/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20029273]

Any Hedayat enjoyers? Haven't seen him mentioned on /lit/, this is a must read for incels, opium enjoyers, wagies.

[Anonymous No.20029349]

>>20029273
Yeah, he's good. A few of his other stories have been translated too, but I have not read them yet except for Mongol Shadow and Stray Dog.
https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Owl-Other-Stories/dp/0714544582/

I wish his play Parvin, Sassan's Daughter would be translated because it sounds interesting.

[Anonymous No.20029357]

>using 'incel' unironically

[Anonymous No.20029358]

>>20029349
Noori translation is incredibly good which makes me a little skeptical of the other stories translated, but I am willing to give them a chance considering how good "The Blind Owl" was.

[Anonymous No.20029375]

>>20029358
Yeah, that's the translation of The Blind Owl I read.

[Anonymous No.20029435]

>>20029358
>>20029375
I read the Costello translation and quite enjoyed the book. What's the difference?

[Anonymous No.20029489]

>>20029435
> "....There are indeed marked differences between Costello's and Noori's translations. As Noori indicates, his attempt to preserve the overabundance of dashes gives the reader a more immediate sense of the narrator's agitation...The first sentence flows on in Noori's translation, piling sensation upon sensation never allowing us to pause and catch our breath or separate out the images from the sensations. In his discussion of the relationship between his translation and Costello's, Noori also draws on translation theory and sees Costello's focus on the fluidity of the text in English as a "domestication" of Hedayat's original. Noori's new English translation and his preface are a welcome addition and will no doubt draw the attention of scholars interested in Hedayat's works. The close textual and comparative analysis of the type Noori offers marks a new and long-overdue critical approach to the translation of the most celebrated work of modern Persian prose." -Professor Nasrin Rahimieh in Middle Eastern Literatures

Noori himself gives Costello credit so he definitely doesn't shit on the translation but Noori just cares more about preserving the cultural essence of the text.

I speak Farsi myself but I'm not proficient enough to read the book, but since I speak the language on a conversational level regularly since childhood I definitely feel the difference.

As a disclaimer I never read Costellos translation in it's entirety, just excerpts and comparisons.

[Anonymous No.20029517]

>>20029489
Do you know where can I get his other works in the original language? I heard he's banned in Iran. I'm particularly interested in the short stories.

[Anonymous No.20029542]

>>20029517
Yes, you can get the Farsi editions on Amazon. It is true that the book is not printed or sold in Iran officially and that has been the case since it's original publication. Originally it was published in Bombay I think.

[Anonymous No.20029543]

>>20029273
What are other schizo-mystic core like Hedayat? Doesn't matter if they're in Farsi or not.

[Anonymous No.20029551]

>>20029273
Never read him but this book and Conversations With Goethe are 2 titles Penguin is releasing this year that I’m excited about

[Anonymous No.20029555]

>>20029543
I am curious about this as well. I've heard people compare it to stuff like "Notes from Underground" but that doesn't cut it at all.

What shocked me about Hedayat is how modern and contemporary it felt, I think his world view would feel more congruent if he lived today.

[Anonymous No.20029556]

>>20029273
How long would it take me to learn Farsi?

[Anonymous No.20029564]

>>20029551
Do you think it will better than the Costello and Noori translations? I hope it sells well and later they release his complete short stories.

[Anonymous No.20029582]

>>20029555
I am not very well-read so i can only compare him to Kafka (who inspired a lot Hedayat). Others before have suggested me Meyrink. I'd suggest maybe Jakob Von Gunten by Robert Walser. Really at the ends of my wits here.

[Anonymous No.20029592]

>>20029582
It's sort of like Kafka meets Hesse. Kafka lacks a mystical side that Hedayat has but yes, they're similar.

[Anonymous No.20029614]

>>20029556
I've spoken it since I was born with my family (never lived in Iran) and I might understand maybe 10% of a prosaic text in Farsi. Conversational Farsi is so incredibly different from the literary kind.

You might be smarter than me, but I think the language is hard.

[Anonymous No.20029624]

>>20029435
The biggest difference between Noori and Costello is with the words which have double meanings in the original Persian. This is most noticed with a word that means both purple and bruised, Costello uses which ever best fits the situation and Noori uses Bruised and explains that it means both in the translators note, this creates some weird lines about bruised flowers when they are obviously purple and the like, but it does preserve the nuances in meaning which are pretty great. 30 pages of being irked by bruised flowers and then suddenly it makes sense and is kind of amazing. There are a handful of other such words but non are as blatant as bruised/purple and you are unlike to notice them unless you read both. These double meaning are lost in Costello, he always chooses the one best for the situation. Hedayat plays with these double meanings, uses them to connect various parts of the book together and exploits how they can change context; only two of them really have a significant effect but even then they are not going to give you a better understanding, just an increased appreciation. Either translation will do, I prefer Noori and I would avoid Bashiri.

>>20029517
I think the ban in Iran was lifted long ago. Noori translation still has the line about sale and printing of the book in Iran being prohibited but just for fun.

>>20029564
Probably not, unless you accept a great deal of latitude in the language used.

[Anonymous No.20029661]

>>20029624
All me btw

[Anonymous No.20029772]

>>20029661
kek. So do you know Farsi? Or just debating learning it?

As an aside, I do not think the bruised/purple thing would have as profound of an effect in the original Farsi, the effect is increased in Noori due to the awkward lines it creates. The other big one creates no awkward lines and just makes you go "that was clever!" Going out of the way to get Noori when Costello is available is probably not worth it, or if money is tight probably best to just save the money and get Costello.

The overall tone is more in line with theme in Noori, but at times it is somewhat tiring to read, Costello has a much cleaner and more refined prose, almost feels sterile by comparison but is more enjoyable to read. It is 70 odd pages long so you can always read both in a single weekend without much issue, I read three translations in a night just to compare.

[Anonymous No.20030335]

>>20029555
He was heavily influenced by French Decadent and Surrealist movements, and he was educated in France for some time. He probably read works like Les Fleurs du mal and Les Chants de Maldoror. You see such influences in his works.

[Anonymous No.20030341]

>>20029543
Les Chants de Maldoror may interest you, but it feels more like a reflection on the nature of evil and cruelty itself. However, I do not think Maldoror is meant to be entirely despised.

[Anonymous No.20030386]

>>20029273
this is a very addicting book

[Anonymous No.20030510]

>>20029772
>So do you know Farsi? Or just debating learning it?
I don't know it but I'm interested in the language because I want to translate Hedayat to my native tongue. The only thing I could find was Blind Owl and in an edition from the 2000s. I want to translate his short stories. The language seems hard but I like hard languages.

[Anonymous No.20030518]

>>20030386
which translation did you read?

[Anonymous No.20030579]

>>20030518
The one in OP

[Anonymous No.20031871]

>>20030579
ok