Review -- The Immigrant's Lament by Mois benarroch
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Immigrant's Lament" by Mois benarroch.]
4 out of 4 stars
Review by Gnome
The Immigrant's Lament by Mois Benarroch is an autobiographical book of poems. Benarroch looks at his life in emotions as well as in the events. Each poem uses free verse and relies on meter to propel the reader from one line to the next. Some poems are more successful with this than others. The freedom of free verse makes the book easy to read and understand. Each poem gives the reader a complete sense of who Mois Benarroch is. Benarroch also hints at some of the influences that led him to become a writer.
The first poem in The Immigrant's Lament highlights Benarroch's extended family. He focuses on the various opportunities they had to move away from Morocco and why it took the time it did. (Benarroch's family did move to Israel in the early 1970s, when he was 13.) The book ends on a stark self portrait that seems to pick up many years after his family ode left off. In the final poem Benarroch examines himself in a sort of midlife crisis and he ends on a note of hope. Each of the 50 other poems are filled with musings on love, relationships, and time. There are also hints of what it means to live in the Middle East.
On a technical note, The Immigrant's Lament has very few errors. There are a few places where Benarroch uses standard grammar rules in the poem but one or two words do not fit. It seems as though there is an editing or translation error instead of a stylistic choice in these cases. The errors do not take away from the goal of each poem and everything is easy to read. There is also a bit of inconsistency in the spacing between the poems and their titles. Again, this is not something that takes away from the poem's experience. Overall the errors hint at the multicultural aspect of the book, Mois Benarroch originally published The Immigrant's Lament in Hebrew.
Mois Benarroch's intended audience seems to go beyond the poetry enthusiast. Benarroch weaves together poems about his life with poems about his home in Israel. It seems to be as important to share culture as it is for Mois Benarroch to share his life's story. The lack of poetic form aids in the ease of reading to highlight the poem's feeling.
I rate this book 4 out of 4. At only 91 pages, there is no reason not to read The Immigrant's Lament. It is short, easy to read, and gives a true look at the author's soul.
******
The Immigrant's Lament
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
4 out of 4 stars
Review by Gnome
The first poem in The Immigrant's Lament highlights Benarroch's extended family. He focuses on the various opportunities they had to move away from Morocco and why it took the time it did. (Benarroch's family did move to Israel in the early 1970s, when he was 13.) The book ends on a stark self portrait that seems to pick up many years after his family ode left off. In the final poem Benarroch examines himself in a sort of midlife crisis and he ends on a note of hope. Each of the 50 other poems are filled with musings on love, relationships, and time. There are also hints of what it means to live in the Middle East.
On a technical note, The Immigrant's Lament has very few errors. There are a few places where Benarroch uses standard grammar rules in the poem but one or two words do not fit. It seems as though there is an editing or translation error instead of a stylistic choice in these cases. The errors do not take away from the goal of each poem and everything is easy to read. There is also a bit of inconsistency in the spacing between the poems and their titles. Again, this is not something that takes away from the poem's experience. Overall the errors hint at the multicultural aspect of the book, Mois Benarroch originally published The Immigrant's Lament in Hebrew.
Mois Benarroch's intended audience seems to go beyond the poetry enthusiast. Benarroch weaves together poems about his life with poems about his home in Israel. It seems to be as important to share culture as it is for Mois Benarroch to share his life's story. The lack of poetic form aids in the ease of reading to highlight the poem's feeling.
I rate this book 4 out of 4. At only 91 pages, there is no reason not to read The Immigrant's Lament. It is short, easy to read, and gives a true look at the author's soul.
******
The Immigrant's Lament
Read The immigrant's Lament in
Francais https://www.amazon.fr/dp/1507144415
Portugues https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507118074
Italiano https://www.amazon.it/dp/1507130104
English https://www.amazon.com/dp/1519012616
Bilingual edition Hebrew/English http://www.lulu.com/shop/mois-benarroch/paperback/product-21661852.html
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
No comments:
Post a Comment