TEHRAN – Four novels from Western literature have recently been published in Persian in Iran. 

All the four books have been published by the Tehran-based Cheshmeh Publications. 

Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi’s “The Black Angel” rendered into Persian by Asmar Musavinia is one of the books. 

It contains six short stories, which are held together by a single theme of evil that is shown as a black angel.

Another highlight of the books is Victor Hugo’s novella “The Last Day of a Condemned Man” translated by Banafsheh Farisabadi.

The story is about a man who has been condemned to death by the guillotine in 19th-century France. He writes down his feelings and fears while awaiting his execution.

French novelist Olivier Adam’s “In the Shelter of Nothing”, about a married woman and mother, Marie, who dedicated her life to immigrants at the refugee camps, is another book, which has been translated into Persian by Maral Didari.

Translated by Erfan Mojib, “Flaubert’s Parrot” by English writer Julian Barnes is also among the books. It is about Geoffrey Braithwaite, a widowed, retired English doctor, who is visiting France and Flaubert locations. 

The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1984 and won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize the following year.

Cheshmeh has also recently published “Red Sorghum” by Chinese writer Mo Yan. Translated by Nasser Kuhgilani, the story revolves around three generations of the Shandong family’s struggles for living and earning money between 1923 and 1976. 

Photo: Front covers of the Persian versions of the books published by Cheshmeh Publications in Tehran.

ABU/MMS/YAW