A three-volume work titled ‘Borj-e-Sokout’ (literally, tower of silence), the first professional work by Hamidreza Manaei, has been published by Neyestan publishing house.
The novels in over 350 pages each focus on drugs, drug users, addiction and its social harms, Mehr News Agency quoted the writer as saying.
Manaei said the process started with two years of field research and data collection. “My work is not biased or meant to be judgmental, but to present a true description of the subject matter and the people involved from the facts obtained.”
“Drugs and addiction are the underpinning idea behind the story told in an aesthetic way,” he stressed.
The story unfolds in the early 1970s and is narrated from the point of view of an addicted person, enabling the reader to picture the plot as it unravels.
The whole idea was to address those people who may unintentionally be drawn to drugs through deceptive means or become victims of their ignorance on the problem of addiction, said Manaei.
“I have encountered such people since my childhood in my hometown. It is a pity to see them struggling with addiction but not being able to help. They pay heavily for their wrong decisions, either with their life and livelihoods or that of their dear ones.”
Elaborating on the voluminous work, the writer pointed out that he has extensively worked on language, writing style and characterization.
“Defining a unique character in literary form, with special manner of speaking, temper and mentality was time consuming and a difficult task. However, I hope my work will be considered revolutionary in terms of content and structure.”
He noted that the “strong twists and dynamic structure of the story and language” makes it attractive for the readership, despite the three novels running into over 1000 pages.
Due to the special and sensitive issues covered, the work is recommended only for readers older than 16 years.
Four years ago, Manaei, 40, published a collection of short stories. He lives in Lavasan bear Tehran.
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