Review by mewsmash -- The Expelled by Mois Benarroch
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mewsmash
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- Latest Review: "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch
Review by mewsmash -- The Expelled by Mois Benarroch
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The book I chose to review was The Expelled, by Mois Benarroch. It's told in first person, like the other Benarroch books I've read so far. It begins as a mainly realistic fiction novel, but later in the book, it takes on a more science fiction aspect. The book follows a struggling author who meets an alternate, younger version of his wife, at a bus stop, and falls in love with her. From there, after the main character boards a bus, it gets hijacked by terrorists, which starts a highly symbolic war between the passengers on the front and back of the bus. The narrator then finds a notebook on said bus that begins to tell the story of Jewish exiles who moves to Spain during the 16th century, and were labelled as "the expelled" for not fitting in with their new surroundings. I won't give away the ending of the book, since it somehow manages to tie all of these strange events together quite well. There were aspects of the books that felt sluggish, slow, and recycled, but the book also had redeeming qualities in the grammar and sentence structure, the well-done symbolism, and the unique way Benarroch executes the time travel.
Let me start with the aspect of this book that I disliked the most: the pacing. At the beginning, the book moves very quickly. Characters are introduced, conflict begins, and the dialogue is snappy and moves the book along. However, this does not last for long. The book quickly slows down, and it seems excessive detail is used in every single sentence. With a horror novel, the slow pacing would add suspense and tension. In a novel like this, however, it makes the momentum of the novel come to a complete stop, and all the life just drains out of the novel. I found pacing to be a problem in the other Benarroch book I've read, Gates To Tangier, and I was very disappointed to find the same flaw in this book.
The other fatal flaw this book seems to have is in the characters themselves. The main character, who is somewhat of a caricature of the author himself, is ridiculously similar in personality to a character from Gates to Tangier, named Alberto. Both characters are neurotic authors who occasionally lose their grip on reality, and who obsess about the quality of their writing, their success, and philosophical values. While the character type is clearly meant to represent Mois Benarroch himself, the inclusion of such a similar character in two different works of literature seems repetitive, almost as if the author can't figure out another type of character to make. Gabrielle, the narrator's wife in this book, also bears many similar traits to Zohra in Gates to Tangier, though their are enough differences for me to not feel completely bored with her character.
Now, let's get to the positive aspects of The Expelled. The grammar and prose of the novel is impeccable, and the dialogue feels personal and well-done. The novel is professionally edited, and I have absolutely no gripes with the point of view and believe it works well with the book. Another great aspect of the novel is the clear symbolism throughout it. The conflict between the front and back of the bus is representative of the many conflicts plaguing the world today, and the fact that the situation could be analyzed in a myriad of ways, both literally and metaphorically, brings a lot of depth to the novel. The symbolism helps to tie together the past and present suffering of the Jewish people, while doing a great job at informing the reader about the Jewish culture. Finally, I believe that the time travel was executed in a clean manner, where it was always obvious whether the scene was taking place in the present or the past. The time travel is triggered by the finding of a notebook, which I found to be much more interesting than it being triggered by a machine. The book has many redeeming qualities that truly show the high skill of the author.
The Expelled, written by Mois Benarroch, was not the type of book that I was anticipating enjoying. I've never been a fan of time travel novels, especially when they involve the past. Therefore, I did not enjoy the book, but I definitely recommend it to anyone with an affinity for learning about the cultures of the past in a more personal way than a textbook or article. I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed the elegant prose of the novel, the clear symbolism and deeper meaning much of the story had, and the tasteful and unique way the author handled the time travel. However, I felt his characters were very similar to those of one of his other books(Gates to Tangier), which made me feel as if the author can only write certain archetypes of characters. I also disliked the pacing of the novel, as I believe Benarroch's downfall in all of his novels is the pacing. Overall, I do recommend the book, although it clearly wasn't something? I was expecting to enjoy in the first place.
******
The Expelled
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2 out of 4 stars
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The book I chose to review was The Expelled, by Mois Benarroch. It's told in first person, like the other Benarroch books I've read so far. It begins as a mainly realistic fiction novel, but later in the book, it takes on a more science fiction aspect. The book follows a struggling author who meets an alternate, younger version of his wife, at a bus stop, and falls in love with her. From there, after the main character boards a bus, it gets hijacked by terrorists, which starts a highly symbolic war between the passengers on the front and back of the bus. The narrator then finds a notebook on said bus that begins to tell the story of Jewish exiles who moves to Spain during the 16th century, and were labelled as "the expelled" for not fitting in with their new surroundings. I won't give away the ending of the book, since it somehow manages to tie all of these strange events together quite well. There were aspects of the books that felt sluggish, slow, and recycled, but the book also had redeeming qualities in the grammar and sentence structure, the well-done symbolism, and the unique way Benarroch executes the time travel.
Let me start with the aspect of this book that I disliked the most: the pacing. At the beginning, the book moves very quickly. Characters are introduced, conflict begins, and the dialogue is snappy and moves the book along. However, this does not last for long. The book quickly slows down, and it seems excessive detail is used in every single sentence. With a horror novel, the slow pacing would add suspense and tension. In a novel like this, however, it makes the momentum of the novel come to a complete stop, and all the life just drains out of the novel. I found pacing to be a problem in the other Benarroch book I've read, Gates To Tangier, and I was very disappointed to find the same flaw in this book.
The other fatal flaw this book seems to have is in the characters themselves. The main character, who is somewhat of a caricature of the author himself, is ridiculously similar in personality to a character from Gates to Tangier, named Alberto. Both characters are neurotic authors who occasionally lose their grip on reality, and who obsess about the quality of their writing, their success, and philosophical values. While the character type is clearly meant to represent Mois Benarroch himself, the inclusion of such a similar character in two different works of literature seems repetitive, almost as if the author can't figure out another type of character to make. Gabrielle, the narrator's wife in this book, also bears many similar traits to Zohra in Gates to Tangier, though their are enough differences for me to not feel completely bored with her character.
Now, let's get to the positive aspects of The Expelled. The grammar and prose of the novel is impeccable, and the dialogue feels personal and well-done. The novel is professionally edited, and I have absolutely no gripes with the point of view and believe it works well with the book. Another great aspect of the novel is the clear symbolism throughout it. The conflict between the front and back of the bus is representative of the many conflicts plaguing the world today, and the fact that the situation could be analyzed in a myriad of ways, both literally and metaphorically, brings a lot of depth to the novel. The symbolism helps to tie together the past and present suffering of the Jewish people, while doing a great job at informing the reader about the Jewish culture. Finally, I believe that the time travel was executed in a clean manner, where it was always obvious whether the scene was taking place in the present or the past. The time travel is triggered by the finding of a notebook, which I found to be much more interesting than it being triggered by a machine. The book has many redeeming qualities that truly show the high skill of the author.
The Expelled, written by Mois Benarroch, was not the type of book that I was anticipating enjoying. I've never been a fan of time travel novels, especially when they involve the past. Therefore, I did not enjoy the book, but I definitely recommend it to anyone with an affinity for learning about the cultures of the past in a more personal way than a textbook or article. I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed the elegant prose of the novel, the clear symbolism and deeper meaning much of the story had, and the tasteful and unique way the author handled the time travel. However, I felt his characters were very similar to those of one of his other books(Gates to Tangier), which made me feel as if the author can only write certain archetypes of characters. I also disliked the pacing of the novel, as I believe Benarroch's downfall in all of his novels is the pacing. Overall, I do recommend the book, although it clearly wasn't something? I was expecting to enjoy in the first place.
******
The Expelled
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
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Latest Review: "The Expelled" by Mois Benarroch
