Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s “The Sect of the Egoists” published in Persian

May 12, 2024 - 19:57

TEHRAN-A Persian translation of the book “The Sect of the Egoists” written by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt has been released in the bookstores across the country.

Siamand Zandi has translated the book from French and Now Publications has published the book, Mehr reported.

In the book, originally published in 1994, the main hero who does not even have a name accidentally discovers that there once was a philosopher named Gaspar Langenheart, who started a theory that he was the creator of everything. So the hero starts looking for information on this philosopher, but it turns out that there`s little to find. Not many people considered him significant, and more than that - there was no real proof that he ever existed and ceased to exist. 

But what happens is that the main hero partly becomes Gaspar himself, and it is a thing like that - every 50 years a man jumps out of nowhere and starts digging up information on Gaspar Langenheart, trying to prove that the man was something like God and that he couldn`t die. Or could he? The book digs deep but manages to stay entertaining. 

Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, 64, is a Franco-Belgian playwright, short story writer, and novelist as well as a film director. His plays have been staged in over 50 countries.

Schmitt has become one of the most popular writers not only in his homeland, France but throughout the world. He is now one of the most read and acted French-language authors globally. 

He attended the prestigious Ecole Normale Superieure where he was awarded a doctorate in Philosophy and the top French teaching qualification. Schmitt first made a name for himself in the theater with “The Visitor,” a play that posits a meeting between Freud and - possibly - God; the work soon became a classic and is now part of international repertoire. 

Further successes quickly followed, including “Enigma Variations,” “The Libertine,” “Between Worlds,” “Partners in Crime,” and “My Gospels and Sentimental Tectonics”. 

Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, his plays have won several awards. More recently, the four novellas that make up his “Cycle de l'Invisible,” a series of tales dealing with childhood and spirituality, have met with huge success both on stage and in the bookshops. 

These are “Milarepa,” “Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran,” “Oscar and the Lady in Pink,” and “Noah's Child”. Much of his literary career has been devoted to writing novels. An early novel, “The Sect of the Egoists,” was followed by novels “Light,” “The Gospel According to Pilate,” and “Shadows”.

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