But Christina lets me help decide what books to read. One of her latest suggestions was a graphic novel, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. For those of you who don't know, a graphic novel is a book that contains a story that is accompanied by some form of art. The term encompasses a broad range of works that can be fiction or non fiction. Think grown up comic book!
So this was a chance for me to try something I had never done before. At first I thought it would be a bit difficult. I never liked comics growing up so I thought I would not enjoy this read. But once I got into it I really liked the author's style. I thought the artwork might be distracting, but I found her story and drawings to go very well together to form a complete story.
The author tells her story about growing up in Iran after the Shah has been overthrown and replaced by religious leaders. Her family participates in protests against the new regime and she recounts the fear and uncertainty she felt as a child. As a history nerd I really enjoyed the topic. As an American who doesn't have a whole lot of knowledge on the subject I did find parts of it a bit confusing, and I found myself wondering as I read it how it was received in her country.
At our book club the girls gave it good reviews. For many of them this was their first graphic novel as well. They crack me up because they always love to read the books, but when it comes to discussing them they clam up. Little by little they are opening up, but it's pretty funny to watch them awkwardly not make eye contact when you ask them a question about the book.
I really enjoyed trying something new with one of my favorite hobbies. I got the second book at the public library as well as Maus by Art Speigleman. I am very excited to give them a try and I reccomend that if you haven't tried a graphic novel yourself that you give it a chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment