365 Days of Books

Persepolis 2 is, of course, the sequel to Persepolis which I read earlier this Summer. At the end of Persepolis, Marjane was being sent away from Iran by her parents to the safety and sanity of Vienna. In Persepolis 2 Marjane chronicles, with great honesty, her sojourn. She has been sent to live with an Aunt but soon finds herself living without the support of family or community. Marjane struggles to fit in and to not fit in...to be normal but to find that normal outside of the mainstream (where she REALLY doesn't fit in). She encounters situations and adopts habits of which even her liberal parents would not understand or approve. Looking for friendship and stability Marjane finds herself stumbling along believing the best of everyone until she can not mistake their racism or use of her for anything close to friendship. Betrayed and embarrased to admit her failure to her family, MArjane burns several bridges behind her and ends up living on the trains and streets for several monthes. She finally reaches out to her parents only to find that they have always had their arms and hearts open to her. Shaken by her failure in the West, Marjane returns to Iran. Always sassy, she returns to the veiled life a depressed woman. She attempts suicide, her anger and pain are very present. Failing at suicide, she feels a new lease to life and embarks on a dichotomy of veiled life and wild parties. She attends art school, marries, and divorces. Along the way she tries to retain the confidence that her parents had nurtured in her from her childhood; she argues for more appropriate clothing for female art students, talks back to religious enforcers who chastise her for the way her bottom bounces when she runs for a bus, and re-evaluates who she is and who she wants to be. This is all done against the backdrop of militant religious oppression the effects of which are show on Marjane and among her friends and family.

I gave copies of this book to a 12 year old girl, those women in their 30's-40's, and the couple in their 70's. I recommended the book to several men and women in their 40-50's. I read this book along with a 9 year old girl who read Persepolis; we were able to talk about the drug and sexual experiences as part of Marjane's whole story.