Review by Genna H -- The Expelled by Mois Benarroch
[Following is a review of "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch.]
Mois Benarroch’s The Expelled is a story within a story, each with its own subtleties. The author has written in such a manner that you are unsure whether the events in the main story are fact or fiction, mixing story-telling with narrative, creating an interesting, though initially confusing, blend.
The main story centers on a man whose name is not given – we are left to assume that the character is Mois Benarroch himself. He is a Moroccan Jew, which is a central point to the story as it identifies him in the interlaced theme of racism, segregation, and the affects of each on the individual. As a Moroccan Jew, he is an outcast – his Jewish settlement in Morocco no more and considered too dirty to be accepted in Israel.
As the book continues, Mois begins an affair with a younger version of his wife, Gabrielle, and the affair leads to the story within the story. It’s a story about a bus where the majority (front people) decide that they are better and choose to take command of the bus, creating rules that determine when those less worthy (back people) can use the toilet, how much say they have in the affairs of the bus, even their life and death.
The inner story shows the journey of how segregation begins and its progress – from creating a name of separation to creating the space of separation, and eventually the acceptance of separation as normal. Meanwhile, the outer story of Mois shows what it is in real life – the struggle to be published, the surprise expressed by others when you act contrary to how they think “someone like you” should behave; the feeling of being an eternal outsider.
There was a lot that I liked about this book and a few nuances of which I was not so keen. That being said, I rate this book as 3 out of 4 stars. The psychological and philosophical points which Mois presented in his work kept me intrigued. He managed to present the very contemporary issues of racism and segregation boldly while still being fair-minded and honest. Having experienced racism in Israel, he expresses a duality that separates his life – one where he chooses not to accept the view that he is lesser because of the nation of his birth and one where he would attempt to hide who he was in order to avoid being the outcast – to be one of the majority.
It certainly made me reassess my thoughts on racism from the victim’s point of view. It also brought to light the idea of how racism and segregation begins and how, once it becomes rooted and established, the majority don’t recognize that it is happening or don’t realize it is wrong.
I chose not to give four stars because it did seem to ramble at times. This may have been intentional by the author, but the story was hard to follow at times with its abrupt switches from one story to the other. It also seemed to have some rambling inserted for humor’s sake. At the beginning and at times throughout I found it to be irritating, as though the author were trying to force me to laugh; however, as the book continued, there were times when the subtle humor worked well and felt very natural.
All-in-all, this was a good book that would appeal to thinkers. While it is an enjoyable book, there is more to it than simply reading for entertainment. This is reading for enrichment – reading of another person’s experiences and opinions, of how they were formed and why they are important to all of us today.
******
The Expelled
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Mois Benarroch’s The Expelled is a story within a story, each with its own subtleties. The author has written in such a manner that you are unsure whether the events in the main story are fact or fiction, mixing story-telling with narrative, creating an interesting, though initially confusing, blend.
The main story centers on a man whose name is not given – we are left to assume that the character is Mois Benarroch himself. He is a Moroccan Jew, which is a central point to the story as it identifies him in the interlaced theme of racism, segregation, and the affects of each on the individual. As a Moroccan Jew, he is an outcast – his Jewish settlement in Morocco no more and considered too dirty to be accepted in Israel.
As the book continues, Mois begins an affair with a younger version of his wife, Gabrielle, and the affair leads to the story within the story. It’s a story about a bus where the majority (front people) decide that they are better and choose to take command of the bus, creating rules that determine when those less worthy (back people) can use the toilet, how much say they have in the affairs of the bus, even their life and death.
The inner story shows the journey of how segregation begins and its progress – from creating a name of separation to creating the space of separation, and eventually the acceptance of separation as normal. Meanwhile, the outer story of Mois shows what it is in real life – the struggle to be published, the surprise expressed by others when you act contrary to how they think “someone like you” should behave; the feeling of being an eternal outsider.
There was a lot that I liked about this book and a few nuances of which I was not so keen. That being said, I rate this book as 3 out of 4 stars. The psychological and philosophical points which Mois presented in his work kept me intrigued. He managed to present the very contemporary issues of racism and segregation boldly while still being fair-minded and honest. Having experienced racism in Israel, he expresses a duality that separates his life – one where he chooses not to accept the view that he is lesser because of the nation of his birth and one where he would attempt to hide who he was in order to avoid being the outcast – to be one of the majority.
It certainly made me reassess my thoughts on racism from the victim’s point of view. It also brought to light the idea of how racism and segregation begins and how, once it becomes rooted and established, the majority don’t recognize that it is happening or don’t realize it is wrong.
I chose not to give four stars because it did seem to ramble at times. This may have been intentional by the author, but the story was hard to follow at times with its abrupt switches from one story to the other. It also seemed to have some rambling inserted for humor’s sake. At the beginning and at times throughout I found it to be irritating, as though the author were trying to force me to laugh; however, as the book continued, there were times when the subtle humor worked well and felt very natural.
All-in-all, this was a good book that would appeal to thinkers. While it is an enjoyable book, there is more to it than simply reading for entertainment. This is reading for enrichment – reading of another person’s experiences and opinions, of how they were formed and why they are important to all of us today.
******
The Expelled
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Read THE EXPELLED/ EL EXPULSADO IN
English getbook.at/theExpelled
FRANCAIS getbook.at/lExpulse
Italiano getbook.at/lEspulso
español getbook.at/elExpulsado
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