Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Rating: 5/5 stars

This illustrated autobiography follows the childhood of Marjane Satrapi, a girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. At age 10, she’s already decided that she wants to become the next prophet when she grows up. She has nightly chats with God and diligently researches political theory. Marjane lives in a time when her relatives are put in jail for protesting and friends abruptly move to the USA. Marjane sees political heroes all around her and strives to become one too.

This memoir/graphic novel is fantastic. It’s the first book I’ve read in a while that invoked emotion inside of me. I wanted to cry when it was over. There are many ways to tell the story of the Islamic Revolution, but through the eyes of a child is very unique. Marjane is definitely a bias narrator, but it’s interesting to see what the chaos was like for a 10-14 year old girl during that time.

Marjane finds comfort in religion and political theory, which makes up a good portion of the memoir. The ideas of Marx, Ghandi, and other political leaders are discussed (and some in depth). I found this really educational; It’s amazing that Marjane developed an interest in these studies at such a young age.

Overall, this was a very quick but phenomenal read. I think I have to go back and re-read it, as I didn’t take the time to appreciate the illustrations. I look forward to reading the sequel which, I believe, takes place in Marjane’s adulthood.