Post 1 Persepolis
A critic in The New York Times calls Persepolis: “the latest and one of the most delectable examples of a booming postmodern genre: autobiography by comic book.” Why do you think this genre is so popular? Why did Satrapi chose this format in which to tell her story? What does the visual aspect add that a conventional memoir lacks?
Describe Satrapi’s drawings. How do the drawings add to the narrative of the story?How does Persepolis compare to other comic books you've seen (if you've seen any)?
Would you call this a comic book, or does it transcend this and other categories? Where would you place this book in a bookstore? With memoirs, comic books, current events?
(questions courtesy Western Washington University).
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posted by Erin @ 8:12 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I can't wait for Persepolis
I have read many comic books in my past.
I think this newly emerging genre of autobiopgrahy by comic book is becoming popular because it's two art forms collaborating, people I know love to read comic books (there is this whole world of comic book readers out there, it's insane!), and there is a sense of really getting into the story and its characters when you read what they are saying and seeing the emotions of the characters.
As with regular books, you have to imagine their expressions. Both methods of reading are preferences left up to the reader.
I think having images makes the stories more action packed, more involving. Imagine reading a script versus actually watching the film. That's how I see the difference between comic books and books.
If we compare a conventional memoir, such as Kincaid's My Brother, it seems as if it was kind of boring at times to read the repetitveness of her style of writing. Images add a bit of life to a book - - look at childrens' books.
Satrapi's drawings add personality and satire, through which we are better able to understand her world and ideas. Maybe she thought she couldn't express herself like Kincaid did, with just words put to a specific writing style.
I would call this a comic book memoir. If I were to place this in a bookstore, I'd put it under the memoir section. The fact that it's styled as a comic book shouldn't change the genre. Although if Satrapi really cared, she'd make it specific to make sure that the book gets placed in a specific section of libraries and bookstores.
I wonder if they ask authors about these things....
Often at times, autobiographies are so lengthy and monotonous. Readers, of my age, generally speaking tend to daze out and completely forget what they just read. Pictures give off a better understanding of the message the writer wanted to convey as oppose to our understanding of what the author means.
Why do you think this genre is so popular?
* Because it stimulates your visual senses. Its like listening and watching a play rather than reading a book.
Why did Satrapi chose this format in which to tell her story?
* Because its more fun, plus she studied illustration and she can express herself in more than 1 way.
What does the visual aspect add that a conventional memoir lacks
* It lets you see what the author thinks and it gives the memoir more "flavor".
Describe Satrapi’s drawings. How do the drawings add to the narrative of the story?
* Her drawings are simple, informative and full of personality. They give you more visual details and say more than words could.
How does Persepolis compare to other comic books you've seen (if you've seen any)? Would you call this a comic book, or does it transcend this and other categories?
* Persepolis in longer than the regular comic book and knowing that there's a 2nd book it shows that this "comic story" has a sense of idea organization, regular comic books don't have this, they are usually unrelated stories that don;t follow an specific order. and . I wouldn't put the 2 in the same category.
Where would you place this book in a bookstore? With memoirs, comic books, current events?
* I would place it in the memoir section because it _is_ the recolection of her life from ages 6-14.
I don't know exactly how popular this genre is to give an explanation of why it is so popular. I know that there have been a couple movies in the last few years that were based on graphic novels, but I wouldn't want to use that as a measuring stick for the popularity of graphic novels. I can make a guess as to why they might have an appeal - the obvious reason is that they're visual and this is an ever-increasingly visual society. But the real reason is that our society is stuck in a vacuum of immaturity. Most of the consumers of graphic novels are adults, just like most consumers of video games. Our society needs things that fills the adolescent void we're constantly striving to keep open. We don't like challenges. We don't like to think. We don't like reality. We'd rather read the watered-down,told through the eyes of a little girl so it's a schmaltzy coming of age story, comic book version of the Iranian Revolution, rather than reading actual historical sources. Jamaica Kincaid's mother is our collective consciousness, moistening, chewing, and spitting our food into our mouths - the only way we're willing to swallow.
The drawings are simple and they fit the story because the story is for children. It's about a strong-willed 10 year-old girl who grows up. There's a couple scenes in there that are for adults, but this is basically a children's story with a couple bad words so adults don't feel guilty for reading a children's book. I may not have said this if I didn't read the author bio and saw that she's a children's author who studied illustration, but I did and so I think what I think. There is nothing wrong with it being a kid's story, and the simplicity of the drawings complement the simplicity of the story.
