I feel that there is a huge importance to reading work by authors who have a different background and point of view from your own. When I took Pop Culture last spring, one of the topics we discussed was comics and graphic novels. Immediately this conjures mental images of Peanuts strips, Archie books, the classic super hero comic books, and collections such a Dilbert and The Far Side. We think of them as fun and funny, full of action, or heroics. But there is a lot more depth to the genre.
One of the examples of more serious illustrated works that was included was titled Embroideries, and was penned by Marjane Satrapi. The description of the book caused quite a stir in the class, and one male student decried the work as on par with "the real housewives," saying that no one should want to read that kind of garbage. Some of us were intrigued however, and I searched out Starapi's work.
I have now read not only Embroideries, but also her other books Persepolis, Persepolis II, Chicken with Plums and The Sigh. All except The Sigh are memoirs in the from of graphic novels. I feel like there is a real reason for doing this, and that it is an important medium. Graphic novels are an engaging format, and they reach readers who might not otherwise approach the material. Satrapi's works give a historical view into the lives of real Iranians. They give us an idea of their perspective and what was really going on in their country at that time. But I think most importantly, they reach the reader in a way that we can all relate to. They humanize a group of people who have all too often become lumped together and stereotyped.
Satrapi's work is available for purchase here.
In 2007 a film based on the books was produced. I have yet to see it, but am including the trailer below to help illustrate what I feel is really the point of her work.
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