pretentious in a perfect way, slightly unbelievable and i wasn’t able to swallow that conceit but i get it the way it ties together— it just took a really long time for me to understand exactly why we had so so many perspectives and idk how i feel about them switching between first and third person. but good, really good, and i know we aren’t supposed to sacrifice our lives to our work but… here we are. i still love orkideh. she gave up being a mother and so she seems much more human to me. let me paste the quote :
“Orkideh didn't smile at this but didn't

look wounded either. She let her mouth hang open for a moment before saying, "Cyrus," snapping the r the Iranian way, drawing out the ooo. "I'm an artist. I give my life to art. That's all there is. People in my life have come and gone and come and gone. Mostly they've gone. I give my life to art because it stays. That's what I am. An artist. I make art." She paused for a moment. "It's what time doesn't ruin."”