Chicken With Plums

Marjane Satrapi’s latest graphic novel is a classic romantic tragedy in the most heartbreaking sense. The Persepolis series and Embroideries explored all the nuances of everyday life in Iran and had an energy and spirit that carried you along through the emotionally difficult time. Chicken with Plums has none of that. It is the tale of a man whose life decisions have brought him little happiness and who has lived his life through the memories of the past. It would be easy to romanticize or demonize him, but Satrapi’s simple illustrations convey a depth of emotion that would take thousands of words to describe. Our man is not alone in the blame for his situation nor is he completely innocent. Chicken With Plums shows that it is possible to carry a love with you to the grave and to have that love, or refusal of, be the cause of what drives you there.