I thought that the first book of Persepolis was a totally awesome book. It was my first graphic novel ever, outside of the comic strips, and it left a very good impression on me.
One thing that caught my attention was the way that Marji had a certain innocence about her that got shortened due to the war. She was so young, yet she chose to stand up and fight for what she thought was right and was willing to leave her childhood behind. I also liked how it seemed as if we were reading a book from our culture. For example, the kids went to school, had friends that they played with, and enjoyed television. I guess this is just illustrating how much our cultures are alike, and how much people blow the differences of our culture/religion out of proportion.
I really enjoyed this reading experience. Especially coming from a text like Jane Eyre. It was a good text to relax to, but also had the suspense and conflict of an action story. It was a good way of proposing large, revolutionary ideas in a simple way. '
Definitely keep this book as part of the curriculum! It was my favorite book we read this term. All of them were interesting and compelling, but this one ties in well with my interest of foreign politics and anthropology. This made it very easy to like. It's also a good experience for everybody to read a graphic novel. This was my first one, and learned things about them I would have never known otherwise. The pictures and text together allow you to literally critique the works in two different ways. Visually and textually.
Glad to know that you had a good experience reading this book, John! It really was a good book. Also, you had a great point about how similar our cultures are. However, I don't know if that's common among the Iranians of the time. Marji did grow up in an extremely revolutionary household, so it may not be the typical experience of an Iranian family during the Iranian Revolution. Of course, I'm not exactly an expert on Iran, so I'm not totally in a position to say, but it's something to think about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on all three things. You bring up a good point with how similar the kids were to us. It may seem like we are completely different in our lifestyles, but the novel made it look like we share similar interests. I also enjoyed reading this. Jane Eyre was a pain, but Persepolis drew me in. I think we should keep it also because it is a new type of writing style that students should be exposed to. It taught us a lot about Iran as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you John I agree that it seams like their culture is very similar to ours. I agree with Jake that Jane Eyre was a pain to get though and this one was intriguing
ReplyDeleteJohn. This is awesome.I also loved seeing how her childhood was similar to mine and my friends even though we were in two different places, but then also contrasting the two and realizing how different my life would've been if America would've been going through a revolution. The action and suspense of the book also kept me constantly intrigued, especially accompanied by the artwork.
ReplyDelete