![]() ![]() ![]() The story begins with a Palestinian man named Saeed, who writes in a letter to an unnamed recipient that he was visited by people from outer space. Habiby showed his resistance against oppressive Israeli policies by using Arabic literary expressions and traditions. This would have been more difficult had he used a straightforward historical narrative. Habibi used a comic mode to mitigate the intensity of his world in Israel and to make the story easier for readers to understand. Saeed, the novel's narrator, frequently recounts tragic events related to his family and the plight of Palestinians, but adds in comic flourishes to show his "optimistic" side. The novel's name comes from merging the Arabic words for pessimist (al-mutasha'im المتشائم) and optimist (al-mutafa'il المتفائل), to describe the narrator Saeed's unique way of viewing the world. Trevor LeGassick and Salma Khadra Jayyusi ![]() The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist Author ![]()
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