Review by cholmes -- The Expelled by Mois Benarroch
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The book begins with the narrator as he travels home from Tel Aviv, mindlessly describing his life, his work, and his wife whom he believes wants a divorce, when he sees a young woman who looks exactly as his wife did, twenty-five years ago. Slightly shocked that such an impossible thing could happen he follows her and strikes up a conversation with the woman. The narrator tries to rationalize how the woman in front of him could possibly be his wife, but twenty-five years younger, and yet she is.
From there the story diverts and becomes another story, which in turn becomes yet another, forcing the reader to decide what is reality and what is impossible. “…it’s a story about love, indifference, fiction, reality or reality that merges with fiction.” Following along the author’s twists and turns through the narrative is like riding a roller-coaster in complete darkness; you have no idea what will happen yet you have some security that you will come out on the other side safely. Even if you question that security, the ride is still enjoyable because it is frightening and unknown; the danger is what makes it fun. So too is the danger in The Expelled enjoyable. How will the author make sense of his predicament? How will he understand what is happening to him and put it in a context the reader will relate to.
It all comes back to who and what belongs in certain spaces and certain times. Can one person exist in the same space at different times? Can they have multiple identities yet still be the same person? Can the real and the unreal exist in the same plane? And who are you when you are from one place and yet not of that place? Benarroch plays with these seemingly answerless questions and attempts to answer them through his narrative in The Expelled.
I give The Expelled 3 out of 4 stars. The book is well written with an unusual narrative voice that pulls you into each story and won’t let go until it is through with you. An unconventional read at worst and philosophical at best, this book asks so many questions that the reader must try to understand and answer, sometimes it’s tough to keep up. I enjoyed the mix of realism and fantasy; it is the only way for the author to have gotten his point across to his readers. At times the multiple story plots can become confusing as the reader tries to untangle exactly where they are in the story while simultaneously dig out further meaning from the narrative, yet the overall impact of the book leaves one questioning further the idea of a bifurcated life and the consequences of it.
The Expelled by Mois Benarroch is at times confusing and so fantastic the reader loses sight of what the author’s underlying idea is, yet the idea is so powerful it shines through even the most tangled web of narrative.
******
The Expelled
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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