Tehran – A Persian translation of the 2001 novel 1979 by Swiss author Christian Kracht was released in the Iranian book market.
Mohammad Hemmati translated the book, and Nashr-E Now (current publication) pulled it out, Mehr reported.
Set in 1979, it tells the story of an unknown young man caught up in political turmoil between Iran and China.
The main character is a young man traveling to Tehran with his friend Christopher. It was the time of the Iranian Revolution, and as Christopher dies a complete revolution erupts. The hero is sure to travel to Tibet to climb the sacred Kailash Mountain, merely being captured by the Chinese army.
He spends his time in the internment camp where he is indoctrinated, following survival techniques developed by prisoners. Throughout the story, this man is hardly influenced by the events around him, paying more attention to art, music, food and furniture.
The novel also deals with the presence of alienation and primarily Western consumers, which portrays the vulnerability of the clearly decadent Western and Metropolitan values system and its helplessness before the Eastern Baltic Tube model of Maoism.
The protagonists of Kracht’s fiction embark on a journey that takes them in search of the elusive moments of immersive, utopian experiences and spiritual enlightenment that are common in different countries and cultures. Their journeys are usually not always, but disappointing, failure, and even death.
Christian Kracht, 58, is a Swiss author and journalist. His books have been translated into over 30 languages.
SS/SAB