Showing posts with label NOOK EBOOK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NOOK EBOOK. Show all posts

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Review by Eileen R -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch 4/4 stars

Review by Eileen R -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch

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4 out of 4 stars




Keys to Tetouan is a beautiful historical fiction novel by bestselling author Mois Benarroch . It follows the story of the Benzimra family, a Moroccan- Jewish clan in their search for their identity and roots. The book follows the journey of the Benzimra family through the Middle East, Europe and Africa, as they’re exiled and robbed of their identity and origins. First published in 1999 in Hebrew, Keys to Tetouan is one of the books in the Tetouan trilogy, the others being Lucena and Gates to Tangier.

The book is made up of narratives by the Benzimra family in which they try to make the reader understand their frustration at being exiled from everywhere they’ve ever been including; Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In his line “How can I be a Spanish exile if I wasn't even born there, if my father wasn't born there, how is it possible you're an exile, exile everywhere, exile is my home…”, the author captures the very essence of emigration and exile.

Consisting of interviews, letters, dialogues and anecdotes, Keys to Tetouan fully narrates the story of the Benzimra family in an interesting yet unusual way. It’s not every day that you see a book that is bewildering yet enlightening at the same time. I was completely impressed at how the author succeeded in doing this.

Although it was unconventional in every way, the book was surprisingly good. To be honest, at first I was hesitant to pick this book for review. I rarely read historical fiction novels. However, after reading the first few chapters, I was completely hooked. I loved how the author used narratives to pass his message across.

Understanding where you come from is essential to building your own identity. Therefore I could understand when the Benzimra family and their generations asked the question, “where is home?” It’s easy to sympathize with their dilemma especially in today’s world where there are many emigrants simply looking for a place to call home.

The author might come across as blunt at times but it’s completely called for in my opinion. This bluntness solidifies the book’s position as a must read in my eyes. I loved how he didn’t beat about the bush when it came to matters of exile and origins. He asks the hard questions that more often than not we are quick to brush off.

I admit that there were some instances where I was completely lost and I had a hard time understanding the dialogues. It was so ambiguous at times that I couldn’t comprehend what was going on. However, I believe that this was completely intentional on the author’s part which made the book all the more interesting.

Overall, I rate this book a 4 out of 4. I have to say, it’s one of the best written books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It’s perfectly imperfect in my opinion. It was so masterfully written that I couldn’t resist giving it a perfect score. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who’s looking for an intellectual challenge that will give you a completely different view on issues of exile and origins.

******
Keys to Tetouan 

4/4 stars Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch

Review by KitabuKitamu -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch

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4 out of 4 stars

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Tetouan is a town in Morocco where some Jews expelled from Spain in the 1400’s had settled and made their home. Mois Benarroch tells the story of the Benzimra family through its generations which sprung from the Jewish settlers of this town.

Between the chapters in this book, there are poetic/play ditties usually musing about the motherland. When are we going? Why should we go in the first place? Why don’t we feel at home even though we’ve arrived...? The chapters are a mix of stories from the perspective of different people, oral and in form of letters. From the stories, we learn of the different professions of the family members and what their association, tie or longing with Tetouan is.

The Jewish roots of most characters in this book are a great influence on the themes that dominate the text. We see their struggles in being accepted in the countries they had been exiled to, and their sense of exile while back in their own homeland. We also have a sense of the relational tensions with Christians, Europeans, Arabs, etc. For instance, it doesn’t make sense for a Jew who has lived in harmony with Arabs in Tetouan to have a problem with them in Israel. It also doesn’t make sense for the same individual to desire to be buried in Tetouan rather than in Israel, showing where his heart really is, where he has a sense of belonging.

Keys to Tetouan as a book seems to have a metaphorical reference to a key that has been passed in the Benzimra family from generation to generation. As readers, we have the benefit of having a glimpse of what it knows through a box that reads the memories of objects in the final chapter of the book.

The storytelling in the book seems real enough to make it historical. I enjoyed the way the stories were told by different members of the family almost giving them a personal touch, to the point where I couldn’t tell the book wasn’t a compilation of true narratives by real people. Or was it? The domination of reference to the Jewish way of life and thinking doesn’t make the book relatable to everyone. It does help in understanding them though, why their motherland is important to most and their expectation of the temple being rebuilt. I rate the book 4 out of 4 stars.

I would recommend this book to those who like historical fiction and good storytelling. I haven’t noted any spelling or grammatical errors in the book, which is really good if the book was translated from another language.

******
Keys to Tetouan 
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Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Review by Zupanatural -- The Expelled by Mois Benarroch

Review by Zupanatural -- The Expelled by Mois Benarroch

Post Number:#1 by Zupanatural » 07 Jun 2017, 16:29
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch.]

