Thoughts on "Persepolis"

After reading the memoir Persepolis, which is my first forray into the graphic novel genre, I have a greater appreciation for the comic book. Actually, I have a lot more appreciation for any method of story telling that is accompanied by an illustration. It was really interesting to read this author's story, and to look at her illustrations. I thought it was cool because these images served to show the reader every aspect of memory that the author had, not just to describe to the reader what was seen.

It is because of this that i think that the memoir is a perfectly suited for the graphic novel format. It adds a unique dimension to the story of the author. It allows every aspect of the story to be available for the audiences to consume. It also allows the author to present the full picture of what they have experienced, and this really adds a more intense element to the story. Instead of just interpreting a description of what was going on, readers are able to see what is happening through the perspective of the author. There were many things that were great to see and gain a full understanding of as opposed to just reading. One example is when Marji is just walking down the street and it is a line of men in black coats, literally touching shoulders as they are trying to sell her cassette tapes on the black market. That is something that the reader must see in order to comprehend.

I also thought that taking the history of these revolutions and oppressive governments in Iran and having these as the background for the memoir was interesting as well. It was fascinating to see these hefty, formidable moments in history juxtaposed with the story of an adolescent girl growing up. There are some things that happened that are much more toughing or much more fascinating when they are presented from Marji's perspective. The stories of the political prisoners that Marji knew were a lot more affective when you considered how Marji had known the families of these prisoners. Also the irritation and reluctance to accept the new religious government was a lot more understandable when we saw all the daily annoyances that Marji and her family had to endure. When Marji's family had to always run down into the basement for bomb scares and had to get black curtains so their neighbors wouldn't know that they had parties, readers saw how difficult it would hae been to live in Iran at this time. The story took on a new personal element with these little anecdotes, and the full weight of the oppression was felt. It was very interesting to see.

Overall, I really thought that this political history element really added an interesting dimension to this memoir. Likewise, I think that the graphic novel format really made for an interesting element as well. This was a really cool book, and I really enjoyed it.