The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist

As its subtitle implies, "The Secret Life of Saeed" blends optimism and pessimism, tragedy and comedy, horror and farce, cynicism and gullibility. A Palestinian in occupied territory, Saeed has lived through both wars (1948 and 1967); although he is an informer on the payroll of the Israeli government, he's too stupid to be of any real threat to his own people, but he is equally unable to protect his own family. As Salma Khadra Jayyusi notes in the introduction, Saeed is caught between "the extreme poles of Zionist colonialism and Palestinian resistance." Saeed is able to relate his tale only when he is rescued by an extraterrestrial being (perhaps the Reaper himself) who removes him physically from the absurdities in which he is trapped. In each part of the subsequent autobiographical account, he relates a different loss--of his first love, of his wife and son, of the daughter of his first love--each under different circumstances that are identical in their irrationality. A coward himself, comically useless to his superiors, he is surrounded by rebels. But, once freed from earthly shackles, he can unsparingly ridicule his oppressors, and his tale mocks both Arab oligarchies and Israeli officials. Habiby's novel owes much to Voltaire, as he makes clear in both the book's title and in a chapter called "The Amazing Similarity between Candide and Saeed." When his extraterrestrial savior points out the resemblance, Saeed responds, "Don't blame me for that. Blame our way of life that hasn't changed since Voltaire's day," and he draws parallels between Pangloss and Israeli dignitaries and between Candide's experiences and recent Palestinian history. The difference, of course, is that Candide always concluded that "All is well in the world," while Saeed the pessoptimist is not so sure. Habiby's wit is most palatable when it is barbed, and his story is most powerful when it is tragic. The farce tends to silliness, however, occasionally threatening to undercut the satire. (To be frank, I have never been able to appreciate the slapstick follies in Voltaire's novel, either.) There's no doubt that much of the book's wit and wordplay is lost in the translation between languages and cultures; without the translators' pages of notes, I would have been lost. Nevertheless, the novel will surprise you with its most powerful scenes, especially when Saeed meets his battered namesake in prison and the ambiguous, tragic, climactic episode depicting the fate of his son and wife, an event that manages to be both melancholy and glorious. Such passages remind the reader that Saeed (as well as his fellow Palestinians) can hardly hope to be in control of the world in which he lives; although unchained, he remains "a prisoner unable to escape."

I absolutely loved this book. It's not your run of the mill Palestinian literature - Emile Habiby is a very unique writer who is quirky & quick-witted. Anyone can enjoy this story - it has a universal human truth and is extremely touching. The character of Saeed is so different and out there, you can't help but have a soft spot for the poor guy. It is one of my favorite books of all time.

Saeed, the narrator of the story, belongs to the large family of Pessoptimists. He can feel like a pessimist, or like an optimist, but can never tell the two apart. Saeed is an Arab. When Israel conquered part of Palestine, he did not flee but stayed behind to become an Israeli citizen. That did not help him much - Arab remains Arab. The book is a humorous allegory, wrapped around everyday Arab life, with a bitter nucleus of Israeli oppression. Like Voltaire?s Candide, Saeed believes that this is the best of all worlds. To him it seems quite natural that the occupying forces arrest people in the middle of the night for no reason, that they deport them, that they blow up houses, and that they devastate whole villages. After all, they won the war, and everything - and everybody - now belongs to them. There are those Arabs who want to retaliate immediately. But they are told that the tree is not loved for its flowers, but for its fruit. After all, it took them close to two hundred years to throw out the crusaders. Saeed is the simple soul who sees what goes on around him, but cannot understand why it is so. The bitterness comes with the explanation.Mr. Habiby wrote a devastating satire. His own life paralleled that of Saeed: he was an Arab in Israel, even a member of the Israeli parliament. He wrote this book almost 30 years ago. It is still valid.

Habiby was one of the "Palestinians of the Interior". He managed to stay after 1948 when more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled out of fear of possible massacres in the wake of Deir Yassin. Habiby remained and became an Israeli citizen.Thus, this book contains some autobiographical elements, mostly around the dilemma of the Palestinians who became citizens of Israel only to find themselves second-class citizens. In the particular case of Said, the character reacts with an ever-increasing zeal, trying to serve the Israeli state as much as possible.The Palestinian tragedy is told here with an explosive sense of humour, an ever-present wit and through stories and anecdotes which, although revealing many of the deep contradictions inherent to occupation, never compromise on literary and narrative standards. The language in the Arabic version is beautiful and concise. The English and French translations maintained this spirit very well and are, in my opinion, excellent. Habiby's deep knowledge of history and his erudition in literature are impressive.This book became a classic of Arabic fiction. No wonder. It is both entertaining and very touching.

"The Secret Life of Saeed" relates the experiences of a not-so-bright Palestinian informer. Saeed leads a tragic life, and thinks his only chance in improvement is by working with the Israelis to discredit and destroy Palestinian political workers' groups. Through symbols and metaphors, the author illustrates the absurdly difficult life that working class Palestinians are forced to lead because of Israeli occupation.