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Written in the first person to begin with, The Expelled starts with the author, struggling for income and in an ailing marriage, meeting a younger woman who bears striking similarities to his wife and whom he already seems to know everything about. She is intrigued and, in the midst of their whirlwind romance, asks the captivated writer to read her one of his stories.

He obliges with the tale (again in the first person) of a group of people making a long-distance journey by bus who, stemming from a dispute over use of the toilet, divide into 2 groups: the superior "front people" and the denigrated "back people". As this solidifies into a (highly recognisable) society complete with entitlement, discrimination, shared religion and various other facets, the bus and its passengers run into serious problems and eventually tragedy.

On the surface, this quirky and humorously-told story from Mois Benarroch mocks and confronts the cruel absurdities of modern Israeli society, with its divisions between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, between Jews and Palestinians. However, these observations hold true for many, if not most, other countries around the world. To borrow some of his own imagery, the author holds up a mirror and presses us to assess ourselves.

There is also a deeply personal and honest side to Benarroch's writing though and his constant stream of little jokes and tricks, played directly upon you the reader, succeed in drawing you right in. Step by step, he conveys a growing sense of disorientation as the various voices try to get their own story across - stories which resonate and intertwine with each other but are nevertheless separate - and the harsh reality of being stuck between here and there: between countries, cultures, people, classes, times and even that hazy half-reality between being awake and asleep.

Personally speaking, I enjoyed The Expelled immensely but I have to give it a slightly knocked down score of 3 out of 4 stars – some poor grammar appears to have been used intentionally (the author makes specific reference to it) but the translation/editing does comes across as being overly weak, especially at the beginning. It's worth looking beyond that if you can though, as it is otherwise an exceptionally rich piece of writing. The winning factor for me is the playfulness of the author in his execution of it – when you have to count back 10 lines just to work out who is speaking, you'll no doubt imagine him chuckling away to himself as I did. My only regret is having to read an English translation of it, as opposed to the original text, but c'est la vie! Nevertheless, definitely a novel worth reading.

******
The Expelled 


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4/4 Review of Gates to Tangier on onlinebookclub


Review by darcyb123 -- Gates to Tangier  getbook.at/gatestotangier by Mois Benarroch



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4 out of 4 stars

Review by darcyb123



Gates to Tangier, by Mois Benarroch, is a novel about family, fate, and the innate longing to return home. The story deals with our innermost driving desire to know who we are, who we may become, and the eternal mystery involved in the search for meaning and fulfillment in our lives. Several narrators tell the story, and for much of the novel, the reader is inside each character’s mind, privy to thoughts and feelings so private they would never be shared with even the closest of friends. The writing is engaging from the first word through the last, and it was difficult for me to lay the book aside once started.

The setting of the book takes place on many stages, Europe, Africa, the United States and Israel. It entails a large Jewish family, some prosperous, some not. Some religious, some not, coming together for the strangest of reasons, to search for someone they neither know nor wish to know. Each member’s inheritance is dependent upon finding a half-brother whose existence was revealed only in the reading of the will. The common thread binding them together of family, customs, and culture, is contrasted with that which divides them; depth of religious belief and practice, education, financial status and childhood memories. Though much of the family remember the same scenes, they are clouded by the colors of the lens each chooses to look through.

The diaspora as a result of World War II forces the family to leave Madrid, Spain for Tangier, Morocco, and from Tangier they scattered to the furthest regions of the world. Some to America, some back to Spain, some to Israel to participate in the earliest Kibbutz and the re-establishing of a Jewish homeland. Because they spread so far apart, they have grown distant, but their forced search together reaffirms and strengthens their family ties.

The characters in Gates of Tangier are engaging, memorable and very real. The theme of family, race and position run through each member’s life and forces them to decide. Are Jews superior to other races? Why are the Semitic Arabs sworn enemies of the Jew? Are they not brothers? Are Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe superior to the Sephardi from the West? Is there anywhere in the world that Jews are truly safe? As each character works through the questions within, he challenges the reader to join the discussion and turn a spotlight on their beliefs regarding race, status, and culture.

I enjoyed  Gates of Tangier so much; I rate it a 4 out of 4-star rating. It was an enjoyable, engaging story, very well written, and memorable. The dynamic of life lays open for all to see, and I, for one, loved it. I was sorry when the book ended and found myself hoping for a sequel.

