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Anu's Reviews > The Complete Persepolis
The Complete Persepolis
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Anu's review
bookshelves: all-the-stars-in-the-universe, strong-female-characters, chick-lit, drama, favourites, historical, realistic-stories, autobios-and-memoirs, non-fiction, romance, satire, smells-like-teen-spirit, funny-humour, political
Jul 04, 2017
bookshelves: all-the-stars-in-the-universe, strong-female-characters, chick-lit, drama, favourites, historical, realistic-stories, autobios-and-memoirs, non-fiction, romance, satire, smells-like-teen-spirit, funny-humour, political
Persepolis (Greek: Περσέπολις Persépolis; "the Persian City" or "City of the Persians") was the ancient capital of Iran. Of course, now, quite like much of Iran, the place is in a shambles. I love history. I wanted to be a whip-cracking, pyramid raiding archaeologist when I was a child. I used to pretend to be a classy history student in an elite university, and I used to painstakingly copy "notes" from the many encyclopaedias at home. Yeah, I was a weird, rather jobless child. So sue me. My point is, I was obsessed with history; I was especially fascinated by the Middle-Eastern civilisations - everything from Hammurabi's Mesopotamia to Nebuchadnezzar's psychotic break to the Turkish Caliphs to Osama bin Laden. I devoured, I inhaled it all. It was a dream for me to visit the ancient, splendid cities like Persepolis and Aleppo and Palmyra and Nimrud...and the rest. I wanted to admire the Gate of Xerxes and the Ishtar Gate, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (why the word hanging?). I nearly cried when I found out I couldn't. Little did I know back then, that as an adult, I would choose to be fascinated by the same regions again, but for different purposes. One of my college papers was on the Syrian crisis. I took a bunch of courses so I could better understand the highly volatile situation there. Then Palmyra and Nimrud were destroyed, and I don't know why, but that broke me. And then I read Persepolis, and it broke me, yet again, in ways I couldn't imagine.
I need to recollect my thoughts on this. Full review to come.
I need to recollect my thoughts on this. Full review to come.
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Quotes Anu Liked
“It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.”
― The Complete Persepolis
― The Complete Persepolis
Reading Progress
January 24, 2016
– Shelved
January 24, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 28, 2017
–
Started Reading
June 28, 2017
–
6.74%
""That is really the problem of our country: only a Prince can allow himself to have a conscience.""
page
23
June 28, 2017
–
31.38%
"Since that day, I've had doubts about the so-called "maternal instinct.""
page
107
July 3, 2017
–
51.91%
"...as an Iranian woman, before learning to urinate like a man, I needed to learn to become a liberated and emancipated woman."
page
177
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
all-the-stars-in-the-universe
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
strong-female-characters
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
chick-lit
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
drama
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
favourites
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
historical
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
realistic-stories
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
autobios-and-memoirs
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
non-fiction
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
romance
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
satire
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
smells-like-teen-spirit
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
funny-humour
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
political
July 4, 2017
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)
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Sounds great, Anu! I saw the movie years ago but never got around to reading the book. I am sure your review will convince me! :)
Florencia wrote: "I was obsessed with history. Ah, so much mythology when I was a kid. And when I was 12, 13, I used to wake up at 5 a.m. just to watch a TV show where historians and other specialists revealed the t..."I can relate to this so much! I used to almost exclusively watch the History Channel as a kid. I also used to play Where in Time is Carmen Sandeigo, and the more gore-less educational Age of Empires, which further made me into a history freak. I should still have my notes too. I think I will look for them. :P
Oh, I understand that. I was kind of popular, but this one girl stopped talking to me because I refused to like this book. This incident did wonders to my popularity, and I gained the title of a "snob". :P
I am writing it; slightly more difficult to compile thoughts and quotes in a graphic novel.
Dolors wrote: "Sounds great, Anu! I saw the movie years ago but never got around to reading the book. I am sure your review will convince me! :)"It was, Dolors! How was the movie? I have heard many things about that as well, but I want to space my experiences, so I will wait a few months at least before watching. I'm working on the review. :)
Anuradha wrote: "Florencia wrote: "I was obsessed with history. Ah, so much mythology when I was a kid. And when I was 12, 13, I used to wake up at 5 a.m. just to watch a TV show where historians and other speciali..."Heh, I gave no sign that that was a humorous statement, my mistake! I wasn't popular at school at all. I was the girl who talked in weird ways (besides history, I also liked reading the dictionary, so adorable classmates made fun of me because they didn't understand my words). Studying still causes mockery.
Btw, that book sounds dreadful; could only read the first question of the synopsis.
Oh, I got your meaning. :P I should have made it plainer, my apologies. :P Aw, really? I did both of those, and also knew the capitals of 200 countries. Fun fact: a girl in my eighth grade decided that would be the best reason to convince all the other girls in the class not to talk to me. More fun fact: All girls except one agreed that smart girls are snobs, so they shouldn't have friends, so they all stopped talking to me. I completely get where you're coming from. I think we would've been best friends in school. ;)Ugh, it was dreadful. What's more, I was reading Crime and Punishment back then, and that's kind of heavy duty (and more mockery) for a 16-year old, so I thought it would be another fluff piece (and let myself be convinced about reading it). It was a catastrophe, that book. Would you believe like half of the people I knew back then recommended that book to me "because I like books"? O.o
Anuradha wrote: "Oh, I got your meaning. :P I should have made it plainer, my apologies. :P Aw, really? I did both of those, and also knew the capitals of 200 countries. Fun fact: a girl in my eighth grade decided ..."I think we would've been best friends in school. ;) Totally! And accompanied by beautifully snobbish books. In that case, perhaps I even wouldn't have had to transfer to another school.
Ah, lovely memories.
Waiting for the full review!