From Ya to Alef

About this book

About that distance stretching between the first scream of birth and the breakdowns of late maturity, and about "the kid" who feared the teacher's treachery and the surprises of exams, to find himself suddenly facing a bigger exam called "life".. comes the book From Ya to Alef. This work is no mere texts in Egyptian vernacular, but a cracked mirror reflecting all our features; the features of those standing in bread queues, and hiding in poems to escape the noise of "capitalism" and the dominion of "the dollar." Mohamed El-Gowaydi moves us on a reverse journey beginning from the ya, where the ends of pain, experience, and solitude lie, reaching the alef, where pristine beginnings, the first wonder, and the heart not yet soiled by the city's crowd. Between the walls of "the Helmia café" and the memories of "Uncle Aish," the writer spins existential questions about defeat and victory, love and parting, and the solitude that slaps us like a sword. Are we truly the masters of the house or mere guests on the land of truth? And why do we sometimes feel we are "small change" in.