Review -- Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch

Review by CTdeF -- Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch



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Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch
Translated by Sara Maria Hasbun

The patriarch of the Benzimra family has died and his family wonders why he couldn’t have taken his secret to his grave. Instead, he has commissioned his 5 surviving children to go to Morocco and find his illegitimate son in order to receive their piece of the inheritance. What follows is a series of chance encounters, mistaken meanings, and individual reflections.

In order to understand sections of the book Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch, it is necessary to know a bit about the history of the region. The village that the sons and daughters are returning to is Tétouan, a city in northern Morocco about 60 km east of the city of Tangier. Although the majority of inhabitants are Islamic, there are also small Christian and Jewish communities. The Jewish community is separated from the rest of the town by gates. A large portion of the modern-day residents are descendants of those who were expelled from Spain during the Reconquista.

The interesting interplay begins with the religious division present in the community. The Benzimra family is Jewish, however, the woman who bore the illegitimate son is Muslim and a Fatima (housekeeper) employed by the Benzimra family. The Benzimra family left Tétouan in 1974 and emigrated, some to Jerusalem, some to Spain, some to France. The youngest son, Israel, died in the Lebanese Civil War. Although the family grieves, there seemed to be tension whenever his death is mentioned, especially when speaking with Muslims. This puzzled me so I did some research. I won’t profess to be an expert in this area, but it’s evident that the three main religious groups found in Tétouan had major roles in the Lebanese Civil War, along with a host of smaller religious sects. The animosity begun during the conflict continues through to the present day. How can it not, with an estimated 150,000 people killed, 100,000 handicapped and 900,000 up to a quarter of a million people displaced permanently.

With this background information, I venture to say that Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch can be read allegorically. Although it purports to be the story of one family, each member has had a different experience, much like the people involved in the ongoing conflict in the area. History enthusiasts would certainly enjoy this book, as would the children of the survivors of the wars.

It was a complex story, almost impossibly so. While I enjoyed learning about an unfamiliar culture, there were a few translation errors and as always with such works, I expect there was some meaning lost in the translation. This coupled with my own ignorance about the peoples and history of the region detracted from my enjoyment of the book. Therefore, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.

******
Gates to Tangier 




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4/4 stars Review by Amelia Andrews -- Andalusian in Jerusalem




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Latest Review: "Andalusian in Jerusalem" by Mois benarroch

Review by Amelia Andrews -- Andalusian in Jerusalem

Post by AmeliaAndrews » 27 Jan 2018, 10:40
[Following is a volunteer review of "Andalusian in Jerusalem" by Mois benarroch.]
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4 out of 4 stars

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Mois Benarroch's Andalusian in Jerusalem recounts the story of a Spanish writer's adventures in Israel, all the while, pretending to be a Jew and having made a career of writing about Jewish history.

Stylistically, the book is superb, the vivid descriptions and sparse, literal inner monologue of the main character contrasting wonderfully with the absurd and often nightmarish events which take place. The stony acceptance with which these events are met highlights the absurdity of human interactions and the chaotic, meaningless nature of the world, mirroring Kafka - one of the main character's literary inspirations - thematically as well as stylistically.

A related theme of the book is the disparity between appearance and reality. This idea is emphasised throughout the book, set in a city where streets cease to exist for hours or months at a time, characters age decades in the space of minutes and the main character assumes both a fictional identity and a fictional family. One interpretation is that the nature of reality is not fixed or determined and can be changed at will, seen when Guillermo assumes, without evidence, that a certain house exists only at night and is proved to be correct. The notion of a reality determined solely by our actions and interpretations perfectly mirrors Sartre's radical freedom.

Similarly, the theme of personal identity is also key to the book, with the main character adopting a Jewish identity and then another persona entirely, as well as others struggling with personal identity in the face of societal pressures to conform, such as Charly and his characters. This idea is expanded in Charly's manuscript, detailing the stories of forced conversions as well as the search for personal identity in an antagonistic society. One of the important idea which arises is whether identity can be found in the past, through one's cultural heritage and ancestry, or in our present lives and through future children. Perhaps the endless returning to the legacy of the dead is an attempt to find meaning in an otherwise meaningless world, indifferent to human purposes. Another interpretation is that the cultivation of the past into an identity is an attempt to reconcile pain, particularly prominent in the tales of religious persecution described in the story.

A final point of interest is the commentary of characters, who are writers, on the nature of a writer's duty. This is a profound discussion, offering the perspective that writing is of such importance that it should take precedence over all other pursuits, Charly telling Guillermo that being a writer is more important than an editor and that 'true' writers are hard to come by. In this mindset, literature is valuable because it provides some connection to knowledge and truth, which is regarded as inherently valuable.

