Chicken with Plums

Drawn in bold black and white, Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel illustrates the moving and disturbing life and last days of her uncle, Nasser Ali Kahn. He was a famous Iranian musician, loved for his virtuosity, and the sensitivity with which he played his beloved tar.It's a tale of how a man's happiness was gradually eroded by his culture, loss, suppressed feelings, and unrealizable expectations.The story starts with an older man in black walking down a city street. He encounters a slender woman with her grandchild. He hesitates. Asks if her name is Irane. She doesn't recognize him. Wonders how he knows her name. He, Nasser, apologizes and walks on to a friends business where he hopes to buy a replacement for his recently broken tar.We later learn that the broken tar had special meaning for Nasser. When he was a young man, the parents of the woman he'd fallen in love with forbade her to marry him because he was only a musician. Losing her plunged him into deep depression. He had difficulty playing. Nasser's tar master tried to console him by telling him, "To the common man, whether you're a musician or a clown, it's one and the same. The love you feel for this woman will translate into your music. She will be in every note you play." He then gave Nasser his own tar and instructed him to go on playing.From then on, Nasser's joy was his music. His playing thrilled his audiencesSince childhood he'd been unable to meet the conventional expectations of others. His mother's, his brother's, his teachers', the parents of the woman he loved, his wife, his children.His mother urged him to marry a woman he didn't love so that he would forget his loss. Although the woman he married did love him, she resented his music. His children, influenced by their mother's attitude, became estranged from him. This drove him further and further into his music.After he failed to find another tar equal to his broken one, feeling that without that tar and his music there was nothing else he wanted, Nasser came to the conclusion, "To live, it's not enough to be alive." He decided to die.This where the novel really begins. Through Satrapi's masterful construction, we are able to piece together what we need to understand who Nassar was, and why he would make this tragic choice.Satrapi reveals Nasser's life and character by skillfully rearranging temporal events - picking up a incident, then dropping it, and then weaving it in later on in the story with new threads. She loops the past into the present, the future into the past. Sometimes, from frame to frame, she switches back and forth between the past and the present, showing how a character's unhappy memories and lingering hurt become emotional IEDs on the path to true understanding.There are many lenses through which to "see" another person, many ways in which to know them. At Nassaer's mother's funeral, a mystic tells him the story of five men in the dark trying to describe a whole elephant from the part each has touched. "We give meaning to life based upon our point of view," he tells Nasser. In Chicken With Plums, through characters and events, Satrapi gives us the whole elephant.As the novel progresses, Satrapi's drawings become more expressive and surreal, adding more decorative touches. Her work resembles animation, almost cartoonish, but her story has the depth of a great novel. She has the timing of a film maker, knowing just what to show when, and how to keep the mystery and tension to the end.Chicken With Plums has touched me deeply. It's a heart breaking story of love on many levels, fulfilled and unfulfilled. I believe Nasser died of a broken heart. Without Irane and without his music, he could not find a way to be in this world.

Absolutely love everything by this author. This book was really delightful and I would indeed recommend it to friends.It is worth noting that the author's BEST BOOKS are Persepolis I & II but these smaller books are really delightful snapshots of modern Persian life, which is meaningful to me as this is my diaspora.

That photo is a silly fan art after reading the book 5 times.Simply put, it is a solid book even if you have not known Persepolis or an autofiction.It has positive moments and negative moments like "You came to wrong neighborhood!"Do not think this book as easy to read.

I wanted to have this wonderful cultural book in my library . Marjane Satrapi is a true artist in every sense

I must admit to disappointment; I was not expecting a graphic novel (I'm old: translate story in cartoon style). I did love the movie that morphed from this story and since this book was not expensive I am quite content to pass it on to others who may enjoy it more. Either I was unobservant or this was not described as a graphic novel. If the latter, this needs to be remedied. I was expecting some really exquisite description of the characters themselves and a graphic novel simply cannot fill this bill.

I love Marjane Satrapi's books. Fun to read, sometimes a bit unusual with childish pictures, a serious and rather dark storyline. A perfect mix with historical and cultural Iranian references and sometimes a bit raunchy. A quick read but one that doesn't get old. I would recommend this to everyone I know along with every other book by Satrapi. Have already loaned it to several friends and I have others waiting to loan it. Buy it!

This is more than one remove from Persepolis I and II (which I also loved) but well-told, well-drawn, and moving. Reminding me of Persian miniatures and medieval Persian romance, it tells the story of Nasser Ali Khan, a true musician, his love, and his death. There are also some fascinating asides into the lives of other family members. Having lived two years in Tehran, I loved it because it reminded me of the culture I loved. Ms. Satrapi's work never fails to move and surprise me; more, please!

I am now a huge fan of Marjane! Every book of hers I am reading, I am falling more in love with her writings.This book was so good and I was surprised about the ending, it all brought the story together. I heard they are making this (or have made) a movie of this story and I am so looking forward to it.

A moving story, beautifully and distinctively illustrated

Something different to read, Satrapi's comics are unlike anything else. Very delicate and insightful.

The strip tells the story of Satrapi's uncle, who was a virtuoso on a Persian instrument called the tar. His favourite instrument is broken and he cannot find a replacement, and so he determines to go to his room, and die. The strip follows him through his final days and explains about his art, his life, his failed marriage and his lost love.For me the artwork here is Satrapi's very best. Where elsewhere she can often seem to be at pains to be rather documentary, here she is poignant, personal and inserts some Persian mythology into the mix. A quite enchanting comic book. With work so grown up you don't need to say "graphic novel" to give it false gravitas. Its a comic book and none the worse for that. Beautiful. The final frame left me speechless.

I liked very much this one!

This arrived yesterday evening, and I've just finished reading it tonight, which is probably the quickest I've read a book in my life! After reading Persepolis, I was expecting something longer, but the quality in Satrapi's writing and unique illustrations are second to none. I won't give away too much of the story, but the book is based around the real life of Satrapi's uncle, who takes to his room to die after his beloved Tar is broken by his bitter wife. The book is divided into his final 8 days, and the flashbacks and memories that come to him during that time, which explain the depression he feels. The ending cleverly links back to the beginning of the book, and leaves the reader with a sad, but poignant feeling. A fab read.