Grey

The first time I started reading this novel, I put it down after a couple of chapters of Marjane's early childhood. I still maintain that the first chunk of the book was the boring part, full of long expository dialogue from the father educating Marjane and the audience on Iranian politics, and not much else. Once you get past that and into Marjane's teenagerhood, it gets interesting. The thing is, most people go into Persepolis expecting a political biography, but really, it serves best as a memoir of odd, quirky, funny, tragic tales from Satrapi's life.

Some people view the art as a turn-off, but I like it. Satrapi makes good use of the black and white style, although, there's no doubt it benefits from the additions to the palette in the movie (which is great, by the way).

The best thing about this book was Marjane herself, definitely. As a main character, she's one of my favourites in any medium - she's flawed, yet likable, grows and changes throughout the book, and has a good sense of humour. Her struggles in the book, no matter how stupid, impulsive or naive, are always relatable, and that's what I liked most about this book.

If you can't be bothered reading 340 pages, I highly recommend the movie, which, from memory, covers pretty much everything in the book.