The pieces of Nasser Ali Khan's story slowly fall into place, and as they do, we begin to understand him. He remembers his late mother, who sacrificed everything for his revolutionary brother, but who also, in the last week of her life, found solace only in smoking and listening to him play his tar his angry wife, who can't forgive him his melancholy and irresponsibility and Irane, his first love, whose father forbade her to marry a poor musician and inflicted the wound that fuelled his music. Every visitor stirs up a memory, and in the course of this week Nasser Ali Khan revisits his entire life, a life defined by three relationships in particular. This is the story of the eight days he spends preparing to surrender his soul.Īs the days pass and Nasser Ali Khan grows weaker, those who love him - his wife, his children, his siblings - gather round, incredulous, to try to comfort him. He takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all of its pleasures.

Brokenhearted, Nasser Ali Khan decides that life is no longer worth living. But no matter what tar he tries, none of them sound right.

If you’re interested in buying Chicken with Plums, just click on the image below to go through my link.In November 1955, Nasser Ali Khan, one of Iran's most celebrated tar players, is in search of a new instrument. I’m already looking forward to reading The Sigh. It seems like I’ll never get enough of Marjane Satrapi’s writing, which I’m more than okay with. I was starting to get attached to Nasser Ali and his intricate life…. When will farting jokes stop being funny to me…? And this next part with Azrael, the Angel of Death, was astounding: This one made me erupte into a truly impolite laugh. And as the pieces of his story fall into place, we begin to understand the breadth of his decision to let go of life.Īnd it’s then that we get to see a surprising cameo from Marjane herself with her beloved mother in 1998: I’m still not over those two astonishing women.Īlso, there were a lot of parts that really hit home for me: Over the course of the week that follows, we are treated to vivid scenes of his encounters with family and friends, flashbacks to his childhood, and flash-forwards to his children’s future.

When Nasser Ali Khan, Marjane Satrapi’s great-uncle, discovers that his beloved instrument is irreparably damaged, he takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all its pleasures. Chicken with Plums tells the heartrending story of a celebrated Iranian musician who gives up his life for music and love.

Chicken with plums by marjane satrapi