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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
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Original price was: $16.00.$8.99Current price is: $8.99.
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s acclaimed graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
“A wholly original achievement…. Satrapi evokes herself and her schoolmates coming of age in a world of protests and disappearances…. A stark, shocking impact.” —The New York Times: “The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years”
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the coming-of-age story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.
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Categories: Arts & Photography
Product name:
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Price:
Original price was: $16.00.$8.99Current price is: $8.99.
Gemma F. –
How to describe the horrors of a dictature, a war, a forced emigration while you are growing up… The author does this in a so heartwarming and empowered way that it makes you want to know more.
Nirvana JM –
Lo compré para un regalo, llegó muy rápido. Muy bonito!
Marlon D. Mixon –
So I had to order this book for My English/Reading class in college at the time. Let tell you all, THIS is a very good book, and now planning to look at the movie and read the second book. Yes, I would highly recommend this 📕📚 👈🏿.
Carlaamello –
Achei o livro caro demais para o que eh.
Amazon Customer –
Great thanks!
Dogbreath077 –
Good Deal.
Nicole Mohr –
I have taught this book to my tenth grade English students for the past five years, and I believe it has helped to send my former students into society as informed adults with enough perspective to see Iranian people as fellow global citizens, not Middle Eastern enemies.
Satrapi wrote the book to inform people about the Islamic Revolution and to give readers an insider perspective. I know that the book was originally written in French, and then later translated to English, which are the main languages of the Western world. This points to her intended audience – Westerners. Satrapi was trying to show the Western world what Iranian people are really like — not extremists, not radical Muslims – but mostly peace-loving, creative, independently thinking people who value their Persian culture and lifestyle and have suffered greatly for remaining in their homeland in spite of the challenges.
Throughout the book, she paints herself as religiously moderate and politically involved, even as a child, and not at all negative towards the West. With images of the Iranian hostage crisis in the back of our minds, it is easy for Americans to assume that all Iranians hate Americans, but this is far from true. Satrapi shows her love for Western culture and music and books with Michael Jackson and Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden. She mostly clearly demonstrates the impact of their suffering with how drastically the loss of her Uncle Anoosh impacted her. She also wants people to have the facts about the revolution as well, which we see in the wealth of historical information integrated into her memoir.
I personally believe that Satrapi was very effective in helping society see Iranians differently, mostly from my personal experience. Before reading this book six years ago, I assumed that if the theocracy remains in power, that must mean that the majority of people in Iran must be really religious and anti-West, or else why wouldn’t they overthrow their government? This book helped me see that they are really suffering under a different kind of tyranny, and also helped me understand why it happened. She shows why they overthrew the Shah – for freedom from an oppressive government, a government in which she knew that the difference between the social classes caused many people pain, but then she also shows throughout the rest of the book how the Iranian people were manipulated into becoming faithful to an Islamic regime.
The serious re-structuring of schools caused great suffering and contributed to the difficulty with changing mindsets. If the religious government controls the schools, then the children are inculcated with the religious ideas, much like how Marjane was initially inculcated with the thought that the Shah was chosen by God. In addition, the Islamic regime ultimately secured their power by uniting the Iranian people in war against a foreign enemy and carrying on the war until the society was so completely devastated, they would not have the energy or desire to cause further revolt of any kind.
I think this is an important topic for the Western world to see, as Western relations with Iran affect us in many ways. Our government currently has strict economic sanctions on Iran, which causes our gas prices to go up and impacts us where we feel it the most, our wallets; however, most people do not see the reason behind this, and why the world needs to take note of the tyranny in Iran. In addition, many people here in the United States lump together all of the people in the Middle East under the label of “Arabs” and then furthermore, see them all as extreme Muslims and terrorists, particularly since 9/11. As a student pointed out in class today, the book was published shortly after 9/11, which is likely not a coincidence. In the days after this event, many Americans viewed any Middle Eastern man with a beard or any Middle Eastern woman with a hijab as a terrorist, a threat; yet Marjane paints us a much needed picture of a world so many Americans do not realize exists – a world in which many free spirited Iranian people endure a forced dress code that represents far more oppression than we here in America could ever imagine.
Gayatri S. –
I loved the story. Its a totally new genre. I gifted to my friend as well.
