Blagdaross

I guess this won’t be a Osneresque blog after all. Writing about works of arts is hard! I’ve started writing about a book, and even if the posts are brief and unpretentious, as I planned, it takes more effort thtan other types of posts. Also, I probably don’t read enough books.

Luckily, I don’t have much to say about Persepolis, so it’s not as hard to put it in writing. I read the first volume last month, and my tentative verdict is: Pretty decent, but hardly a masterpiece. One thing that did surprise me, that I don’t remember anyone noting, is how clearly influenced its storytelling techniques to the far superior Epileptic by David B, who also wrote the introduction.

The dream sequences, most obviously, but generally David B’s startling ways of showing his inner life, as well as telling his parents story, and incorporating narration. Maybe the art too a little, though Satrapi’s art is much simpler (and fairly undistinguished). Maybe reading Persepolis first would make Epileptic seem less impressive and original than it is.

She manages to convey the time and place, but even though it’s often all about her inner life (the David B influence), it’s oddly impersonal, you don’t get too close to her, and certainly not any other characters.