Mohammad Cheramshir: I haven't read a crime novel with this look for many years/ Autopsy of a crime in the first novel of the Italian author

At the review meeting of "The Whisperer", playwright Mohammad Chermshir considered one of the charms of this novel to be the return to the hidden and forgotten layers that are revealed again and said: "One of the beauties of "The Whisperer" for me was the landscape that it opens up to us. I haven't seen a novel in this genre with this look for years."

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan, based on the public relations information of the event, a review meeting of the novel "The Whisperer" written by Donato Karizi and translated by Azam Rasouli was held on Wednesday, October 22nd at Vazen Dunya bookstore. In this meeting, playwright Mohammad Cheramshir, journalist and writer Mehdi Afrozmanesh, actor and screenwriter Laleh Sabouri, and translator Azam Rasouli talked about the features of this novel and its place in criminal literature.

The novel "The Whisperer" was first published in 2009 and is the first novel by Donato Carizzi, an Italian writer. Karizi, who studied law and criminology, has used his knowledge in this work to create a multi-layered and suspenseful narrative. The story relies on the components of criminal psychology, characters with hidden faces and successive surprises, and keeps the reader involved in discovering their secrets until the end. This novel was translated from Italian to Farsi and published by Vazen Dunya.

Cheramshir: The society that produces crime is more important than the crime itself

In this meeting, playwright Mohammad Cheramshir said, referring to the place of the crime genre in world literature, "It is said that if you erase crime from world literature, there will be nothing left of world literature." Referring to the stories that began with the narration of Abel and Cain and continued throughout the centuries, he explained that literary characters have always been related to crime and murder in some way, and the audience has also shown interest in these narratives.

He went on to point out the change in the audience's approach to the crime genre throughout history: "When this genre was introduced as an all-encompassing genre in the 17th century, the audience faced a kind of shock. In the 18th century, the question of the possibility of such crimes became important, and in the 19th century, the moral view and condemnation of the crime became prominent.

According to Cheramshir, audiences in the 20th century gradually became numb to crime, and this change in the face of violence provided the basis for their greater engagement with this genre.

Chermshir then pointed to the views of Thomas de Quincey, a literary critic, about murder and said: "The difference between his writings and other people is that Quincey has an aesthetic view of murder. He distinguishes between the moral condemnation of murder and the examination of the relationship between the killer and the audience, and shows that murder, as much as it creates fear in the audience, can also be associated with fear and excitement for the killer."

He then explained, referring to Quincy's analysis of the play "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare: "In one of the scenes, Macbeth talks to himself after killing the king and thinks about the achievements of this action. It is in this situation, mixed with fear and excitement, that the sound of knocking on the door is heard and the king's sons arrive."

Pointing to such examples, Chermshir said: "The encounter with the crime genre usually leads the audience to the psychology of the killer, but in "The Whisperer", the author is not satisfied with the psychological examination of people."

Stating that Karizi examines all the people involved in the story to trace the cause of the murder, he said: "In this novel, the author does not only follow psychology to trace the cause of the murder, but examines all the participants." I think this way of narration shows that the author is familiar with Quincy's views and was influenced by his view.

Chermshir also compared this novel with some works of French cinema and said: "In such narratives, the crime itself is not prioritized, but the events and background of the people involved in it become more important."

He considered this approach to be a sociological point of view and added: "The society that produces a criminal act is sometimes more important than the act itself."

He went on to say that one of the charms of "The Whisperer" is the return to the hidden and forgotten layers that are revealed again and he said: "One of the beauties of The Whisperer for me was the view it opens up to us. I haven't seen a novel in this genre with this look for years."

Rasouli: It took about a year to translate the book

Azam Rasouli, the translator of the novel, pointed out his interest in the crime genre and said that this interest led him to search for a work from the Italian language and translate it into Persian. He explained that after searching, he got to know "The Whisperer" and during the translation, he connected a lot with the story and especially with its main character.

Saying that the translation of this book took about a year, Rasouli said: "I think it is the best crime book that I have read and it immerses the reader in its story. Sometimes I couldn't even stop translating it."

Referring to the narrative features of the book, he considered "The Whisperer" to be a novel full of surprises that engages the audience with calculated suspense and surprises on every page and chapter. According to Rasouli, as a writer, screenwriter and lawyer, Karizi has been able to put rhythm, image and words together in such a way that the reader feels like watching an exciting mini-series while reading.

Afrozmanesh: All the main currents of criminal literature can be seen in "Najwagar".

Mehdi Afroozmanesh, journalist and author of the novel "Salto", considered "The Whisperer" to be an important work for understanding the crime genre and said: "Those who intend to write in this field can follow the main currents of this genre in this book."

Pointing out that the crime genre has been formed since the 17th century and has been transformed in the following centuries, he explained: "This genre has gone through different currents and the characteristics of each period can be seen in "The Whisperer".

In explaining these developments, Afrozmenesh pointed to the position of Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie and said: "In Christie's works, we can face a new form of dealing with crime. In this model, the detective is an elite character with high intelligence and classical thinking, and the location of the murder is usually reserved for limited spaces, such as a train or a palace. At the end of the story, the audience is faced with re-reading the evidence that was before his eyes from the beginning, but he did not understand their meaning properly.

He added: "Gradually, the street and the public space entered crime stories, and the position of the detective also changed." In these narratives, the detective is no longer necessarily a dominant and perfect character, but may struggle with psychological trauma and personal problems.

According to Afrozmanesh, at this stage, the space of the story is also transferred from aristocratic houses and limited environments to the streets and wider social contexts.

Afrozmanesh considered another evolution of the crime genre to be the transfer of the crime solving process from an individual to an institution and said: "At this stage, a specific detective is no longer solely responsible for discovering the truth, and the police institution takes action with the participation of various people. This feature is also seen in "The Whisperer".

Referring to the Scandinavian criminal trend, he continued: "In these works, the cold atmosphere, political and social issues, structural corruption and personal problems of the detectives have a prominent place. According to Afrozmanesh, crime in new narratives is no longer limited to corrupt people, and psychological aspects also become important in it.

He emphasized: "The novel "The Whisperer" contains a set of these characteristics and developments, and for this reason, it can be a significant work for understanding the evolution of criminal literature and different methods of crime narration."

Sabouri: The poetry of the prose keeps the reader in the heart of the terrifying narrative

Laleh Sabouri, an actress and screenwriter, referring to the experience of reading "The Whisperer", said: "I haven't read a book in a long time that I couldn't put down."

Sabouri considered its translation to be one of the advantages of the book and said: "There is a kind of poetry in the Persian text." He further attributed a part of this feature to Karizi's own pen and added that the author has a poetic look that brings the audience along with him while dealing with horrible topics.

He then read part of the beginning of the novel and referring to its initial descriptions, he said: "At first, the reader may think that he is dealing with a novel from the 19th century, but the story gradually enters the story of the murder. This change of space and way of entering the story is one of the author's points.

Sabouri also considered "The Whisperer" as a work that can be used as a reference for knowing and teaching crime stories. Referring to the evolution of this genre from the works of Edgar Allan Poe and the stories of Sherlock Holmes to the narratives that gradually introduced psychological dimensions into the crime story, he said that with the works of Agatha Christie, the crime narrative reached a new stage and the psychological treatment of the characters became more serious in the stories.

He further considered the narrative structure of "The Whisperer" as one of its strengths and said: "The author provides information to the reader gradually, without deceiving him or destroying the charm of the story before the end."

According to Sabouri, this is the way of narration and maintaining the suspense until the last parts of the novel, which keeps the reader interested.