tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543116121986858859.post-59647070401571604482008-02-03T15:20:00.000-08:002008-02-03T16:13:30.704-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_tl_5k_GnTX4/R6ZMiXN1ykI/AAAAAAAAAL4/blmRjJ-9Tss/s1600-h/240px-Persepolis-books1and2-covers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_tl_5k_GnTX4/R6ZMiXN1ykI/AAAAAAAAAL4/blmRjJ-9Tss/s200/240px-Persepolis-books1and2-covers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162898176058182210" border="0" /></a>I finally got around to reading Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel/coming of age memoir about growing up in Iran, Austria and back in Iran. With the film version coming soon (it took the Jury Prize at Cannes), a new version that collects both parts in one volume has been released. First off I enjoyed the comic, but it certainly didn't enthrall me. The honours given the film make me wonder if the story works better as an animated film than as a comic.<br /><br />Why didn't I love it? On the large scale I don't think it ever became more than a personal memoir. Marjane recounts her life from age 10 to 14, when her parents, concerned for her safety in Iran, send her to Austria. After about four years in Austria she returns to Iran and the narrative continues for several more years. Obviously one gets an eye-opening look at what it was like to live in Iran in the 1980s and 1990s. It was terrible, both in terms of interior suppression and exterior warfare. It's interesting as far as following her around and hearing about her experiences and environments goes, but a number of her experiences are glossed over very quickly, too quickly for me to feel they'd been treated satisfactorily. Other scenes receive more detail but perhaps don't add enough to the story as a whole. Ultimately the story didn't coalesce into a great revelation, or moral truth beyond the rather lame and overused notion that one can only learn from their own mistakes. This personal lesson comes off rather trite considering the backdrop.<br /><br />It can be difficult to identify with characters who make decisions we wouldn't. This was occasionally a struggle for me. I felt too much time was spent on the Austrian years; they have their moments, but I thought her experience of alienation could have been done more concisely and powerfully. And perhaps this is why it might work better as a film - there's certainly a good story here, but it's very episodic, unfolding in small bit after small bit. Many of these individual scenes work well but the whole might be better structured.<br /><br />I like the art, which is simple and bold in black and white. I'm glad to have had some glimpse into a nation that is run by an Islamic regime. And I'm interested to see what they did with the movie.Andrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16626782654130983699noreply@blogger.com