Set in 1958 Tehran, the story follows Nasser Ali Khan, a celebrated tar musician who decides to die after his wife breaks his instrument during an argument. Because he cannot find a replacement capable of producing the same sound, he takes to his bed and waits for Azrael, the angel of death. Through a non-linear timeline, the narrative reconstructs his life, detailing his unrequited love for a woman named Irane, his strained relationship with his children, and his artistic frustrations.
Readers interested in the intersection of Persian history and sequential art look to this work for its depiction of mid-century Iranian middle-class life. It attracts those who study how grief and the loss of creative purpose manifest physically. The reader walks away with a specific understanding of how personal regret and aesthetic devotion shape an individual’s internal world. The book provides a technical example of how graphic storytelling uses shadow and simplified anatomy to convey deep psychological isolation and the finality of a chosen end.
- Published
- 2004
- Language
- EN
