The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist (
Arabic:
الوقائع الغريبة في اختفاء سعيد أبي النحس المتشائل) is a 1974
satirical fiction book by
Emile Habibi.
[1] It addressed the issue of lack of creativity in
Arabic literature at the time by being satirical.
[2] The name comes merging the Arabic words for pessimist (al-mutasha’im المتشائم) and optimist (al-mutafa’il المتفائل).
[3] Habibi used a comic mode to mitigate the intensity of his world in Israel and to make the story easier for readers to understand which would have been difficult to through a normal historical narrative.
[3] Habiby shows his resistance against the Israeli policies of oppression with Arabic literary expressions and traditions.
[4]
Plot
The story begins with a fool named Saeed who is visited by people from outer space who tells of his life in Israel through a letter. He wishes to cooperate with the Israelis. However, he goes to prison multiple times and is assaulted by the guards. source: Wikipedia
