Persepolis was my first graphic novel (or, in this case, graphic autobiography) experience. It is the childhood story of Marjane Satrapi, who was a young girl of liberal parents during the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the 1980s.

Satrapi’s drawings are simple yet poignant, and reading about her experiences and culture so foreign to me was at the same time both fascinating and dismaying. I hope to read more of her works.

Excellent. Required reading! I am in love with this story. I have family (adopted cousins) who lived in Tehran during this time. I never knew how much they went through. And I am surprised at how modern Iran was 30 years ago. I am in awe.
This book opens one up to endless possiblities of what life really is like beyond the stereotypes.
Wroth Consuming. Must read sequel.

This is my first foray into the genre of ‘graphic novels.’ I picked this one on the glowing recommendation of Nuke, and because I’d heard that even non-comic-book people enjoy this author/artist’s work.

In fact, I did enjoy the book a lot. Reading a graphic novel was an adjustment for me. At times, I found it choppy and hard to focus on what was going on. But the story – a memoirs of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in war-torn Iran – was so compelling that it held my attention.

The art is excellent – it illustrates the story without being overwhelming. As I became absorbed in the story, I soon forgot I was reading a graphical novel and the images and words merged to create a mood as well as a story.

This was a quick read, but by no means a frivilous one. The book is honest, hard-hitting and, at times, heartbreaking. I genuinely enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to starting the sequel.

This was my first graphic novel and it was our all school reading book. So naturally I was cautious and didn’t really have expectations going in. I found this hard to put down, and it was one of the best books I’ve read in recent times. I can say I want to read the second book soon.

This is definately right up there with Maus. How appropriate for our time, for this to be available to all of us. So many things that I had no idea of. The simple stuff like the same clothing styles and the same music being available. I knew that not everybody was a die-hard fundamentalist, and that the majority of it was a political tool, but seeing some of the taboos made sport of so freely was phenominal! I loved this book. I hope my kids will read it, like, now.

One of the best I read in 2004. Have been recommending and gifting it to people. Fell in love with the feisty little girl.

A charming graphic novel with simple and expressive black-and-white illustrations. The narrative is convincingly childlike, and the combination of this with the illustration is at times amusing and disturbing. I don’t have much information about the changes that happened in Iran during the time of the story, so I was glad to learn a little more about them, especially in such an entertaining manner.

First graphic novel I’ve read in a long time. Effective way of recounting Iranian childhood during overthow of Shah’s regime.

I was surprised by the range of emotion and experiences evoked by such simple illustrations. I think it’s as required to read as Maus.