course entitled “Politics of the Middle East” and still wonders how she passed, but I think that is intentional. She is telling us the story as her childhood self – a character that was not completely clear herself about what was going on. Instead of knowing the nitty-gritty details about the politics of Iran, we instead know more personal details, like which neighbor was killed in a bombing, or which family friend was tortured as a political prisoner. This was Satrapi’s reality, not necessarily what was reported on the BBC’s nightly report.
The beauty of Satrapi’s novel lies in her ability to parallel her own journey into adolescence with her country’s political journey. The anger and confusion she feels about events like her uncle’s execution or the increasing frequency of the bombings manifest themselves in normal teenage reactions like giving up belief in God and sneaking a cigarette in the basement – perhaps remarkably normal reactions given the complete abnormalities of this coming-of-age experience.
In many ways Persepolis is just a very simple story about growing up, staged against an explosive (pardon the pun) backdrop of 1970’s and 80’s Iran. For me, the unique location and situation of Satrapi’s childhood experiences are what made the story engaging, along with the stark black and white illustrations. Most certainly worth a read.
I should also add that the other two books under my Middle-Eastern reading list of a belt are Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I was introduced to Hamid’s writing during a college course on Post-Colonial World Literature a couple of years ago, and I cannot sing his praises enough. Both of these novels revolve around modern Pakistan and are fantastic reads. If you had to pick just one, I would recommend The Reluctant Fundamentalist, but why read just one when they are both brilliant?
1 Comment
June 25, 2009 at 1:42 am
I agree, what I liked about the novel was the parallel between an ancient country and a girl both struggling for identity. It definitely made me think about Iran differently.