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Nylon Road: A Graphic Memoir Of Coming Of Age In Iran (2009)

by Parsua Bashi(Favorite Author)

3.32 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0312532865 (ISBN13: 9780312532864)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

St. Martin's Griffin

review 1: Parsua Bashi explores her life growing up in Iran through staged discussions with herself at various ages. The entire narrative is told through a flashback, revealing particular events in Bashi's life which may not have formed her but do define her. I love this set-up. The older I get the more I want to talk to my past selves. My opinions, held so tightly when I was 16, seem naive now that I am 31. Bashi with love and forgiveness argues with her younger selves, challenges their thinking while simultaneously feeling nostalgic for those versions of herself which have passed.While Islamic Iranian culture is explored, the primary focus remains on Bashi, an internal exploration of her world through her eyes. I really appreciated this personalization as too often memoirs can str... moreay a bit too far into cultural analysis without acknowledging the subjective bias inherent in a "memoir".As so many reviews of this graphic memoir mention, no comments on Nylon Road are complete without a comparison to Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, a graphic memoir about growing up in Iran (all hail the similarity). Most reviews will tell you that Persepolis is "better" than Nylon Road; I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Satrapi's memoir is certainly more historical and epic and the such not, but that is exactly why I feel it disingenuous to place to important a value on comparing the two. Just because they are both memoirs about girls growing up in Iran does not mean they should be judged against each other. I think it sufficient to say that they are both good.Moving away from the narrative to the images, grays, tans, and white are the only colors used, and I am curious to know why. What is it about this color scheme that appealed to Bashi? And why does it appeal to me? At this point, I don't really have any answers.
review 2: The positive: I really enjoyed when this GN was a meditation on how the person we are now relates to the people we used to be. Best part of the book.The summary: It's unfair, but I couldn't stop comparing it to Persepolis, and it lost that comparison. Much of her life felt like it was skimmed over or lightly treated, in favor of looking more at her own conflict about her development (this isn't bad, but did lessen my enjoyment).The negative: Good, not great. I'd recommend Persepolis over this one, but had I read this one first I would have enjoyed it more. less

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