Setelah Persepolis dan Bordir (keduanya diterbitkan oleh Gramedia, meski setahu saya, terakhir Persepolis ditarik dari peredaran karena isu menyinggung agama), Marjane Satrapi kembali menghibur pembaca dengan Ayam dengan Plum, sebuah komik biografis mengenai kakeknya, musisi terkenal Iran Nasser Ali Khan, yang melalaikan hidupnya karena musik dan cinta.
Ketika Nasser Ali Khan menyadari bahwa instrumen tar kesayangannya rusak, dia mengisolasi dirinya, terus berbaring di ranjang, dan menolak untuk berinteraksi, menolak untuk hidup, tanpa mempedulikan permohonan keluarganya. Seiring dengan berjalannya waktu, Ali Khan semakin menarik diri, dan memori dan imajinasi menghantui pikirannya.
Sejujurnya saya merasa Persepolis dan karya Satrapi overrated — Epileptik oleh David B. jauh lebih bagus (dengan terjemahan yang juga lebih bagus) dan lebih pantas dikenal, dan Gramedia wajib menerbitkan karya David B. yang lain seperti Nocturnal Diaries, atau Rabbi’s Cat karya Joann Sfar — tapi paling tidak Ayam dengan Plum mempunyai kekayaan lapisan dan nuansa yang tidak tampak di Bordir. (Saya sering membandingkan karya Satrapi dengan film-film Iran, tapi mari kita bahas lain kali saja.) Selain itu, cerita Ayam dengan Plum yang agak halusinatoris menggugah pembaca dengan cara yang berbeda dengan Persepolis. (Bukannya membela klise “tortured artist” sebagai lebih berharga daripada Tehran Sex in the City, tapi jujur saja Bordir tidak sebanding dengan Persepolis ataupun Ayam dengan Plum.)
Satu hadiah untuk C2O dari Anitha Selvia a.k.a. Tinta.
After her acclaimed Persepolis and Embroideries (both have been published in Indonesia by Gramedia, with Embroideries published as Bordir), Marjane Satrapi returned with Chicken with Plums, a rendition of the her great-uncle, the celebrated Iranian musician Nasser Ali Khan, who gave up his life for music and love.
When Nasser Ali Khan discovers that his beloved tar instrument is irreparably damaged, he isolates himself in his bed, refusing to meet any demands of social life and obligations despite his family’s attempts and coaxing to change his mind. As the weeks progress, he falls deeper and deeper into his own reveries, with memories and imaginations (the likes of the Angel of Death an Sophia Loren) haunting his vision.
I still think that Satrapi or Persepolis is rather overrated — David B.’s Epileptic deserves far more recognition, IMNSHO, and Gramedia should publish his Nocturnal Diaries as well as Joann Sfar’s Rabbi’s Cat — but at least in Chicken with Plums there were more multi-layered nuances barely explored in Embroideries. (I have other oft-recited reasons I’ve probably bored anyone who cares to hear, usually comparing Satrapi’s works with Iranian Cinema greats, but this is not the time & place to discuss it.) Chicken with Plum’s somewhat hallucinatory nature also gives it slightly more tranquil resonance that is different yet still worthy of her better-known Persepolis. (Not that I’m saying “tortured artist” cliche has more worth than a Tehran Sex in the City, but Embroideries was honestly a disappointment.)
A very much appreciated gift from Anitha Selvia a.k.a. Tinta.
Pengarang / Writer: Marjane Satrapi
Penerbit / Publisher: Gramedia
Bahasa / Language: Indonesia
Rating: Dewasa
Call No.: K SAT Aya
