Daughter of the Fire Camp is caught in linguistic and historical slips

According to the correspondent of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), the review session for the book ‘Daughter of the Fire Camp’ was held on Monday, November 3rd, at Hozeh Honari, with Mohammad Ali Sepehr, the author, Jafar Golshan Roghani, the critical expert, and Hamid Babaei as moderator.

Jafar Golshan Roghani, the critical expert, highlighted the editorial mistakes in the book ‘Daughter of the Fire Camp,’ stating: ‘The initial pages of the book’s editing are very weak and inappropriate. Several sentences contain errors on some pages. These editorial mistakes have damaged the text and caused its reading to be interrupted and inconsistent. On page 15 of the book, it is written “Shahsavar’s sister, one of the old relief workers,” but then it says “She is a 17-year-old.” So, was she a relief worker from childhood? An “old relief worker” means someone with a long history in this field, not a 17-year-old.’

He continued: ‘On page 18, it is written “Tehran, a big and smoke-ridden city.” The question that came to my mind is whether Tehran truly had air pollution at that time to such an extent that this description could be used, or is this sentence written more from today’s perspective? On page 26 of the book, the phrase “Greater Tehran” is also used. As far as I know, Tehran was not referred to in this way in the past; isn’t this expression related to contemporary literature?’

The critical expert considered the word “وطن پرست” (worshipper of the homeland) to be an incorrect word and said: ‘On page 27, it is written “I was going towards Kurdistan, got into a car, and bought tea from a stall.” At that time, disposable cups did not exist. People usually carried red plastic cups with them and used those. On page 28, the word “وطنپرست” (worshipper of the homeland) is also used. In my opinion, this word is not correct, because we only worship God. Regardless of our religion, it is better to use the word “وطندوست” (homeland-lover).’

Golshan Roghani also pointed out the incorrect role of ‘Homafar’ in the book, stating: ‘On page 41, Homafar is depicted as a pilot. My understanding is that “Homafar” means technician, but you have shown him as a pilot. Also, on page 172, there is a reference to “a city girl’s longing for village life.” But I had not seen such a feeling among people at that time. No one longed for village life; everyone knew that village life has its own difficulties.’