Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return (Pantheon Graphic Library)

Amazing book, beautiful edition.

Most people don’t know this book exist, it is a shame , a very important sequel.

Yes, this is a reader review that bashes reader reviews. At best, they are useful like prophecy, to make sense of things AFTER they have transpired. I bash because, in a moment of weakness after finishing the first installment of Persepolis, I read some reader reviews of this second installment when deciding whether I should buy and continue (I’m not always a fan of sequels). And while I found many glowing (yet vague) reviews, I also found several dissatisfied ones.So I remained unconvinced. But when piling up tomes for my usual summer binge, the low price proved too enticing. And thus I started one day, finished two days later, and had reason to bash reader reviews, for the shame of letting a few crass “readers” delay me from this book.This volume picks up in Austria, after the end of volume 1. Satrapi pursues her story in a similar episodic style as the first, exploring the challenges of searching for one’s identity, the difference this time being teenagedom into the early twenties. Satrapi expertly addresses ostracism, the loneliness of pursuing your own way, the challenges of love, the ridiculousness of others and their systems and philosophies. Satrapi, just like in the first volume, ties together the seemingly disjointed narrative into a splendid whole by the end, showing us that there indeed had always been a target. And along the way, we learn with her the wisdom the world has to offer. Another fine work from an amazingly talented writer and artist with a fascinating story to tell.

the persepolis books (I & II) are more than the life of an iranian girl told in comic form; they're also the story of an artist finding her self in a globalized society. marjane satrapi saw the worst of the islamic revolution as a child, and eventually her parents sent her to convent school in vienna to escape. but from the brittle moralisms of the nuns to the ban on nude models in art classes, marjane makes it more than apparent that the west doles out more than its share of senseless, self-serving rules and regulations.satrapi wrings every bit of irony, humor, and pathos out the combination of first person narration and graphics. her characterizations are always clear but never cliched and her break-neck narrative style (growing 2 feet in three small frames) depends on both text and graphic for meaning. most importantly we are watching the artist learn how to become an artist, looking at the development not only of a singular spirit but also of a globalized sensibility. satrapi owes as much to iranian storytelling as she does to western graphic art, and it's no surprise that her books (like most comics) are easily translated and easier to digest in translation.if satrapi's form travels well, her narrative travels even better. frame by frame, page by page, satrapi struggles first to do what she wants and then just to survive. between the crummy boyfriend and the marijuana smoke, the informers and the morality police, a self takes shape. part western teenager, part islamic mystic, satrapi is a true hybrid, something entirely different than her antecedents. her story is not about east or west, north or south, pictures or words, but about integration; the struggle of every young person caught between innnocence and the hate machines we know as political structures. a portrait of the artist without borders, persepolis II is its own war on terror, fought with pen and ink and dedicated to brave hearts and free spirits everywhere.

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic memoir detailing her high school years away from Iran and her eventual return to the country of her birth. This book is a follow up to her Persepolis and pretty much starts off where the first book left off.Once again Satrapi uses the graphic style to tell her story and the visuals really add to her words and in a few places taking the place of words altogether giving weight to the phrase that a 'picture tells a thousand words.' In this part of her story Satrapi chronicles the isolation she felt while going to school in Austria. The uncertainty of never really fitting in to any one group and the search of trying to figure out just who she was. While in Austria she experienced so many freedoms that she never could have dreamed of while living in Iran. She also had to deal with peoples misperceptions of what it meant to be Iranian. In the end, once she graduated from high school she felt that the only way to learn who she was, was to return to the country of her birth.Once back in Iran Satrapi faces a new struggle. The one of trying to fit back into a box that she no longer fit into. It was a hard reality for her to face when she realized that she had become so adjusted to the freedoms she had in Europe that she forgot what living in the repressive atmosphere in Iran was like. Satrapi had fled back to Iran looking for a place to belong and instead she found that even there she didn't have an identity. She was too westernised now to fit comfortably back into her old skin.Satrapi does a wonderful job of telling her story and in conveying all the emotions and the struggles that she faced both at school in Austria and back home in Iran. Her search to find out her identity was at times tragic and at others times amazingly beautiful. Her style of writing and drawing really conveyed all the emotions that she must have been feeling at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed this additional glimpse into Satrapi's life and will be on the look out for any additional works that she might come out with. What can I say....sometimes I'm a horrible voyeur!See my other reviews at tickettoanywhere.blogspot.com