What does loneliness feel like? | The Stray Dog, a short story by Sadegh Hedayat

In this episode, I read an English translation of one of Sadegh Hedayat's most famous short stories, The Stray Dog (translated by me). It tells the story of a dog named Paat who loses his owner (master) near the square of Varamin in Tehran, and the consequences that follow. Simultaneously, it also explores Paat's past. This story was published in 1942. Sadegh Hedayat was an Iranian writer, translator, satirist, and poet. He was born on February 17, 1903 in Tehran, Iran. Writing during a time of intense cultural transition in the early twentieth century, Hedayat injected a raw, Kafkaesque existentialism into the heart of Iranian fiction. His stories are psychological autopsies, masterfully uncovering the deep alienation of the human condition, the blurring lines between nightmare and reality, and a profound disillusionment with the modern world. He died by suicide on April 9, 1951, in Paris, France. He was 48 years old at the time of his death.