#second person singular

[freshlybrewedbookreviews]

Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua

This book is a fascinating chronicle of the lives of two Arab men, and how their lives touch upon one another's throughout the course of events in the novel. I haven't read too many novels set in Israel, so this novel was a new adventure, and a window into cultures I know nothing about. It was an interesting read, both for the culture and the plot.

[gyrrakavian]

Curse the lack of second person singular in English.

Marcus Madera, Metacarpolis

“Like usted not ustedes.”

[bozamozam]

disco tech

your daughter's purple skirt with the thousands of doughnut-shaped sequins turns the world into a fancy, noble disco on a sunny day. pin-sized lights bounce off every surface and back at you again, and you want to dance.

[thoughts-on-books-blog]

“And especially you, the men, who think you’re so tough and manly, not scared of a thing, your voices so deep and strong they can stop a whole neighborhood in its tracks, you are the very essence of human trash. Keep on prancing around with your guns … keep on marrying virgins and let them preserve your honor and your male delusions. I know things you will never know; I’ve seen worlds you will never see. I’ve gone to places where you and your children will never be wanted.”

Second Person Singular, Sayed Kashua

[thoughts-on-books-blog]

Second Person Singular: A Small Thought

I love jumping into stories without knowing what they’re about. I try not to read summaries when I can help it; too often they spoil the first 50 pages of the book, or taint my perception of the book before I’ve begun it. So I went into Second Person Singular knowing only that it had been written in Hebrew and was about an Arab living in Israel.

Second Person Singular is actually about two Arab men living in Israel. They come from similar socioeconomic backgrounds but now live different lifestyles. The first one introduced is a lawyer who, interestingly, remains nameless throughout the book. He’s wealthy but finds his life unfulfilling. While Second Person Singular is very much an exploration of contemporary Islamic values in a modernizing world, masculine identities, and Arab-Jewish relations, the universality of this nameless lawyer struck me. I have met this lawyer. Not in Jerusalem, but New York City. He comes in all different races and sizes but wears the same designer suits (Armani, Ralph Lauren, Versace). He thinks he is happy, or pretends to think he is happy, but he’s not, and he’s exceptionally boring. He can take you to good restaurants but you’ll never enjoy yourself. The food does not taste good when he’s buying it for you. Don’t go.

Sayed Kashua captured the vapidity of a certain breed of wealth with  observant accuracy. This is, obviously, my favorite aspect of the book. But it may not be yours. There are plenty of other parts of the book to explore, but I’ll leave that up to you.

  Rating: 4/5