Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua
A compelling story of love and betrayal, honesty and deception, from one of the most significant modern voices to come out of the Middle East, questions if it is possible to completely change ourselves, to remove our old skin and start over.
The plot centres on two successful Arab criminal defence attorneys and a social worker-turned-artist whose paths unexpectedly cross. The lawyer is in love with his wife, has two small children, a large house, a Mercedes, and a successful law firm in Jerusalem’s Jewish neighbourhood. He also speaks Arabic and Hebrew. He frequently makes weekly trips to a nearby bookstore to buy popular titles in an effort to maintain his image as an intelligent Israeli Arab.
Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua
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He decides to purchase The Kreutzer Sonata by Tolstoy, which his wife had suggested, one fateful evening. To his amazement, he discovers a small white note—a love letter—written by her in Arabic within. You were supposed to come, but you didn’t. I’m hoping everything is okay. You have my gratitude for yesterday night. It was fantastic. Call me tomorrow? The attorney loses control of himself due to envy and mistrust and erupts into blind anger at the alleged betrayal.
When the initial sting of embarrassment and hurt fades, he decides to look for the book’s previous owner—a man named Yonatan—who is difficult to find, whose identity is more complicated than imagined, and whose life is more similar to his own than expected. He first considers murder, retaliation, and then divorce. The lawyer rips the thread that connects everyone’s life together while bringing back ancient ghosts and secrets.
Sayed Kashua, a Palestinian who writes in Hebrew, defies categorization and transcends cultural boundaries. He conveys the unique alienation and psychic costs of people trying to live in two worlds with great emotional force and a clear sense of the ludicrous. A marvellously intricate psychological puzzle, Second Person Singular is also a savage critique of the people that make up a divided society.
In addition to examining connections among Arabs, the book also looks at ties between Jews and Arabs in Israel. The book also poses more general inquiries about what personal identity is, how important it is, and whether or not emphasizing it is good for an individual or society.
In the novel, two Palestinian men who reside and work in Jerusalem are told their respective parallel tales. The first involves a man solely known as “the lawyer” and his tale. Successful in criminal law, the attorney represents Palestinians in Israeli courts. He is married to Leila, a social worker with a doctorate, and the two of them have two young children. Leila’s origins as a member of a different Arab social class than the lawyer were stressed throughout Kashua’s account of their romance. The lawyer and Leila typically have separate beds, giving the marriage the appearance of being relatively bland. The novel uses the third person to describe the lawyer’s experience.
