TEHRAN – A Persian translation of “Sulphuric Acid”, Belgian writer Amelie Nothomb’s 2005 novel that details the thoughts and pursuits of the people involved in a reality show recreating a concentration camp, has come to Iranian bookstores.

Mina Rahim is the translator of the novel published by Qatreh.

For a TV reality show called Concentration, prisoner participants are chosen at random from the population and abducted in raids. 

The living conditions in the camp are deplorable: the prisoners are ill-nourished, insulted, and beaten by the guards (called “Kapos”). 

Each day, two prisoners are chosen and killed on camera. Zdeno, one of the guards, falls in love with Pannonique, the heroine of the book and a prisoner known in the camp by her identity number CKZ 114. 

Zdeno wants to know Pannonique’s real name and he’s ready to do anything to find out, going as far as killing prisoners who are close to Pannonique. 

The media expresses shock, thereby inciting more and more people to watch the series. Concentration reaches a frenzy of scandal when the producers give the public the right to decide which prisoners will be killed in public. 

The TV audience votes en masse, and more and more people take up watching.

Photo: Front cover of the Persian edition of Amelie Nothomb’s novel “Sulphuric Acid”.

MMS/YAW