Persepolis: Such A Nice History Record

"Persepolis" is the book written by Marjane Satrapi who is an Iranian-born French novelist as well as illustrator. It was originally published in French, and it has been translated into several languages including English. It is divided into two books and the first book that I read is about Marjane’s childhood and the second book is about the story from her high school life to moving to France. “Persepolis” also has a film version. And it was nominated for 2007 Academy Award. So it was already proved that this is good book. And I liked this book. First reason why is  it was great to learn about history of Iran which I didn’t have chance to learn in Korea. Also it was easy to read for me who is beginner at reading English book because it was comic book and didn’t use a hard vocabulary. Lastly, I really liked the viewpoint in this book.

Marjane, a little girl, is the main character of this book and she tells us her life story in her perspective as I said above. It helps to show the reality of that time in a way that is more honestly and plainly. She lived in very dangerous and strict society after the Islamic Revolution. And she was outspoken and interested in the problem of society so she always had trouble with things that were really threatening. But she kept coming out with a question of unfairness of the society, and she had learned many lessons in that process.

“Persepolis” didn’t use that really hard vocabulary. I think it’s because of little girl’s viewpoint. I am not an expert at English book reading, so understanding whole story without using dictionary is biggest goal. And with this book, I could accomplish my goal. Even if when I didn’t get it completely, the picture of this book helped me to understand. For example, through character’s facial expression, I could guess what was happening on that page.

However this was little bit uncomfortable to read in perspective of the affluent family. I think it leads to get biased information. According to the book, a poor people were recruited to army which was actually slaughter. At the same time, Marjane was at the party with friends and had fun time. In terms of showing opposite situation that emphasize tragedy, it was helpful but for some people, it might be uncomfortable I think.

I highly recommend this book. This will help readers to learn about the history of Iran without feeling bored. Even though it can be interpret as bit partial, I know it is inevitable problem for history related book, and the good parts of this book are enough to conceal that problem.

http://youtu.be/StgaphDN4Jw video review