TEHRAN – “Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life” by Zena Hitz has been published in Persian.

Mohammadreza Shekari is the translator of the book published by Qoqnus. The book was originally published in January 2020.

While many forms of leisure meet these needs, Hitz writes, few experiences are so fulfilling as the inner life, whether that of a bookworm, an amateur astronomer, a birdwatcher, or someone who takes a deep interest in one of countless other subjects. 

Drawing on inspiring examples, from Socrates and Augustine to Malcolm X and Elena Ferrante, and from films to Hitz’s own experiences as someone who walked away from elite university life in search of greater fulfillment, “Lost in Thought” is a passionate and timely reminder that a rich life is a life rich in thought.

Today, when even the humanities are often defended only for their economic or political usefulness, Hitz says our intellectual lives are valuable not despite but because of their practical uselessness. 

And while anyone can have an intellectual life, she encourages academics in particular to get back in touch with the desire to learn for its own sake, and calls on universities to return to the person-to-person transmission of the habits of mind and heart that bring out the best in us.

Hitz is a tutor at St. John’s College of the University of Cambridge. Her book explores the meaning and the value of learning for its own sake, through images and stories of bookworms, philosophers, scientists and other learners, both fictional and historical.

Photo: A combination photo shows Zena Hitz and the front cover of the Persian edition of her book “Lost in Thought”.

MMS/YAW