Monday, April 27, 2009

Book Review: Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

I reviewed Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood a couple of weeks ago; Persepolis 2 picks up immediately where the first book leaves off. Marjane is 14 when this novel begins, sent by her parents to live in Austria. Her life in Austria is one unfortunate event after another as she learns to navigate a secular society, where she is a foreigner. Although she is brilliant and does well in school, she eventually lives on the streets for a few months. She is physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted by the time she finally reunited with her family back in Iran. For the first several months back in Iran, she is withdrawn and morose. She wants someone to understand how much she has suffered in Austria. Eventually, though, she realizes that her suffering was largely brought on by her own poor choices, while her fellow Iranians have suffered tragedy upon tragedy caused by war.

The book is fantastic. As I said in my review of the first book, I love the graphic format of the novel. My son has watched the movie Persepolis, which he says is a combination of both Persepolis books, following the books quite closely but leaving out lots of scenes. I think I'll skip the movie, however. The images in the book were powerful enough for me.

6 comments:

Staci said...

I really loved both of these too!! Have you read Maus I and II? My son and I both like to read graphic novels and share with each other.

Missy B. said...

You really need to add Tender Graces to your reading list. I finished it last night, so I will be doing a review shortly. Have a great day!

Ashley said...

I read the book a couple months ago, and I'm still wondering if I should watch the movie or not. The books were definitely powerful enough to leave a lasting impression, and I hope that the movie doesn't take away from it!

Missy B. said...

I have given you an award! Please check out my blog when you get a chance. :)

gautami tripathy said...

I have both the books in one volume. Won it in the blog world! Loved it.


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Girl Detective said...

I loved both books and loved the movie. I found it the rare thing that took a book and "covered" it in a way that was both similar and different, and thus good in a whole new way. Satrapi was a creator of the film, and the images are striking. It's not so much an adaptation, it's a reimagining by the author in a different medium.