Briefly reviewed by Mistin Wilkinson
It’s been a long time since I completed a book – not that I’ve read a book, but that I’ve completed a book; and this one was accomplished in record time! It’s not that I’m not a reader – I am! Reading is important and valuable, but completing a non-audio book in actual paperback – that’s been a while. I have a whole stack of books that are more than half way through, but oh the distractions. . .
Persepolis was an exception in so many ways!
1 – I read the entire thing!
2 – I read it fast!
3 – I knew it was gonna end badly, and I kept going.
4 – It ended badly and I cried, and have cried in each recounting of the storyline.
5 – I couldn’t even sleep – not because it was horror, but because it was horribly real.
And now the real confession: It’s a graphic novel. That’s a first for me too and explains the quick read. The comic style stole nothing from the depth of communication though. In fact, I think it enhanced the drama of the story in a plethora of ways.
Do I recommend it? YES – so much so that I shared it with my 11 year old daughter who completed it’s 153 pages in just over an hour. She didn’t cry as I did, but then she’s only been a daughter, never a mother, and never suffered through war or anything close to the kind of loss and desperation this story communicates.
The historically based tale takes place in Iran around the time of the Revolution encompassing a few years both sides of 1979. Many lives are lost, many thought processes are challenged, compromised and changed. And then possession of Michael Jackson’s picture gets a young jean-jacket clad teenager in serious trouble.
Do you wonder if you can relate to people in Middle Eastern countries? You can and you will as you read this story of a young girl’s wrestling to make sense of it all.
Moving on … please read the story, don’t forget those who have suffered for your freedoms, and lend me a copy of Persepolis II.
