Review by Ashley Crane -- Raquel Says (Something Entirel...

[Ashley Crane]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)" by Mois benarroch.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) by Mois Benarroch is classified as other fiction, but I would call it a fantastical memoir. The writer is the main character and the events of his life are incorporated throughout the book. However, the rest runs wild in an imaginative, metaphysical, and meditative steam of consciousness.

Mois, a Moroccan-born Jew, reluctantly moves to Israel with his parents at age 12. He grows up to become a poet and novelist who battles with struggles of self and the absence of true love. He feels that emigrating changed him so much that he sees himself at different ages with different versions of his name and almost completely separate identities. He creates a woman, Raquel, to love in his own image. He is very specific in pointing out that she is not a character, but an actual person. It is this mindset that changes the past and makes her retroactively real. Amidst the free-form observations about his background and style of writing, lies the core of a serendipitous and lyrical love story.

The themes of the novel are the existence of multiple dimensions of time and fate and the journey of multicultural self-discovery. As Raquel becomes more and more real, he can see the future of his past and how she has always been there in a parallel universe. He uses the pages to create a time and space where the two dimensions can finally find each other. He also continuously comes back to discussing the challenges of never being able to comfortably grow up as Mois, the Spanish-speaking Sephardic Jew from Morocco. He feels pressured to be Moshe in Israel and is affected by the weight of prejudice against his people and the fundamental differences he encounters within the Judaic religion.

The book doesn't make sense, but it does, which is essentially how Benarroch writes throughout the novel. I have a lot of respect for how he stays true to himself while knowing that his ideas are arguably far-fetched. It is all quite odd, but beautifully so. It is not the kind of book that I can see anyone having trouble putting down, anxious to find out what happens next, because as Benarroch says, "It's words, thoughts, but not a story." He says he's looking for something "further from literature... writing straight from the throat." He seeks to write "something that doesn't imitate life...writing that is life itself." In that regard, he nailed it. It is the most unique work that I have ever read. Even though I have great respect for the creation of something different, that was the thing I liked least about it. I need a book that I can't put down because I feel like I am living in the story.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because I enjoyed the originality of ideas, raw honesty, and most of all, the poetic beauty. I did not rate it a 4 due to its limited ability to keep the reader engaged and the fact that the audience for such quantum ideas is somewhat narrow. I am quite versed in this area and still had to reread sections several times in order to figure out what he was trying to say. This is his realm though and it is a lovely one if you can let yourself in. In order to do so, you almost have to relax your mind as you do with your eyes to be able to see the image in a Magic Eye. "We live where only mystics can enter," he writes.

As I continue to reflect, my mind goes deeper still into his world of parallel paths, the fight for forfeited identities, literature in limbo, and logophilic loves. I would recommend it to the wonderfully weird, the misfits, the hopeless romantics, and those who, like Benarroch, feel lost without written word in their lives.

"And why are you leaving now?"
"It's because I ran out of words. Without words, I disappear."

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Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)
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Like Ashley Crane's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Donatelloo]

Plot seems appealing .. Admirable review

[kandscreeley]

This sounds entirely to flow of consciousness for me. I need more of a fixed plot. What can I say? I'm old fashioned. I'm glad you were able to enjoy it though.

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

Well written review! I read this book and I agree with everything you say. You're right, it doesn't make sense but at the same time it does make sense. I was left wondering about the title though, was the unexpected thing Raquel says that she almost likes the life she leads, or was it something else?

[Ashley Crane]

Plot seems appealing .. Admirable review

Thank you so much!

-- 21 Jul 2017, 00:06 --

This sounds entirely to flow of consciousness for me. I need more of a fixed plot. What can I say? I'm old fashioned. I'm glad you were able to enjoy it though.

I can definitely understand that.

-- 21 Jul 2017, 00:29 --

Well written review! I read this book and I agree with everything you say. You're right, it doesn't make sense but at the same time it does make sense. I was left wondering about the title though, was the unexpected thing Raquel says that she almost likes the life she leads, or was it something else?

Thank you so much! That is a great question! It could be something to that effect, but also in the first chapter, he says, "She always says something unexpected, illogical, or out of place." He also says later, that she always tells him the things he should tell himself. He created her, but she is also him, his more self-actualized self, the one who tells himself the unexpected things that deep down, he feels that he needs to hear. I'm really not sure, but that's another thought I had on it.

[jwalker73]

A well written critique of what appears to be a book with a very complex theme. I do not think I, personally, would have the ability to keep up with the story-line. I commend you on being able to provide such a comprehensive review.

[Ashley Crane]

A well written critique of what appears to be a book with a very complex theme. I do not think I, personally, would have the ability to keep up with the story-line. I commend you on being able to provide such a comprehensive review.

Thank you so much!

[Rameen Shahid]

Your review left me speechless. It's amazing how you have put it in words. Good work!
The most realistic review to Mois Benarroch's confusing book.

[Manang Muyang]

Hi, Ashley Crane. Your review is mesmerizing, as in really! Rameen Shahid cites it as the most realistic review of this confusing book. I have to agree.

I also reviewed this book and have retitled it Raquel Says (Something Entirely Confusing). I stay on the lookout for other reviewers' opinions for curiosity's sake. We all read it differently, as Benarroch obviously intended.

I love your whole fourth paragraph and your ending quote.

Marvelous review! I am awed.

[Ashley Crane]

Your review left me speechless. It's amazing how you have put it in words. Good work!
The most realistic review to Mois Benarroch's confusing book.

Thank you so much! I worked very hard on it and this really means a lot to me.

-- 06 Aug 2017, 14:49 --

Hi, Ashley Crane. Your review is mesmerizing, as in really! Rameen Shahid cites it as the most realistic review of this confusing book. I have to agree.

I also reviewed this book and have retitled it Raquel Says (Something Entirely Confusing). I stay on the lookout for other reviewers' opinions for curiosity's sake. We all read it differently, as Benarroch obviously intended.

I love your whole fourth paragraph and your ending quote.

Marvelous review! I am awed.

Thank you so much, Miriam! It was confusing for sure! I had to go back and skim a lot of it to make sense of it. I definitely agree that there can be different ways to interpret it. I'll have to check out your review as well.

Thank you again for your kind feedback. It means a lot to me.