Etre ou, ne pas etre, un Perse

Ayant lu, et revue une partie du film de Persepolis aujourd'hui, j'ai realize qu'une des choses les plus interessantes dans le livres, c'est le concept de les paralleles internationals. Ils existent partout et sont tres evident dans Persepolis. Notre perception de la beaute, nos emotions, notre sense de la famille, et bien beaucoup d'autre choses, sont tous des element qui reapparece dans les autres civilizations du monde.
Et bien voila, mon sujet pour le livre, cet concentration que Marjane Satrapi ait eu sur les rapport entre le monde Iranien et Europeen. En Autriche elle a demontree que les ados, etait desinteressee et hyper-sociable, et en Iran c'etait la meme histoire. Aussi, quand on evalue, le comportement des Etas-Unis et la Grande Bretagne enver l'Iran, c'etait aussi le meme cas.
So basically, She does a great job in showing the internationality of emotions and showing how Iran demonstrated them just as much as any other country, and I respect that.
It's this type of understanding that is all-too often looked over in America, and because of it, many of us have forgotten that people outside of this country are still people all the same. They live, love, and die like the rest of us, and that in itself is reason enough to keep this book to me.

Perspolis a common story?

I remember when I first saw Persepolis. I was around 13 or 14 and I was in the Chambon-Sur-Lignon in France with my familly. The first thing that I was immidiately drawn to, was the style. Being an avid visual-arts fan, I was pulled into by the intricate, yet subtle details of the artwork. Marjane Satrapi definitely was one of those artists that knew how to make every aspect count when presenting her work. The movie was, unlike many of our generation, hand-animated, and though it is not necessary to render the effect she was going for, it makes it more necessary to focus more on every minuscule thing. Her excellence I found did not only lie there, it also was in having found this incredibly sincere and compelling story of a girl living during the Iranian political changes, and her life story. For a long time, I thought that she had made-up the story, but I was abruptly told differently by a sort of Marjane of my own. She was Iranian as well, and had been a familly friend for a very long time.
We had been sitting under a shady tree, tables spread out, chairs comfortably disposed, just talking and taking in the nice summer day, when the topic all of the sudden came onto Persepolis. I immediately said I thought it was a very good movie. With pain in her voice after, our friend started detailing how it resembled her story immensly. As a young girl her familly had demonstrated against the Shah and supported the revolution. When things started going awry, her familly sent her to France to escape prosecution. She stayed as a refugee in the Prep school that my grand-father was the principal of, and stayed until she was older. She went back to Iran for a short while, but like Marjane Satrapi came back to live in France.
She told me that, not only did she feel like Perepolis was a chronicalling of her own story, but that many other Iranian women did as well. They had all felt the pain of separation from the war, and the revolution, and had all come without their famillies for a better life.
I think it's good to know that this scenario is not just a single case, there have been many that have gone through it as well.

Jane, You a Hoe...

Honestly I think that the book was very well written, it was also has a very intriguing and captivating plot line, but when it comes to the ending I must say Charlotte Bronte seemed to have whored her original intentions.
She seems to indicate in throughout the book that sticking to her beliefs, and remaining independent is what is important to Jane, but in the end, she goes against her own morals and returns to Rochester without knowing that her morals needed no breaking. Apart for the disagreeable ending, however, I really have no more complaints about the book personally. I think that Charlotte Bronte demonstrates remarkable skill and subtlety in her writing. She also has definitely mastered the art of motifs and mystery, which is why I think it is a perfectly corresponding book for College Literature. She uses most of the literary techniques that we've been focusing on in class recently, and she also provides us with an example of how to read longer, duller, and more condensed books. So my general assessment of the book was that it is a great book to read for college lit, and I would personally read it again for pleasure, but damn that ending just didn't seem wright. It was like Jane couldn't help herself when faced with the idea of pleasure, and she never used to do that in the book. Hence the title.

Rendez-Vous

He likes to stare at me from afar, his eyes creating paths engraved in my skin. Why must I be here? It's far from being the cozy room I had in Boston, where all my friends are. There are no woods here, no singing birds, nor balmy weather, just a continuously barking dog and grey. There's so much grey. It's to think that all the green and blue in the world simply disappeared. My husband says we're meeting someone of importance, though he cares not to tell me who; but I don't care. I care for nothing now but my old room, why must I be here? I remember now that he'd managed to rupture the rope tying me to it, the one thing that kept me safe from everything else. I'm sure they'll come to get me soon now, for they've come overseas with me you see...I know they're here. John tells me to be quiet, I must go now, he doesn't like it when I write.

