Another Nominated Title: Embroideries

It took me quite a while to make my nomination for the Read This! selection—I was looking for something a little unusual, a book that would shake things up a bit, one that would truly resonate with me.  When I came across Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Embroideries, I knew had to make it my pick.

In this loosely autobiographical book, Satrapi tells of a long afternoon in her grandmother’s salon in Tehran, where nine women (aunts, friends, neighbors) gather for a glass of strong black tea.  They share their stories and those of others, for, as Satrapi’s grandmother tells us, “To speak behind others’ back is the ventilator of the heart,” and these women are dying for some fresh air.   

Marji is in charge of the samovar for the tea, while her grandmother is the mistress of ceremonies, teasing the women to share their tales of life, love, sex, and marriage.  There’s Nahid, whose pre-marital tryst with a boyfriend forces her to take a drastic step on her wedding night, with highly comic results; Parvine, who flees an arranged marriage to an old army general; Amineh, whose husband, exiled in Germany, cheats on her; Azzi, who agrees to marry a man, sight unseen, because he lives in Switzerland and can offer her a life like the one she sees on MTV; and even Marji’s own hilarious story—she tells of how a friend uses the counsel of a magician to get her boyfriend to marry her. 

Many readers, confronted with the clichés shown on TV news channels, have a very particular image of Muslim women—quiet, covered, submissive.  Not only does Satrapi challenge that stereotype (as have many other women writers of the Muslim world) but, by drawing on her own family’s history, she takes the reader into the lives of real women, with their faults and their dreams, their vanity and their pride.  Her characters talk about sex with seriousness and humor coiled together, much in the way that life is lived.  Even when they discuss embroideries (the popular surgical procedure that restores a certain part of women’s anatomy) they do so with disarming pragmatism. 

Although the Persepolis series is hugely popular in the U.S., in some ways I think Embroideries is a better book, showcasing Satrapi’s natural storytelling ability and her knack for nuanced observation.  And it’s also, by virtue of its theme, a more intimate book, a book that can be experienced on a very personal level.

I should warn you, though, that Embroideries may not fare well with die-hard graphic novel readers: the stark, black and white art isn’t sophisticated, and the book is more of a collection of narratives than a novel.  But, to be honest, I didn’t really concern myself with whether this book had a neat label on it like memoir or novel or collection—I only asked myself whether it brought up emotion in me, whether the characters were well crafted, whether the story was well told.  With Embroideries, the answer to each one of those questions was an unequivocal yes. 

Comments

[derikb]

Laila, your comments make me wonder about the art and its integration with the text of the stories. You mention the art only cursorily at the end as if it isn't so important to the story. Do you think the art is all that necessary to the telling of the tales? You tell us about the story and about the insight into the women (as a challenge to stereotypes). I ask because--though I have only read excerpts--the art seemed an disjointed part of the book, mostly talking heads/bodies.

[Jozef Imrich]

Another case of a great choice: "To speak behind others' back is a ventilation of the heart," Marjane says at the beginning of the book and, after her statement, the confessions start ...

The complete review's Review: http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/iran/satrapi3.htm [Embroideries: Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical book - she is making a habit of it ...]

[Jozef Imrich]

Czech out also Sober Salon where Marjane Satrapi talks to Michelle Goldberg about sex, divorce, abortion, and, well, different kind of embroideries

http://www.salon.com/books/int/2005/04/24/satrapi/index_np.html

[Sam]

Thanks for sharing this, Laila. Satrapi was in Chicago last month at one of our best independents, Woman & Children First. Here's a little write-up on the event from the WCF Blog:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/wcfbooks/8620.html

[MG]

Thanks for the comment, Derik. It made me remember a "reading" with Marjane Satrapi at Powell's last year, at which someone asked her why her drawings were so plain--whether it was a deliberate artistic choice and her answer "No, I just can't draw any better." But she sure can tell a story, no? Anyway, to answer your question, yes, I think the art is necessary for the book--despite the plainness, there are indeed some sharp details there that I'm not sure she would have captured otherwise.

Jozeph and Sam: Thanks for the links!

[Phillip]

Reading this, I was strongly reminded of Edward Said. Has someone heard of him?

[jennie]

With Persepolis I found that Satrapi's simplistic, stark artwork enhanced the story--we were seeing the world through her child's eyes, after all, and the simple drawings nicely complemented the unaffected prose.

I thought this carried over into Embroideries, in which a slightly older, nearly grownup Marjane is still sharing her own observations of the rich, sometimes neurotic, often pithy world of the mostly older women in her family. Despite the art's simplicity, the drawings are evocative (I adore some of the facial expressions), and still serve to complement the narrative, making the whole greater than either the prose or the drawings alone would be (and isn't that the essence of the graphic-narrative form?)

[Uttara]

why does a samovar always remind one of Tolstoy?

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I thought this carried over into Embroideries, in which a slightly older, nearly grownup Marjane is still sharing her own observations sight unseen, because he lives in Switzerland and can offer her a life like the one she sees on MTV; and even Marji’s own hilarious story—she tells of how a friend uses the counsel of a magician to get her boyfriend to marry her.

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Science is never wait for inspiration, can come. Etc. If scientific discoveries ask because--though I have only read excerpts--the art seemed an disjointed part of the book, mostly talking heads/bodies.