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Review by KitabuKitamu -- Andalusian in Jerusalem
Post by KitabuKitamu » 22 Feb 2018, 04:47
[Following is a volunteer review of "Andalusian in Jerusalem" by Mois benarroch.]
This is a fictional book Written and likely self-published by Mois Benarroch. He originally wrote it in Spanish and Eriquetta Carrington translated it into English. The cover illustration is by Allan Green.
Andalusian In Jerusalem is a book describing the life revolving around Jewish writers from different backgrounds. The story is largely narrated such that the reader is somewhat part of the conversation as a silent participant. The conversation is between an author, Guilliermo, and his author friend, Charly. Other than the character airing conversations also happening in his own mind, there is also a woman who thinks she is the author’s mother and a lady friend called Norah. There are other characters from stories within stories within the conversation.
The book seems to have two main chapters with the same headline. There are several subtitles introducing ideas related to the main characters in the book, but not necessarily of a similar train of thought. Overall the book switched from narrative to poetry and back, partly as a result of unrefined work belonging to Charly, who at some point needed his work to be reviewed by the main character.
“It was better, of course, but I had issues and questions of my own, above all that my own newborn mother had told me the previous day.”(Guillermo). Guillermo narrates how he disclosed the fact that he was a Jew to his classmates, even though he was making it up at the time, the classmates, in turn, said they knew that there was something peculiar about him. It’s not clear from the book whether he is actually Jewish, despite his secret Jewish name. Some dishes cooked by a woman who thought he is her long lost son were those cooked by his former Jewish wife. He then describes his life in Jerusalem with his best friend Charly, who tends to write stories which come out of strange situations. Co-incidentally, Charly had a dream very similar to Guillermo’s encounter that has him turn pale in its narration.
I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars because it is an interesting book for those who are familiar with the everyday life of authors, Jerusalem and Jewish culture. I also learnt a lot about the history of inter-religious relations and tensions within Europe and the Middle East as told within the stories. At times I felt as if Mois Benarroch was speaking about himself through the main character in the book. What I found difficult to keep up with are some very long sentences and conversations which had me losing my concentration. I at times found my thoughts drifting as a result, doubling back to where I could remember reading and pick up from there again. Other than that the descriptions of places and situations helped me form vivid pictures in my mind. It left me with an impression that this could easily be a short film script.
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Andalusian in Jerusalem
read ANDALUSIAN IN JERUSALEM in
ENGLISH getbook.at/inJERUSALEM
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