I've still no clear idea of where we are, although John keeps on telling me the location. His eyes pierce me more and more, every time he keeps on staring at me. His eyes like daggers. He surely must know that eventually I will bleed from it, but he does nothing to stop my pain. I hate him. I wish that he would go away, and give me back my yellow wall-paper and rope. I hate him. Does he not see that I will bleed soon? Does he not care? I hate him. Thankfully my friend will be here any moment. She is the only one that truly understands my pain. Once I get home I will show her the wallpaper, and she'll understand. She despises her husband too you see. Oh how I hate mine. He will not give me back the rope he cut off from me. Now I might have to go back out. I've been resolved to stay calm and still so as to not alarm him. He can't be aware of it.

The grey is finally uplifting, turning to a light red. Oh how pretty it all is, I'm sure you'd love it Jane, it's nothing like the stain yellow that I'm accustomed to. Every time I look over things get brighter and brighter, and I feel so peaceful. John's finally done it. His cold eyes look at me as if I were grotesque. He's found my writings now and I've not known how to react to his-- oh it's so beautifull now, the red's faded into pure white, and my shoulder hardly hurts anymore. I believe my friend should be coming any minute now, i'll be sad to leave, it's so gorgeous. I have but a minute to gather my thoughts and write them down for you. I'll be happy to present all this to you when I meet you, this has all been madness you know, just plain madness. And that dog won't quit barking.

Ghosts all around

In the movie ghost town, the beginning is admittedly kind of slow in the beginning. Two regular Salinger-esque Holden Caulfield-like girls that graduate from a high school they didn't like go out into a world they don't like either. The acting seems to be off-put and the characters too distant to try to understand what's the effect their trying to portray. Needless to say I didn't like it at first, but as the movie rolls on, the title seems to make more sense. Like ghosts themselves, the plot goes from transparent to fully visible, only to disintegrate at the very end before one can quite comprehend it. As the movie went along I found myself completely absorbed and enamored with the story of a girl who can't decide what is right for her in life. She seems to be mainly conflicted in whether or not she should force herself to like the present world more, or stay shelled in the world that no longer exists but she loves. Another analogy that relates to the title Ghost Town? I think so. Like a ghost town itself she stays transfixed on the past, and tries to maintain her ways until she disappears into thin air. (Which I even more maintain was her suicide since that would be even more fitting with the title) And even though the movie may seem a little strange or eccentric at times it was exactly those eccentricities that drew me in even more to the movie.

What was your opinion of the film? What analogies where you able to find to the title? And also what did the ending mean to you?

Which is better, graphic novels or novels?

I think that for many people it is a no brainer--regualar novels. Most people don't associate good reading to what they think is just regular superhero and action comics, but as for most things in life, there really are two sides to comics. There's the side that is all about showing an extravagant action pact world, and there's the one that visits abstract ways at viewing the same world as ours. I personally have no preference between the two because they both make for good reading to me, but unfortunately not many people get to see the second side to graphic novels. I'm sure if people read books like Watchmen, Persepolis, or V for Vendetta on a more regular basis, the original question I asked would be much harder to answer for many.

so what's your preference? and name some books or graphic novels that have shaped your answer.

Reaction to Catcher in the Rye

I must say that I was very pleased with this book, although I am majorly biased to a good piece of suspenseful writing. I think that Salinger's real tribute in that book was not in fact the book itself, but the uncanny ability he has to submerge into another character. It's almost as if to write the darn story, he lived it out scrupulously writing down every notable detail along the way. When reading, I felt (and I feel like many other people felt like this too) I knew Holden Caulfield personally. Red hunting hat, handsomely face, and sullen, lying profile and all.

I have to admit that it was still a decent novel, with some well-written and interesting quirks, but I just simply want to state that, that is not what made to novel remarkably. I'll remember back fondly at reading the book, and as a matter of fact I count on re-reading it one day again, but not for the story. Instead I'll read it for general effect, and puzzlement that I get from the main character--Holden Caulfield.