Saturday, June 17, 2006
book report: Embroideries
Embroideries
by Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi is the author of the "Persepolis" books, which I enjoyed a great deal. So when I heard she had a new book out, I requested it from the library right away. But it really didn't do much for me... the thing that was so great about the Persepolis books was that the combination of her sparse, direct writing and her striking illustrations gave her story an immediacy that words alone could not. But in Embroideries, I didn't get that same sense of immediacy. The structure of the book might explain my problem with it - it is set as a conversation with a group of women, friends and family members, talking about their sex lives and sexual issues. But as each of them tells her story, the reader is taken out of the moment and pushed into a different experience, then yanked back into the group's conversation. I found it difficult to get involved with each character because there was such a short time with each one - especially in a graphic novel where words are few anyway.
Even though this is a pretty negative review, I'll definitely go looking for Satrapi's next book. She's got an interesting take on the world and I'm curious to see what she tackles next.
by Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi is the author of the "Persepolis" books, which I enjoyed a great deal. So when I heard she had a new book out, I requested it from the library right away. But it really didn't do much for me... the thing that was so great about the Persepolis books was that the combination of her sparse, direct writing and her striking illustrations gave her story an immediacy that words alone could not. But in Embroideries, I didn't get that same sense of immediacy. The structure of the book might explain my problem with it - it is set as a conversation with a group of women, friends and family members, talking about their sex lives and sexual issues. But as each of them tells her story, the reader is taken out of the moment and pushed into a different experience, then yanked back into the group's conversation. I found it difficult to get involved with each character because there was such a short time with each one - especially in a graphic novel where words are few anyway.
Even though this is a pretty negative review, I'll definitely go looking for Satrapi's next book. She's got an interesting take on the world and I'm curious to see what she tackles next.
Labels: book reports
