Persepolis 1 & 2

The first memoir that really mad me stunned. Graphic novel actually is not really my thing, but this one is different. I enjoyed it a lot. This is the second book of Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian writer, that I read after "Embroidery". While "Embroidery" successfully made me laughing, not this memoir, this one put me into laughter and also tears. I felt so involved with it.

Persepolis 1 tells about Marjane's childhood story during Iranian Revolution (6-14 yrs old). Afraid of their only daughter's future, her parents sent her to a Catholic school in Austria. The story ended here.

While in Persepolis 2, Marjane told about her school days in Austria. All alone in a foreign country without any family, friends, being minority, having no place to visit during holidays really put her into deep despair. As a young teenager, she also dealt with alcohol, drugs, and free sex and finally had a dispute with the nun teachers at her school. She left school. Lived on the street. Ended in a hospital and at last returned back to Iran to her beloved family.

Marjane is really honest in telling her story. Reading his memoir made me feel like reading my best friend's letter. She told everything in detail. From this memoir, we could learn her character as an independent, brave, and very honest person. She's lucky to have such an open minded parents who raised her with alot of love and freedom.

This book already adapted into movie. The movie also in comic-strip form.

A superb book. Funny yet breathtaking.