My Pencil Told Me

About this book

In your hands is a creature dwelling in a shirt pocket, silent but seeing everything, simple yet tracing destinies, and erasing with boldness what is no longer fit to remain. This book is not mere literary texts but mutual confessions between a human searching for truth and his 'pencil,' which finally decided to speak. With wounding frankness at times and the softness of a beloved at others, Dr. Islam Mamdouh Al-Shazly takes us on a unique human journey, where the boundaries melt between sound classical Arabic and eloquent vernacular close to the heart. Here, you will find a pencil unafraid of mistake—for it is 'lead,' owning the courage of erasure and rewriting, just as we ought to do in our lives and relationships. The book slips into the behind-the-scenes of the human psyche, speaking of the philosophy of departure without return, of that 'commendable narcissism' protecting us from others' poisons, and of the secrets of confidence not given but earned. The work does not content itself with theorizing but dives into our daily details, from 'the psychology of the wronged.'