Read for Your Rights Book Club: " Persepolis"

The Read for Your Rights book club is a 5-session series celebrating our access to unique and explorative information and stories through America’s Libraries. This series culminates with reading George Orwell’s 1984 during the month of October, in conjunction with the American Library Association’s Banned Book week theme “Censorship is so 1984.” 
 

We will read a selection of books that have been at one time banned by state or local systems and embark on enjoying stories told in a variety of voices, times, and circumstances.

Intergenerational participation is encouraged to explore books across life experiences. Age 16+

Participation in all 5 sessions is not required.

All sessions are from 7-8pm on the last Tuesday of the month in the East Lyme Room.

• Tuesday, September 30th: Persepolis by Marjane Satrap
• Published (in the US): 2004
• Genre: Memoir in Graphic Novel form
• Central themes: Country level revolution, Gender, personal vs political

• Publisher Description: In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the coming-of-age story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

  Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.