The scream

"Messages of pessimism are an immoral act," a simple and meaningful phrase, sent by Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour to the reader through the lines of her recently published book "He Heavier Than Radwa... Excerpts from an Autobiography" - Dar Al-Shorouk. Despite the messages of resistance and optimism that the book conveys, the author of "Al-Tantoura" and "Garnata Trilogy" begins her autobiography pages with an apology to the virtual reader: "I must admit guilt for involving you in all these details, but how can I atone for my sin?" Perhaps because she was afraid of a possible reluctance to continue reading, as most of the excerpts are sad and painful, but filled with a positive energy encouraging the continuation of life. The narrator sees that life frames death, preceding and following it, and sets its boundaries. It surrounds it from above and below, and from the sides. Ashour blends in these excerpts her experience of the revolution and the illness she has faced throughout the last three years, contemplating the act of writing as "an attempt to restore a banished will," and she talks about the university, Tahrir Square, and the martyrs. She says: "When despair visits me, I tell myself it is not right and not permissible, because I am from the ant party, from the party of the drowning straw, I cling to it and never let it go from my hands."