Persepolis is actually the third graphic novel I have read for a college class. The other two were Maus and Fun Home. The former explores racism and the ripple effects of the Holocaust on one family and the latter has to do with homosexuality and a girl coming out to her parents, though there is so much more to it than that. All three of these are memoirs which I feel is an interesting coincidence. Why have so many people decided to write their autobiographies in the form of a comic book? Does it alleviate the pain to tell their stories in cartoon format? While I do think that this is true, I doubt it is the only reason for doing so. One thing I noticed when reading Persepolis as well as Fun Home, is that we get a more immediate and fuller realization of what the character's emotions are. While some people may see this format of writing as childish or shallow, I would like to argue for the importance of the graphic novel as literature.
Last class we were having a discussion about whether graphic novels have any literary merit and if they are just for kids. There are actually several graphic novels, aside from those mentioned above, that are quite remarkable pieces of literature and just because some have to do with superheroes does not mean that they should be overlooked. Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns are two books that are a part of the superhero tradition but their intricate story lines and complex characters allow for scholarly debate. Watchmen was also voted one of Time magazine's 100 All-Time Greatest Novels and of which they say the book is, "told with ruthless psychological realism, in fugal, overlapping plotlines." The characters in these two novels are quite rich and all too human. Especially in Watchmen, it is difficult to really call anyone a black hat villain because no one in it is all good or all bad and they have all done things that have made the world a better place and a worse place.
My favorite graphic novel of this type, however, would have to be Pride of Baghdad; a fable about a pride of lions that chews up the precious Lion King story and spits the carcass out of its bloody maw. Pride of Baghdad, just like the first three graphic novels I talked about, is also based on a true story. And, like Persepolis, it is very much a politically fueled tale, questioning during the pride's entire journey what the price of war actually is and whether it is worth it. Below I have provided a link to a very interesting article on the book.
http://dorkgasm.com/node/62/
Last class we were having a discussion about whether graphic novels have any literary merit and if they are just for kids. There are actually several graphic novels, aside from those mentioned above, that are quite remarkable pieces of literature and just because some have to do with superheroes does not mean that they should be overlooked. Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns are two books that are a part of the superhero tradition but their intricate story lines and complex characters allow for scholarly debate. Watchmen was also voted one of Time magazine's 100 All-Time Greatest Novels and of which they say the book is, "told with ruthless psychological realism, in fugal, overlapping plotlines." The characters in these two novels are quite rich and all too human. Especially in Watchmen, it is difficult to really call anyone a black hat villain because no one in it is all good or all bad and they have all done things that have made the world a better place and a worse place.
My favorite graphic novel of this type, however, would have to be Pride of Baghdad; a fable about a pride of lions that chews up the precious Lion King story and spits the carcass out of its bloody maw. Pride of Baghdad, just like the first three graphic novels I talked about, is also based on a true story. And, like Persepolis, it is very much a politically fueled tale, questioning during the pride's entire journey what the price of war actually is and whether it is worth it. Below I have provided a link to a very interesting article on the book.
http://dorkgasm.com/node/62/
Well, let me first thank you so much for putting that horrifying image of Simba being devoured and spit up in my head . . . but on to a more serious note. I was thinking about what you said about the authors' choice to write their autobiographies in a graphic novel, and I came up with another thought. Could it perhaps be because by adding pictures and a little humor a horrifying tale that would otherwise be uncomfortable to read about is more easily accessible to the average reader? I believe an author write in hopes that they will reach as many people as possible with their tale, and thus cater to the audience in such a way at times. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteBeing a secondary ed. and English major and a comic book geek I not only enjoy these types of literature but I deal with them quite often. The pictures in the graphic novel work as another piece of text. In my experience the pictures work as a compliment to the text and help the reader to decipher what is going on. I think graphic novels add more to the story than a regular novel. I love to read them.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing to note about the graphic novel is the somewhat infinite amount of ways a graphic novelist can approach the format of each page of illustrative text. Having read Maus I and II before Persepolis, I was intrigued with the way in which Spiegelman and Satrapi create variations on page layout, forcing the reader to create his/her own method of getting from the top to the bottom of the page since there is really no write or wrong way of reading it. To some extent, the reader is able to choose the chronology of each page.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny you should mention the layout of the book. When I first opened the book up to read I was surprised to be reading a book that was laid out like a comic book. Maybe the author of the book could not bring herself to write a serious novel because the events she experienced were so violent and heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI did overall enjoy reading the book. I like to read about events that have happened in the history of the world, but when they are violent events I do not like to read nor watch them on television. So, reading this violent events in the form of a comic book and from a child's perspective was something I could cope with.
I actually just read Maus myself recently, and have read Watchmen in the past, so I can say that I definitely agree with your assessment of these works; they're jarring, powerful novels that are enhanced, not hindered, by their medium. I think the reason so many artists turn to Graphic Novels, especially in (auto)biographical context, is the great amount of freedom in style it presents. In Maus, for example, Speigelman was able to use a Cat-and-Mouse allegory to instantly show the reader what it felt like to be a Jew in Nazi Territory. This is a very rare quality that can only truly be found in graphic novels.
ReplyDeleteI too thought about the significance of writing this story in the form of a comic book, rather then just another novel. I agree with Emily, that by adding the pictures and a little humor, its becomes an easier read, and more accessible to the average person. It makes it a little more bearable reading about the things that were happening to Marji and her family, in the form of a comic.
ReplyDeleteThe only other graphic novel I read was The Walking Dead which had much more visceral images but the story is also filled with deep character development. I liked how Persepolis had more simple images which fit the story more as it is the life of a child, and the way she would have viewed certain events would have been different if she had been an adult. Maybe then Satrapi would have chosen a more realistic art style.
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