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Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Book of Salt. However, I found the ending very unsatisfying. It was very predictable; the author had been setting it up most of the book. When she revealed that Bihn’s Sweet Sunday man had taken the notebook and left Bihn, I thought, “OK, I saw that coming. Nothing new here.” Bihn was naïve and blinded by love, and his inability to see how his lover treated him frustrated me.

I really loved the first book of Persepolis. Marjane is such a hilarious and dynamic character who made the story intriguing. I was a bit nervous about the graphic novel format (this was my first), but sort of think of it like watching a movie with subtitles. I may make that association because I’ve seen the movie version of this book and it was in French. Pictures can be a fun way to tell a story.

The two books definitely intersect in my mind. Both novels deal with the issue of being a foreigner in a new country. The main characters lead very different lives and have different family situations, but both go through feelings of being the “other”. Like Bihn, Marjane also falls for a man who does not treat her (or him in Bihn’s case) properly, and is left sad and disappointed when he leaves.