In conclusion, this book is exceptionally well-written, a thrilling adventure and insight into a great mind, recommended to anyone interested in Spanish or Jewish culture, writing as profession or existentialist themes. It makes for an extremely sophisticated and at times surreal read, echoing the literary styles of Franz Kafka, as well as exploring some of his favoured themes, engaging and exceptional in parts and thus deserving of a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

******
Andalusian in Jerusalem 

4/4 stars ANDALUSIAN IN JERUSALEM by Mois Benarroch

Review by AmeliaAndrews -- Andalusian in Jerusalem

Post by AmeliaAndrews » 27 Jan 2018, 10:40
ANDALUSIAN IN JERUSALEM

4 out of 4 stars

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Mois Benarroch's Andalusian in Jerusalem recounts the story of a Spanish writer's adventures in Israel, all the while, pretending to be a Jew and having made a career of writing about Jewish history.

Stylistically, the book is superb, the vivid descriptions and sparse, literal inner monologue of the main character contrasting wonderfully with the absurd and often nightmarish events which take place. The stony acceptance with which these events are met highlights the absurdity of human interactions and the chaotic, meaningless nature of the world, mirroring Kafka - one of the main character's literary inspirations - thematically as well as stylistically.

A related theme of the book is the disparity between appearance and reality. This idea is emphasized throughout the book, set in a city where streets cease to exist for hours or months at a time, characters age decades in the space of minutes and the main character assumes both a fictional identity and a fictional family. One interpretation is that the nature of reality is not fixed or determined and can be changed at will, seen when Guillermo assumes, without evidence, that a certain house exists only at night and is proved to be correct. The notion of a reality determined solely by our actions and interpretations perfectly mirrors Sartre's radical freedom.

Similarly, the theme of personal identity is also key to the book, with the main character adopting a Jewish identity and then another persona entirely, as well as others struggling with personal identity in the face of societal pressures to conform, such as Charly and his characters. This idea is expanded in Charly's manuscript, detailing the stories of forced conversions as well as the search for personal identity in an antagonistic society. One of the important idea which arises is whether identity can be found in the past, through one's cultural heritage and ancestry, or in our present lives and through future children. Perhaps the endless returning to the legacy of the dead is an attempt to find meaning in an otherwise meaningless world, indifferent to human purposes. Another interpretation is that the cultivation of the past into an identity is an attempt to reconcile pain, particularly prominent in the tales of religious persecution described in the story.

A final point of interest is the commentary of characters, who are writers, on the nature of a writer's duty. This is a profound discussion, offering the perspective that writing is of such importance that it should take precedence over all other pursuits, Charly telling Guillermo that being a writer is more important than an editor and that 'true' writers are hard to come by. In this mindset, literature is valuable because it provides some connection to knowledge and truth, which is regarded as inherently valuable.

In conclusion, this book is exceptionally well-written, a thrilling adventure and insight into a great mind, recommended to anyone interested in Spanish or Jewish culture, writing as profession or existentialist themes. It makes for an extremely sophisticated and at times surreal read, echoing the literary styles of Franz Kafka, as well as exploring some of his favoured themes, engaging and exceptional in parts and thus deserving of a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.


Monday, April 2, 2018

4/4 stars Review - The Expelled by Mois Benarroch EL EXPULSADO

Review by Fabiana -- The Expelled by Mois Benarroch

Post Number:#1 by Fabiana » 26 Mar 2017, 04:56
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch.]

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4 out of 4 stars

Review by Fabiana

A word of warning: if you’re looking for a straightforward sci-fi mystery/romance, this is definitely NOT the book for you. Unless you are into hardcore metafiction, best keep away because that’s exactly what Mois Benarroch’s The Expelled is. A masterpiece of the genre, an intricate box-in-a-box literary concoction, and in each box there is a jack – something entirely unexpected, outrageous, illogical or downright absurd – and each box has its own music, pace and fragrance. Yes, fragrance. And all these fragrances put together make up a perfume that could be described as follows:

THE TOP NOTES, the ones that reach the nose first, are the opening story – the narrator meets a woman that looks exactly like his wife, and is in fact the same person, but twenty five years younger. These top notes are sharp, bold and aggressive bordering on cheap and tacky – like a disenchanted spouse dressing up as a prostitute to make a point. The effect is strident, offensive, sleazy and yet intriguing.

THE MIDDLE NOTES are the central story – a bus is hijacked by terrorists, a passenger is shot and the bus becomes a universe in itself in which society is divided into two classes: the front people, the oppressing majority, and the back people, the oppressed and complacent minority. The pace is fast and furious; the notes are screeching, dissonant, messianic, and absurd, a combination of frankincense, myrrh, toilet odors, blood, sweat and insanity.

