Persepolis

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'The Complete Persepolis' tracks the life of Marjane from about 10 years till 24 years. Thats about the most conservative way of saying it. This is a book which tells her story just like the way she is in real life - loud, opinionated and doesn't give a damn about anyone.

That is the reason to love and hate the book. The book is actually in a graphic novel format - while I've read more comics in that format - reading a real-life story in the format was novel. But the drawings, though in black and white, convey clearly a lot more than mere words ever do. That is probably the reason to read it as well.

This coming-of-age of Marjane happens to be from about 1979 till about 1993 - in Iran and Europe - crossing over the tumultuous period of the nations history - first the Islamic revolution and then the war with Iraq. It is also the period Marjane is continuously in a rebellious mode both in Iran and in Europe where she is sent for schooling.

In a way, the book also documents the life of the upper Iranian middle class as they try to survive through the religious persecutions and the war and also try to live the life. Marjane's family is prosperous at the start of the revolution and though they go through the difficult times of the revolution and the economic despair of the later times, they are comparatively well-to-do in comparison with the others in the story.

However, this is strictly the story of Marjane as she tries to make sense of the sudden religious restrictions like the veil being applied everywhere and the punishments they have to go through for non-compliance and she picks up trouble wherever she was asked to conform.

To me, the book at least broke some of the perceptions we've about the people in these countries. Other than a few Iranian movies, there is very little documentation around about the people of the country. Thus it is interesting to read about the liberal views of the middle class and still that excludes how the rest of the country - the majority - lived through these times.

Marjane's personal experiences are reflective of the way the country was governed - she loses uncles and friends to the war and they joke about the disabled to overcome the sickening scenario of the country. For a while, she tries living in Austria but ends up hating it and comes back.

Marries a guy - with the whole family expecting her to get a divorce - and dutifully fulfills that expectation in a couple of years. She doesn't grieve over that episode rather dissects why that marriage was a failure in a rather curiously detached way. Like a mistake we make and then realizing it.

There are moments I thought it would be better if I have some backstory but overall a superlative read..