Chicken with Plums

Chicken with Plums

book

2009, Comics & Graphic Novels

WISE
88%

WISE Score

A haunting, visually stunning look at an artist’s final days and the memories that made his life both beautiful and unbearable.

Where to Read

Amazon
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Libby
Libby

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Screenwise Verdict

If your kid loved Persepolis, this is the logical next step, but be warned: it’s much more internal and existential. It’s not about a revolution in the streets; it’s about a revolution in one man's heart, and it's a lot bleaker.

Satrapi is a genius at using simple black-and-white panels to convey massive, crushing emotions. It’s a quick read but one that sticks to your ribs. For a high schooler interested in art, music, or history, it’s a 10/10 recommendation, provided they can handle a story where the protagonist has essentially given up.

Age Fit

This is firmly for teens and adults. While the graphic novel format might attract younger readers, the themes of suicide, infidelity, and deep-seated regret are likely to fly over their heads or just feel needlessly depressing.

WISE Breakdown
Wholesome
58

It is a deeply human story, but the core premise is a man deciding to die because he’s lost his passion. It deals with marital resentment and existential despair, which isn't 'unwholesome,' but it's certainly heavy.

Imaginative
92

Marjane Satrapi’s visual storytelling is top-tier. The way she weaves together memories, folklore, and future visions within the layout of a graphic novel is masterful.

Safe
78

As a book, it's physically safe, but the themes of suicide and depression are central. It’s not a 'surprise'—it’s the plot—but it requires a mature reader.

Enriching
94

Offers incredible insight into mid-century Iranian culture and a profound meditation on the nature of art, love, and what happens when the thing that defines you breaks.

Parent Info
✓

Why It Might Be Great

  • Masterful art style from the creator of Persepolis that makes complex Iranian history and personal grief accessible.
  • Deeply empathetic exploration of the 'artist's soul' and the weight of unfulfilled love.
  • Cultural immersion into 1958 Tehran, providing a window into a world rarely seen in Western media.
  • Darkly funny moments that cut through the gloom, making the heavy subject matter more digestible.
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What to Watch For

  • The entire plot centers on Nasser Ali Khan’s decision to die after his musical instrument is broken. It's a slow, deliberate march toward death.
  • There is significant marital conflict and bitterness; it’s a very raw, unvarnished look at a failing marriage.
  • Expect existential themes that might be too heavy or confusing for younger readers who aren't ready for a story about regret and 'the one that got away.'

Conversation Starters

  • "What do you think it means for an artist if they can no longer create their art?"
  • "Nasser Ali chooses to die because of a broken instrument—is that really what he's dying of, or is it something else?"
  • "How do the flashbacks to his childhood change how you feel about him as a grumpy old man?"
  • "Why do you think the author chose to show us the future of his children in the middle of his story?"

Deep Dive

The Artist's Exit

Chicken with Plums is a companion piece to Persepolis in style, but a total departure in tone. Where Persepolis was an epic of survival and identity, this is a chamber piece about a man who has decided he's done surviving. Nasser Ali Khan is the author's great-uncle, and his story is a folk-tale-like tragedy.

What makes this work so well for older teens is its unflinching honesty about adult disappointment. We often give kids stories about 'following your dreams,' but we rarely show them what happens when those dreams curdle or get taken away. Satrapi doesn't moralize Nasser Ali's choice; she just explains it through eight days of memory.

"Since no other tar could ever give him the physical sensation of those notes, music was no longer of any use to him. And since music was his life, he had only to die."

It’s a powerful lesson in empathy for a generation that is often shielded from the messier parts of the human psyche. The book also serves as a brilliant introduction to the syntax of graphic novels. Satrapi uses the space between panels to jump decades, showing how a single moment of heartbreak in 1930 can lead directly to a bed in 1958.

If you're reading this with a teen, focus on the cultural specifics. The title refers to Nasser Ali's favorite dish, a small tether to the world of the living that eventually fails to hold him. It's a beautiful, tragic, and culturally rich work that proves comics aren't just for superheroes.

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