Died of "sadness" ... that's incredibly sad. I mean, I know it's possible, but it seems so surreal to hear.
French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
51–60 of 141 posts
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s a rather uncharitable take on what the poster you’re responding to wrote. I read Persepolis a few years ago, and it’s hard not to come away with a similar impression. The first part often does resemble a fairy tale of sorts, while the second part is a pretty dark story of teenage alienation. The contrast is jarring, and it goes well beyond “duh nobody’s perfect”. Both parts are excellent in their own right, an…
What's jarring to many people is it isn't the three act hero's journey of a noble savage. The "something" going on is that it isn't a copy of just about the only narrative in western mythos: 1. Departure - from a humble background the subject leaves amid struggle 2. Growth and Initiation - the subject discovers who they are building themselves into the hero they'll become 3. Heroic Return - the now hero makes a retur…
I think you make a fine analysis, but I would just offer that real life can be quite jarring and uncomfortable. So a story which paints a very real picture of life (rather than constructing a narrative) might just be unpleasant. I don't think her story is poorly written, and I think it is quite memorable.
For reference, I also really enjoyed the Catcher in the Rye, and there are some superficial similarities: a young person is scarred by events in their lives and succumbs to depression. (there are a myriad of differences between the two stories -- I'm not drawing an equivalence, just making one comparison)
Catcher in the Rye is probably best read as an angry teenager: you meet Holden Caufield and he's witty, cynical, funny, defiant, etc. You might fall in love with the character, but what you ultimately learn is that he's a miserable failure; he lost the battle with his depression and so many of the people he was cutting down were just normal, decent people trying to enjoy their lives.
Crucially, we never meet Holden when he is young, bright eyed, and innocent. The narrative structure shows us who he is right away, and we the reader learn that this is actually quite a bad thing throughout the course of the story.
Persepolis works a bit differently: we spend the first half of the book with innocent, bright-eyed Marjane and we fall in love with that character. The character we fall in love with is taken from us by the events of the story, by living unsupervised in exile, etc. It's nothing but sad. It's well-written, it's very memorable, but I don't think there's anything wrong with feeling unhappy about an unhappy turn of events.
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#53Died of "sadness" ... that's incredibly sad. I mean, I know it's possible, but it seems so surreal to hear.
It's incomplete without the rest of the sentence: "a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life"
Grief is not just metaphorical, severe bereavement can affect health in very real ways.
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s a rather uncharitable take on what the poster you’re responding to wrote. I read Persepolis a few years ago, and it’s hard not to come away with a similar impression. The first part often does resemble a fairy tale of sorts, while the second part is a pretty dark story of teenage alienation. The contrast is jarring, and it goes well beyond “duh nobody’s perfect”. Both parts are excellent in their own right, an…
What's jarring to many people is it isn't the three act hero's journey of a noble savage. The "something" going on is that it isn't a copy of just about the only narrative in western mythos: 1. Departure - from a humble background the subject leaves amid struggle 2. Growth and Initiation - the subject discovers who they are building themselves into the hero they'll become 3. Heroic Return - the now hero makes a retur…
Persepolis absolutely DOES use the “hero’s journey” narrative archetype you’re claiming it avoids. The second part even ends by explicitly stating that she has grown into a different person, and is now ready to “face the world” when she leaves her family for the second time.
Indeed, the story is quite Western overall, which is perhaps unsurprising, given that the author had already been living in the West for over a decade when she wrote it.
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you talked with actual Iranians or people who've been in Iran, they would corroborate what I said. The IRGC truly aims to control every aspect of people's lives - it's less pronounced in places like Tehran, but it's definitely there. Hell, if you read Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, you would find plenty of similar examples. The haircuts are just the cherry on top of that authoritarian cake. Also, the west is not ju…
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join the club, pal
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#56Has there been any study that analyses the frequency of natural death of one shortly after death of his/her partner. How different is that compared to what one would expect assuming statistical independence and based image and health adjusted mortality curves.
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#57Died of "sadness" ... that's incredibly sad. I mean, I know it's possible, but it seems so surreal to hear.
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Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve always wondered how much of the second part is truth and how much is fiction. That a teenage girl from Iran, living by herself in Central Europe with essentially no local connections, would become a drug dealer to her classmates, and on top of that somehow be let off the hook for it by the headmaster, stretches credibility a little bit.
Idk, I didn’t read this book. But I lived a similar version of that reality in a conservative southern US town. My home life was challenging. I sold drugs and generally was a rebellious troublesome teenager. All the officials in my school and local law enforcement gave me kind slaps on the wrist compared to what they could/should have. I had to assume they were trying to get me to a point of adulthood without having…
The lenience you enjoyed presumably resulted in problems or harm for others.
I got a few breaks as well as a kid too. I think teenage boys end up being a community investment and people are cleaning up broken windows, stolen cars, graffiti, and worse as we hope the kids grow up.
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's jarring to many people is it isn't the three act hero's journey of a noble savage. The "something" going on is that it isn't a copy of just about the only narrative in western mythos: 1. Departure - from a humble background the subject leaves amid struggle 2. Growth and Initiation - the subject discovers who they are building themselves into the hero they'll become 3. Heroic Return - the now hero makes a retur…
I think you make a fine analysis, but I would just offer that real life can be quite jarring and uncomfortable. So a story which paints a very real picture of life (rather than constructing a narrative) might just be unpleasant. I don't think her story is poorly written, and I think it is quite memorable. For reference, I also really enjoyed the Catcher in the Rye, and there are some superficial similarities: a young…
> So a story which paints a very real picture of life (rather than constructing a narrative) might just be unpleasant.
May be, but to someone going through similar life experiences an honest story might give their internal emotions some validation. Art can do wonders in that "I am not the only one" aspect.
Ethan Hawke talks about that aspect of art here https://youtu.be/WRS9Gek4V5Q?si=P2Hz1ZnXWlP93f2U
One of my favorite videos.
Re: French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, author of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
#60Has there been any study that analyses the frequency of natural death of one shortly after death of his/her partner. How different is that compared to what one would expect assuming statistical independence and based image and health adjusted mortality curves.