The Complete Persepolis collects the two English translated works of Marjane Satrapi (published as four separate works in their original French) chronicling her childhood to her years at school abroad (Persepolis 1) and her return to her home in Iran (Persepolis 2). The novel reads as a series of vignettes detailing important moments in Satrapi’s life as an Iranian growing up in Iran and Vienna during the Islamic Revolution.
The work is an intimate look at what it was like to grow up at a time of great political unrest and social change, and in that way serves as both a coming-of-age tale and a piece of historical nonfiction of life in war-torn Tehran. Composed entirely in black and white, Satrapi’s art style is clean and elegant, with a minimalist attention to detail, choosing to focus more on evoking the mood of what the author was experiencing at the time. It serves as a great introduction to the autobio style of graphic novel, even for young readers, as the images are cartoon-like but still manage to convey a great sense of poignancy as to the events taking place.
The book was transformed into in animated feature in 2007, and would go on to win the Cannes Jury prize and become nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards.