9/10
It's so easy to get lost in the Iranian media making up stories about the West and vice versa. In Iran's view, everything was going great till the West intervened because of the potential of oil and ruined the region forever. In the West's view, Iran was a repressive region that knew only one thing - to brutalise its citizens, and it had to intervene. But what is the truth, really?
Marjane Satrapi, the great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor, brings a lot of light to the issue through her memoir. Still, at the same time, you have to be a simpleton to misconstrue the autobiography as a study on the history of Iran. Partially it is that, yes, but it is so much more.
Marjane bares it all - her vulnerabilities; her acts of stupidity; her views on religion, Iran and feminism; but most of all - her bravery. Islam and liberalism are neither glorified nor portrayed as the be-all-end-all of everything - there's a nuanced portrayal visible. No act of courage is great or small - whether it's making trousers partially visible outside the veil or whether it's protesting for human rights along with your family.
There's so much to take away from this masterpiece - whether it's the multifaceted interpretation of human 'rights' or how intersectional feminism plays out in real life. It's incredible just how many topics Marjane touches upon, but the topic that touched me the most would be Marjane's relationship with her parents. Her parents don't ask her if anything is wrong if she looks troubled, and they respect her privacy. They let her make her own choices, regardless of the possible outcome, as seen when Marjane's father admitted that he knew she would get separated from Reza. Marjane wholeheartedly admits that her own family is not perfect but still loves them all the same - I think that should be the real takeaway from the novel. Must-read. ( )

Fascinating revelations about a remarkable man. Oppenheimer was born at the same time as my father. I was born the day after WW II ended. The story is a chronicle of events of my time. It has the great virtue of giving historical perspective. I still remember our fears and worries about Russia and its control over members of the communist party. I recall a TV show called I led three lives about a man who has infiltrated the communist party to spy on it. I remember bomb drills in school - getting under our desks for protection. Russia apparently crippled itself with the social and financial sacrifices it made to become a nuclear power.
The personal aspects of Oppenheimer’s story are what really made this an interesting book. I had no idea he was a sailor or that he had spent time in The Virgin Islands. I first sailed in the Virgin Islands. Perhaps his wife was still there then.
I see it as a tragedy that he was a smoker. Tobacco has been responsible for so much premature death and suffering.
He was truly a Renaissance man with amazing recall.
The book enters the debate about whether we should have dropped the bomb. One tangential reason given was to get Japan to surrender before Russia entered the war against Japan. It occurred to me that if Russia had been a party to the surrender then Japan might have been partitioned as Germany was at the wars end. I believe that would have been bad - perhaps causing as much destruction as the bomb. Perhaps it needed to be used once to inhibit future use. I am looking forward to seeing the movie. It’s hard to see how it can explore Oppenheimer’s life the way the book did. ( )

She takes you right there into her life--an Iranian girl raised liberated. I learned a lot about Iranian history which I probably should have known already: the revolution against the Shah, the war with Iraq. It's good autobiography, though very sad. ( )

I take back every crappy comment I've ever made about graphic novels. They rock! ( )

There's not much I can say about this book that hasn't already been said but I will say that it did a very good job of humanising Iran to me and making me acknowledge a lot of (completely incorrect) preconceived notions I had about Iran in terms of people, geography, sociopolitical systems, etc, etc, etc.

Highly recommended read. But if you read comics, you probably already know that. ( )