‘Quicksand,’ the second comic novel by Australian novelist Steve Toltz, 45, will soon be released in Persian.
Translator and film editor Peyman Khaksar, 42, who has a penchant for comedies, is giving the finishing touches to his Persian translation of the novel, a daring, brilliant work written in 2015 by Toltz, a Man Booker Prize finalist, who is also famous for his 2008 novel ‘A Fraction of the Whole.’
Khaksar told Mehr News Agency that the translation work is over and he is in the process of doing the final edits for the 450-page Persian edition.
Quicksand is a fearlessly funny, outrageously inventive dark comedy about two lifelong friends. Liam is a struggling writer and a failing cop. Aldo, his best friend and muse, is a hapless criminal entrepreneur with an uncanny knack for disaster, Good Reads (goodreads.com) said about the book.
As Aldo’s luck worsens, Liam is inspired to base his next book on his best friend’s exponential misfortunes and hopeless quest to win back his one great love: his ex-wife, Stella. What begins as an attempt to make sense of Aldo’s mishaps spirals into a profound story of faith and friendship.
Hypocrisy & Absurdity
Toltz creates in his works a rousing, hysterically funny but unapologetically dark satire about fate, faith and friendship. Sharp, witty, kinetic, and utterly engrossing, Quicksand is a portrait of 21st century society in all its hypocrisy and absurdity.
“Quicksand has a challenging language for translation. It is non-linear and does not abide within narrative form. It lacks the suspense of Toltz’ previous comedy, but owes its attraction to some factors beyond story telling techniques. It is darker than Toltz’ first comedy. I cannot tell which one is better, because I love them both,” Khaksar said.
“The publishing permit for the book has been issued and it is scheduled to be released by the end of the year in March.”
Khaksar has translated well-known stories by American novelists such as Chuck Palahniuk’s ‘Fight Club,’ Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole’s ‘A Confederacy of Dunces, David Sedaris’ ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day,’ and ‘Song of the Silent Snow,’ by Hubert Selby Jr.
He has also translated ‘The Sisters Brothers’ by Canadian novelist and screenwriter Patrick DeWitt.
