Perhaps unsurprisingly, this line of criticism is not addressed by the live-action film adaptation.

Transfigured by time and acclaim, Satrapi’s naturalism and simplicity were now merely childish. Satrapi’s first work translated into English after Persepolis, Chicken with Plums was widely derided by English-language critics as facile in terms of story, characterization, and drawing style. But as Art Spiegelman-or anyone who has been cursed with such success-can attest, generating a followup with even one-tenth of the critical and popular kudos is difficult to impossible. In summary, I loved this book and think this one is Marjane Satrapi’s best so far.Second only to Maus, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is the most widely read (or at least assigned) autobiographical graphic novel of all time. These tiny things, often not necessary, certainly do liven up her books. She likes to “tell it like it is” and often provokes a response by putting some incongruous content into her books (for example, the farting son, the morbidly obese teenage granddaughter, or the grandson with the “fuck” tee shirt). Satrapi is a no holds barred author and graphic artist. Sometimes you almost don’t have to read the dialogue to know what the characters are saying to each other. She gives each individual not only a strong voice, but a pictured presence that mirrors each person’s personality. She talks about a “tar” and then goes on to explain what it is (a musical instrument) and depicts why it was important to her great uncle’s life.

She does not politicize her stories but mentions government changes as part of the cultural landscape of her own family’s life. What I like about Satrapi graphic novels is their ability to bring the reader into the tiny bits and pieces of history and culture of Iran asthe author remembers it from her youth. It’s the story of Marjane’s great uncle Nasser Ali Khan, a musician trapped in a marriage to a woman he did not love and father of four children. That really doesn’t matter because the telling of it is fabulous. I’m not sure if this is a real story, fiction based on a real story, or pure fiction. The cartoon frames will be repeated in the story, but you as the reader will know exactly in what context you first saw them and, later, what they really mean.

Chicken with plums novel