THE BASE NOTES, the final fragrance that appears once the top notes have completely vanished, emerge not at the end, as one would expect (wouldn’t one?), but right in the middle of the book, under the form of a third box, or perhaps I should say a third Sephardic nesting doll – the story found in a notebook, that explains the metaphor of at least one of the other two stories. It smells like epiphany mixed with Moroccan bean soup.

And the main character of the book, the one wearing this strange perfume, is the whimsical metafictional text, which tells a story in itself, and contains clues to the apparent plotlines or to what hasn’t been said. The music–related “stage directions”, for instance, apart from setting the mood, are tell-tale songs that shed light on the unsaid. Although the reader’s attention is drawn in a confessional style to the storytelling/making process and the supposedly objective reality outside it throughout the entire book, this apparent openness can be deceptive and paradoxical, matching the upside-down world of the stories. Masterfully using an arsenal of literary techniques, from multiple narrators merging various first and third-person perspectives to a head-spinning mise-en-abîme, Mois Benarroch shatters the “I” and scatters it to the four winds, challenging the readers and himself to put the pieces back together.

To paraphrase his own words, The Expelled is a story about love, discrimination, indifference, fiction and reality, or reality that merges with fiction. A love-hate dichotomy between the “I” and the Others that persists even through the meta-text. If I had to explain what lies at the core of it all, what links all the stories together, here’s how I’d put it:

So you’ve managed to be part of the group, to fit in with the dominant majority to the point of losing yourself in the process. You forgot who you are, where you came from, what your past is. It’s good to be part of a dominant group so you’re doing what you’re expected to do, what the OTHERS expect you to do, not what YOU want to do. Because you don’t really know what you want anymore. But suddenly you hit a wall. You open your eyes and see that the standards conveyed as necessary for being accepted or successful are irrational and absurd. Now what?

That being said, notwithstanding the fact that the English translation is far from being excellent, and there are a few typos here and there, for the excellence of the work itself I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It’s a roller coaster read that keeps you turning the pages and, even though eventually the roller coaster turns into a Ferris wheel and the pace slows down, in the end it still leaves you dizzy. Thank you, Mois Benarroch, for one hell of a ride.

******
The Expelled 


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review of "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch

Review by ellieonline03 -- review of "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch


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3 out of 4 stars

Review by ellieonline03

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If you are looking for a philosophical fictional novel, you might want to grab a copy of The Expelled by Mois Benarroch. Written in first person point-of-view, this novel shows a bit of history about the “Expelled” tribe. It also lets the readers understand how rejection and discrimination affected the “Expelled” people, both sociologically and psychologically.

There were three storytellers in this book. The first narrator was the author himself. On his way home, he met a young woman who looked like the younger version of his wife, Gabrielle. He was not sure if he was hallucinating or not, but they continued to see each other. These secret meetings budded to an adulterous relationship. One day, the younger Gabrielle asked the author to read to her a story he had been writing, which he complied. From there, a new narrator took over. Some people interrogated the narrator about a bus hijacking. He was one of the passengers of the bus that headed to “the sea”. There were two groups in the bus: the front people (the superior) and the back people (the inferior). Peculiar situations happened during their journey. During those times, the front people always got the best deal in every argument. No one thought it was odd that the front people treated the back people with cruelty. At one point, one of the front people gave the narrator a notebook. During the interrogation, the narrator read this book aloud. It was a story about that passenger’s life as an immigrant. He was from Morocco, and as such, he was discriminated. He wanted to settle down in his new country, but he was always pulled down by others.

The Expelled is like a Russian nesting doll of narratives. You open one story only to find another story inside it and another story inside the second story. The accumulation of three stories in one book might be too confusing for some readers. However, Benarroch skilfully weaved the three stories to expose a central theme: discrimination. The struggling author, the back people on the bus, and the Moroccan immigrant were all marginalized for being different. 

There were situations presented in the stories that were very ironic. Those moments were almost laughable if not for the fact that these situations were similar to what we observe around us. For instance, when the people in the bus argued on who could use the comfort room, the front people were allowed to use it more often than the back people. In today’s world, only the privileged enjoyed the things that were supposed to be equally shared by everyone. Another instance was when the front people harassed the back people, no one complained about the harassment. However, when the back people stepped into the front people’s territory, the front people got angry. The same can be observed today. The oppressors can do what they want, but the oppressed cannot do what they need to do.

Overall, I give The Expelled by Mois Benarroch 3 out of 4 stars. The novel was entertaining and thought-provoking, but it needs to be thoroughly edited first. I was distracted by the grammatical errors and the wrong use of punctuation marks that I found in the book.

******
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