Persepolis is a comic book with a fancy cover. It's good in its intention - telling a very one-sided story from the perspective of a rich girl too young to know what's going on and too rich to be directly affected (she didn't know her uncle existed until a couple days before he was executed), but it is for this reason I would not be able to put it in a Current Event or even a Biography section. One can't expect to learn anything about the Iranian Revolution reading this, nor can they honestly say they know a great deal about the author's life. This is a novel. There have been many great novels based on author's lives, but they wouldn't necessarily be considered autobiographies. Of course, who's to draw the line? Not me, but you get the point.
Due to the nature of Iran's ongoing political situation in the global landscape, I think it would be fair to say that some understanding of a situation is better than none at all. For instance, in the self-interested United States, most people who are not of Iranian descent do not try to understand veils, except to discount them as another culture's traditions. And like the author's comic of "Dialectic Materialism", it is easily digestible for an audience not normally prone to finding out more about another culture or like using an idiot's guide to Iran.
I believe the graphic novel has always been looked down upon as not quite a literary work, but has been thrown into the genre of comics just to stay there until people like Spiegelman (author of Maus) had revolutionized the way that they are perceived. (One of my favorite illustrators/storytellers is Wil Eisner who wrote true short stories about the tenements in the Bronx in the early 20th century.)
Coming from an artistic point of view, the drawings are of very simplistic nature, black and white, not color and definitely not the greatest illustrations. Very similiar to Maus. I feel that the author ripped off a lot of the ideas that Spiegelman had previously had.
I would not call this a graphic novel that is categorized as a comic (like Sandman or any of the Frank Miller stuff that is fictional)...I might categorize it as a graphic novel of memoirs if I had to place it in a bookstore.
Persepolis brought up an interesting query. Who is really a hero?
I’m not sure how popular “autobiography by comic book” has become, but I find it an interesting twist to the common storytelling style. The format of the story is very straightforward and if you add the illustrations and the clever bits of humor, Satrapi really engages the reader by making the story fun and easy to understand for anyone interested in learning a little bit about what occurred in Iran. Furthermore, the black and white illustrations make the thoughts and experiences of Satrapi clearer and leave a greater impact because unlike an average memoir where readers can sometimes find tedious or overwhelming with details so that many people tend to skip pages or forget important details, a simple picture that evokes a lot of emotion can be unforgettable. For instance, I thought the last drawing fitted nicely with the conclusion because even though the story was generally not a hard core one, but a pretty light perspective of what went on in Iran, it made me sympathize with the family and made me think of how it’s the family, whether Iranian or not, that ultimately suffers the most during times of war and chaos. As for placing the book in a bookstore, if there was not already a category for autobiography by comic book, I would probably put half under graphic novels and the remaining copies under memoirs and let the buyers decide on an appropriate category.
An autobiography through the medium of a comic book is popular because it a new twist on the old autobiography. It's a fusion which gives a very visual aspect to the storytelling. Not only is that why I think Satrapi chose this format, but because how the cartoonish drawing of the pictures greatly reflect the images she would have as a little girl. The scene of a torture could and should have been dripping with gore and blood which is what one would think of with the act of torture, but the scene was simply an iron with some swiggly lines on it. So, the simple and childish visual style of the comic is right on bar with the simple and childish view of a little girl looking at a war.
Although it holds a comic book background, I would not place it on a comic rack cause it'll probably just fall off. I would categorize it as a current event/memoirs, it's a unique approach on something relatively modern.
I have never read any sort of comic book before- ever - so this is really my first time reading a book like Persepolis. One thing that I noticed right away is that I usually tend to have a great sense of imagination while I read a novel. For example when we read My Brother it was up to us, the reader, to picture the story in our minds. What people look like, the setting. I usually enjoy painting my own picture of a novel. I feel that that’s one of the major tools that is given to a reader in order so that each reader can interpret the story their own way. While reading Persepolis I feel very limited because the pictures are already laid out for us. There is no room for me to think outside the box.
On the other hand a huge advantage to this form of writing is that if the author has a certain, set message to get across and wants to be positive that the message is received, maybe limiting the reader is the best way to go.
I find Persepolis very interesting and very modern in it's style. I enjoy the comic strips and I can even see the sarcasm in some of the sketches. I actually disagree with Leah armout-levy,I actually believe there is still much to be interpreted in those sketches. There is much we have to put together in our minds and try to decipher what message is being given to the readers at different times of the book.
One thing that I really admire of this book already is the fact that each section has a different title and I can only imagine how difficult that must have been to do while writting this. Each section having a different plot of it's own and setting up the following chapter or section. I wonder however, Did Satrapi choose the best style of writting to tell her story?
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