Freshman Summer Reading: ‘Persepolis’

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By Dane Mannina

Each year for the previous four, a faculty-moderated student panel has chosen the book which all incoming Freshmen are “strongly encouraged” to read. My class, LSU ’08, was the project’s pioneer test group. We read “Fast Food Nation” which, in my humble opinion, is a fantastic book. Later, during freshmen orientation, we were called to a massive convocation in the PMAC to listen to the novel’s author, Eric Schlosser, comment on the research and writing processes involved in producing the book. We later dissembled into small groups and spoke about the book’s subject matter and its importance to our lives with faculty members. Considering that this was my first memory of an LSU classroom and the stimulating discussions they contain, I can ardently say that the Freshman Summer Reading Program is a success. And as the 2008 fall semester is close to beginning, I thought this week’s novel review should pay homage to the wonderful program which is now celebrating its fifth year.

The novel chosen this year was Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis.” This novel, a memoir of sorts, followed the life and times of Satrapi, an Iranian national, though the pressing era of the 1980 political revolution in Iran. As the novel continues from Satrapi’s early childhood to late adulthood, readers are given a first-hand perspective into a vibrant and, at often times, volatile foreign culture through the eyes of someone living history as it’s made. However, readers are often surprised at how similar their lives are to their foreign counterparts as culture barriers are effortlessly broken down through eloquently constructed satire and sometimes the crudest of childish jokes. Most of all, the raw truth of the situation saturates every page and is sometimes more than the reader can bare as we all learn to understand the differences between ideals and reality right along with young Marjane.

What makes this novel equally as phenomenal is that fact that it is composed in the graphic style of a black and white comic strip. It is incredibly easy to read and nearly impossible to put down for hours at a time.

I was able to contact a member of the tri-student panel that voted for the book and ask her exactly why she thought Persepolis was better than the other suggestions. Jan Edwards (LSU ’08) simply stated, “I was surprised at how similar I was to this girl who lived around the world and was dealing with things almost 30 years ago. I saw a lot of myself in her and her struggles through life and I felt that others would understand that as well.”

This wonderfully constructed epic journey of a young girl into womanhood is of the highest caliber of storytelling. Satrapi’s effortless ability to open her life and the life of the Iranian plight to the world is daunting. Especially considering the political climate of our generation, where the word “terrorist” is sadly becoming synonymous with foreign bodies native to the Middle East, this novel attaches a face to the nameless families and numerous victims that are left behind the footfalls of a few political extremists and reminds us all what it means to be proud of our family, heritage, and religion. As enthralling as a history lesson and as seamless as a bedtime story, Marjane Satrrapi’s Persepoli invites us to share an incredible young girl’s adventure that may one day be labeled as the “Anne Frank diary” of our generation.

Originally Published: Issue 701 - August 19, 2008

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