Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

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.

Amazing book, beautiful edition.

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

I enjoyed first book. This one becomes boring and I did not finish it.

I loved the original film Persepolis and I loved watching the special features that told more of the story of the author's life and vision. I have bought the DVD twice! (One for a daughter who has since moved away, and then a copy for us to keep).I was really excited to get this, as my very first graphic novel purchase. I'm still committed to enjoying it and already enjoyed reading the first several chapters, but I am REALLY disappointed in how small each story frame is, and how TINY the print is to read!!First of all (I disagree with an earlier reviewer that the artwork is boring and dimensionless), I think Marjane's art work deserves to be enjoyed and seen in much larger frames. Each one to be enjoyed, not little compressed thumbnails all crammed onto a page. I think each print (frame) is full page or at least quarter page worthy! If she drew all of this as it is presented, the book pages should be MUCH larger. The art deserves to be larger and to be enjoyed.The publishing designers made sure the outer cover is gorgeous, there is plenty of margin space around each page, yet each story frame (with a few exceptions) is so small. I have looked over the shoulder of a guy in an airplane reading a graphic novel and been able to read the print. But I might need to get glasses before I set out to finish this book which was my birthday present to myself!