Jessica –
I am an English tutor. Many of the people I help are Arabic. When you deal with any culture, it is inevitable that difficulties will arise due to cultural differences. It is worse, though, when there are political difficulties between your country and theirs. Naturally, both sides are going to have prejudices. To better understand the people I deal with, I have been trying to familiarize myself with the cultures that I come into contact with. This is why I chose this book.
It is a graphic novel. However, though the pictures might attract younger readers, I should warn anyone who is purchasing books for their child that it is probably more appropriate for teens. It depends, of course, on how much parents protect their child and how willing they are to answer questions. Though the book isn’t exactly “snuff” (meaning it focuses totally on violence and killing), it doesn’t shy away from the violence that the author witnessed or heard about. There is one picture that shows a man urinating on another man (as a form of torture). There are references to torture, dismemberment, and rape. Another picture showed how the army locked a bunch of people inside a movie theater and set fire to it.
All that aside, this is mostly a book about a girl growing up in Tehran, Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The story starts in 1979-1980, when she is ten years old. It concludes when she is fourteen years old (though there is a sequel book after this one). It has a very strong plot and provides interesting tidbits about Islamic culture. Iran has had a tumultuous history that is rather hard to keep track of. However, this was particularly interesting because some of the events were ones I heard about when I was a child growing up. It provides another viewpoint on the same events–such as Saddam Hussein’s campaign against Iran. There is also some nostalgia, as the girl had a fascination with American culture of that period. Though some of the things depicted are disturbing–moreso because the book is visual–it has its moments of humor. The author successfully humanizes the characters so you can identify and sympathize with them to some degree.
I did enjoy the book, and I would recommend it to older readers who are interested in learning about other cultures. If you like “coming of age” stories, you will probably like this too. Be warned that it won’t always made you feel good, and it may be inappropriate for young people and sensitive people. However, it is a good book–and I plan to keep it, as well as buy the sequel.
DGKaye –
So many countries have had their share of war – both, internal and external war. Iran has certainly had their share of emporers, kings, and political oppression. In the introduction of this book, Satrapi gives us a brief two-page synopsis of Iran, its beginnings, its wars, and what happened in 1979 when the last Shah of Iran fled the Islamic revolution. And this is where the author begins her story.
Satrapi was six when the revolution began. Her coming of age story begins when she was aged ten. She was an intelligent child from an upper-middle class family who wanted to understand why her world as she knew it, was turned upside by revolution. Satrapi shares with us about all the changes that took place in her country during the revolution, and the year it became mandatory to ‘wear the veil’. She hated it. She could no longer go to school with a mix of boys and girls either. Her privileged and modern life as she knew it, was no longer.
Marjane was an only child, and a deeply spiritual girl. In her very young life, she thought she wanted to grow up to be a prophet, but as her world was changing, this would no longer be possible. At a very young age, she began reading books on empires and autocratic world leaders. She wanted to understand why the demonstrations in her country were so violent, horrible crimes against humanity. Marjane repeatedly asked her parents if she could join them in the daily protests they attended on the street from morning till night, but they wouldn’t allow her to participate. She was tired of protesting alone in her own backyard. But her father told her they could get shot at a demonstration, and refused to bring her along. But Marjane believed that if a revolution was to succeed, the entire population should support it. The revolution was a fight against social classes.
Politics overwhelmed Marja. She was tired of the people in her life ‘disappearing’, and she was tired of same answers from her parents – ‘they went on a trip’. When her Uncle Anoosh reappeared after fleeing political persecution, he told Marja, “In a country where half the population is illiterate, you cannot unite the people around Marx, the only thing that can really unite them is Nationalism or a religious ethic . . . but the religious leaders didn’t know how to govern,” he called it a fake election takeover – many fled Iran while others thought it wouldn’t last. Uncle Anoosh was found and executed. And Marja became angry with God.
The bombings began and the fundamentalists took down the U.S. Embassy – no longer viable to get a visa to flee. The universities closed for two years in order to rewrite new religious curriculum. The middle and upper class feared they’d be forced to wear the veil and perhaps ‘no more cars, back to camels’. Marja found her young world crashing as she feared she wouldn’t get to go to university and become a scholar.
Marja’s parents protested daily, and her mother was threatened for refusing to wear the veil or acknowledging the new fundamentalist government – she ultimately succumbed. It was declared that ‘to protect women from all potential rapists’, they declared wearing the veil was mandatory. There became two types of women and two types of men – the fundamentalists and the modern man/woman. Apparently, the modern woman no longer had a choice but to wear the veil, but in protest, they allowed some of their hair to stick out. To distinguish the two types of men – fundamentalists didn’t shave and grew long beards, and didn’tuck their shirts in, vs. the clean shaven men (mustaches optional) who tucked in their shirts and wore neck ties – a fashion from ‘the west’, frowned upon. New Islamic religion stated that women’s hair ’emanates rays that excite men’. It sure feels to me that women had to tone down their looks so as not to excite men. So sad. It doesn’t surprise me how many Iranians fled the revolution.
Marja tells us that not just the government changed, but many of the people she knew. Marja was told by her parents that if anyone asks, she prays five times a day. Her mother was a staunch fighter for women’s rights.
One year after the protests began, Marja’s parents brought her to one, and Marja shares the violence she witnessed that one and only day she went to protest. And when they began beating women with bats because they weren’t wearing the veil, Marja and her parents scurried home.
In September 1980, Marja’s parents took her on a three-week vacation to Europe, they came back to another war, with Iraq – that was on top of the already civil war going on in Iran. When the Iraqis began dropping bombs in Tehran, Marja writes, “The Arabs never liked the Persians . . . they attacked us 1400 years ago, they forced their religion on us.” Her father concurred, but added that the real invasion had already come from their own government. Everything was changing daily as war was both internal and external in Iran. Their Iranian National Anthem was replaced by the new government’s hymn. Marja’s father had given up on listening to news in Iran that he knew was lies. He’d tune in nightly to his old radio and listen to the BBC.
Once border town oil refineries were bombed, village people fled to the main city of Tehran, food shortages began in supermarkets, and gas was limited.
Marja had to get used to new school protocols, like beating her chest to war cries on the loudspeaker, and celebrating Revolution Day. Her parents along with many others rebelled the teachers. There were strict rules about wearing the veil with NO hair showing – to that statement, and some comic relief, Marja’s dad responded to that teacher, “If hair is as stimulating as you say, then you need to shave your mustache.”
The young boys were handed out golden keys in school, and told if they went to war and died, the key would get them into heaven and they’d be offered a better life in paradise. As young as fourteen years old, they were lured to war.
Soon enough, the family had to keep dark drapes drawn, and had to bomb-proof their house. The enemy was anywhere and everywhere among their own as citizens were swayed to the fundamentalist’s side, devoted to the new regime. There were strict rules: no parties, no card games, no gambling, no alcohol, and of course, the dress code. And one never knew if their neighbor had flipped and become an extremist who would happily rat out anyone disobeying. Marja tells us about one night in particular when her family was out at a newborn baby celebration, with alcohol, and they were stopped on the way home by extremist police spot-check. They smelled the alcohol on her father’s breath and saw he wore a necktie. He was told to get back in the car and they would follow him home to search his house for alcohol, but that one time they were lucky that money still talked and Marja’s dad bought them off. The persecutions got worse in Iran as the wars progressed. Besides wearing the veil in school, no nail polish or jewelry was permitted either. But food was becoming more available from the black markets – if you had the money.
Marja shares another scary story with us. She tells about the day she went out wearing her new American Nike shoes and a Michael Jackson badge she wore on her jacket. These were items no longer available in Iran, but her parents had taken a short trip to Turkey and bought some items for her that Iran saw as Western apparel. There was now a new extreme women’s branch called, The Guardians of the Revolution. Marja was stopped on the street by some of those women, they told her ‘decadence is forbidden’. Marja considered that her lucky day when she was let off with a warning instead of being taken to headquarters where ‘people have been known to disappear for days’.
At fourteen years old, Marja was wise beyond her years and a self-proclaimed rebel. If she chose to wear jewelry, the teachers would take it off her, never to be returned. And one day, Marja lost her constraint – the day the principal tried to take her bracelet from her, Marja whacked her so hard, she fell. Marja was expelled. Through connections, her parents got her into another school. But that didn’t last long before Marja called out the teacher for her lies. At that point, Marja’s parents arranged to have her sent to school in Austria, where they had relatives. They were petrified that their daughter’s brevity would land her in jail or killed. Her parents told Marja they would follow in a few months. But would they?
With breaking hearts, her parents took Marja to the airport so that she could live in freedom and get the education she deserved, and to allow her to be the child she needed to be.
I shall look forward to reading the second book, Persepolis 2, where Marjane returns to Iran as a young adult after fleeing the oppression.