Audio only

The Secret Life of Saeed, the Ill-Fated Pessoptimist

A Palestinian Who Became a Citizen of IsraelBy Emile HabibyNarrated by Fajer Al-Kaisi
Length5h 36m

About this audiobook

This contemporary classic—the story of a Palestinian who becomes a citizen of Israel—combines fact and fantasy, tragedy and comedy. Saeed is the comic hero, the luckless fool, whose tale tells of the aggression and resistance, terror and heroism, reason and loyalty, that typify the hardships and struggles of Arabs in Israel. An informer for the Zionist state, his stupidity, candor, and cowardice make him more of a victim than a villain; but in a series of tragicomic episodes, he is gradually transformed from a disaster-haunted, gullible collaborator into a Palestinian—no hero still, but a simple man intent on survival and, perhaps, happiness. The author’s own anger and sorrow at Palestine’s tragedy and his acquaintance with the absurdities of Israeli politics (he was once a member of Israel’s parliament himself) are here transmuted into satire both biting and funny. Translated by Anton Shammas into Hebrew, The Secret Life of Saeed won Israel’s foremost Prize for Literature.

Audiobook details

GenreGeneral Fiction
Length5 hrs 36 mins
Narrated byFajer Al-Kaisi
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateAug 13, 2022
LanguageEnglish
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00

You may also like

The Complete Works of George OrwellGeorge Orwell114h 54m4.5 (253)$1 · $0.00
Put Out More FlagsEvelyn Waugh8h 46m3.9 (7.8K)$1 · $0.00
Stephen ColbertBruce Watson2h 52m4.0 (1.2K)$15
An Unpleasant Predicament: A Nasty Story (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoyevsky3h 56m3.7 (6.6K)$2 · $0.00
ManiaLionel Shriver9h 23m3.6 (5.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Unbearable BassingtonSaki6h 47m3.9 (1.8K)$1 · $0.00
The Unbearable Bassington (Annotated)Saki, H. H. Munro6h 19m3.8 (2K)$2 · $0.00
SharpMichelle Dean11h 35m3.6 (1.9K)$23 · $0.00
Animal Farm (Unabridged edition)George Orwell3h 14m4.2 (5M)$3.40 · $0.00
An Unpleasant Predicament: A Nasty Story (Unabridged) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoyevsky4h 4m3.7 (6.6K)$2 · $0.00
BabbittSinclair Lewis15h 37m3.9 (36.2K)$1 · $0.00
A Confederacy of DuncesJohn Kennedy Toole13h 33m4.0 (351.5K)$23
The Unbearable BassingtonSaki5h 25m3.8 (1.7K)$2.30
Burmese DaysGeorge Orwell10h 17m4.0 (43.2K)$20
Botchan (Master Darling)Natsume Soseki4h 59m3.9 (18.4K)$2.30
BOULE DE SUIF & OTHER TALESGuy de Maupassant10h 50m4.0 (13.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
AbominationsLionel Shriver11h 36m4.0 (737)$29 · $0.00
Vanity FairWilliam Makepeace Thackeray33h 33m3.8 (242.6K)$1.80 · $0.00
The Fixed PeriodAnthony Trollope7h 6m3.4 (1.7K)$2.30
Burmese Days (Annotated)George Orwell12h 31m$2 · $0.00