Satrapi, Marjane - Persepolis 2

I liked this, but not half as much as I liked Persepolis. While Persepolis was on a childhood spent in post-1979 Iran, Persepolis 2 is the story of Satrapi's teenage years in Europe and her return to Iran. I feel rather bad saying that I liked the first book better because of the intertwining of the personal and the political, of the view it gave me of living in Iran at that time. The second book is still interesting, but once Satrapi leaves Iran, the book is much more about her personal life and assorted teenage bad decisions. Part of the book also covers her return to Iran, which could have been interesting from a third-culture kid POV. While she does go somewhat into the reverse culture shock of finally going back to the country you were raised in, but different because of your experiences abroad (something I have great personal interest in), it's really not the focus of the book. The first book wasn't explicitly focused on the political situation in Iran, but it was very explicit on the impact that the political can have on the personal, and it humanized what was going on there at the time, which is one of the reasons I liked it so much. Well, that and Satrapi's often bizarre and morbid sense of humor.

I feel a little bad condemning the author for having life experiences that I don't personally find interesting, because honestly, who am I to say that someone's teenage rebellion isn't as fascinating as their childhood in Iran? And yet, it doesn't make for reading that is quite so compelling, possibly because it is a subject that so many more people do write about. Even though Satrapi gets into some situations that really are rather scary, her growing up and finding out who she is as an adult is just not as interesting as her views as a child.

Links:
- minnow1212's review

Wein, Elizabeth E. - A Coalition of Lions

Um. I read this over a few weeks, and embarrassingly, I don't remember much of it. It doesn't have anything near the tension that was in Wein's The Winter Prince, and I was rather frustrated at how Wein dealt with the fates of assorted characters from The Winter Prince off screen, as it were. I was quite attached to the characters in that book, and I really wanted to know how they got there, how the battle of Camlan went. Instead, the book opens afterward, with Goewin on her way to Aksum, where Medraut spent some of his time previously.

I liked Goewin a great deal in The Winter Prince, but here, she doesn't make much of an impression on me at all. Plus, I kept getting all the characters confused, and none of what was at stake was very interesting to me at all. If you asked me right off the bat, I probably couldn't even tell you what the main conflict was. Something about a kingship, or the heir to the throne of Britain, or something, but to be honest, I don't particularly remember any of the characters well enough to care about them.

I suppose it also suffers in comparison to The Winter Prince, which was so very wonderful and dark and packed with emotion. Everything in this book just seems a little too pat, from Telemakos to Goewin to the situation, and the book just isn't half as good.

Oh well. Heard The Sunbird was better, so I shall read that sometime soon. Or maybe just reread The Winter Prince.

Links:
- coffeeandink's review
- hesychasm's review