Review by michiness -- The Stealer of Memories
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michiness
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Review by michiness -- The Stealer of Memories
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Stealer of Memories" by Mois Benarroch.]
1 out of 4 stars
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I feel like Stealer of Memories had a lot of potential as a book. I really do. It had a fascinating concept: Our main character, the author, "captures" other people's memories in day-to-day life. He then recreates them in story format, making his livelihood as a writer. The stories are interesting, ranging from a waitress who had broken her leg, to a Nazi soldier, to the Jewish prostitute that he marries. He has some beautiful quotes in there.
"Love was the meeting of two minds that they were already known and were sought. That’s why I found you in the words of another book…”
However, that's where the good parts end. The writing is sporadic and extremely hard to follow. I spent half of each chapter wondering who was talking, since it was constantly unclear who the speaker was. The writing style itself was horrendous. Not only was it very poorly translated (using the wrong words, the wrong tenses, and some words that just plain didn't exist), but it was awkward-sounding and switched between page-long run-on sentences, and choppy, unfinished dialogue.
All this poor writing made Stealer of Memories rather difficult to read. But I had a rather fun time trying to interpret it as the author's madness. Sometimes his writing was clearer, and I interpreted these as moments of sanity. And other times it was choppy and nearly indecipherable, which I choose to mean that the author was unsure of what was real and what wasn't.
It was clear in general that the main character did have problems discerning his reality from that of others', a theme brought up many times. Again, a truly fascinating concept, just poorly executed.
There is a plot underneath all of this madness. The author is receiving letters from a seemingly-unknown source. It's unclear exactly what the letters are saying, but they invite him to an appointment. The author stresses and worries over this, and it's interesting to watch as the language gets more and mare garbled. As this storyline progresses, it does lead into a fairly satisfying ending, switching between dialogue (Discussing everything from life as a whole to specific moments) and the author's continued questioning of the letters, as well as his own sanity.
Overall, I would give Stealer of Memories a 1 out of 4, though I would put it at 1.5 for the idea. It has really good concepts, it just needs an excellent editor. This is a good first draft, and I would love to read it in the original language (French?). Unfortunately, it just doesn't live up to its potential, and comes out more like something a high school student wrote the night before the paper was due.
******
The Stealer of Memories
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1 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
I feel like Stealer of Memories had a lot of potential as a book. I really do. It had a fascinating concept: Our main character, the author, "captures" other people's memories in day-to-day life. He then recreates them in story format, making his livelihood as a writer. The stories are interesting, ranging from a waitress who had broken her leg, to a Nazi soldier, to the Jewish prostitute that he marries. He has some beautiful quotes in there.
"Love was the meeting of two minds that they were already known and were sought. That’s why I found you in the words of another book…”
However, that's where the good parts end. The writing is sporadic and extremely hard to follow. I spent half of each chapter wondering who was talking, since it was constantly unclear who the speaker was. The writing style itself was horrendous. Not only was it very poorly translated (using the wrong words, the wrong tenses, and some words that just plain didn't exist), but it was awkward-sounding and switched between page-long run-on sentences, and choppy, unfinished dialogue.
All this poor writing made Stealer of Memories rather difficult to read. But I had a rather fun time trying to interpret it as the author's madness. Sometimes his writing was clearer, and I interpreted these as moments of sanity. And other times it was choppy and nearly indecipherable, which I choose to mean that the author was unsure of what was real and what wasn't.
It was clear in general that the main character did have problems discerning his reality from that of others', a theme brought up many times. Again, a truly fascinating concept, just poorly executed.
There is a plot underneath all of this madness. The author is receiving letters from a seemingly-unknown source. It's unclear exactly what the letters are saying, but they invite him to an appointment. The author stresses and worries over this, and it's interesting to watch as the language gets more and mare garbled. As this storyline progresses, it does lead into a fairly satisfying ending, switching between dialogue (Discussing everything from life as a whole to specific moments) and the author's continued questioning of the letters, as well as his own sanity.
Overall, I would give Stealer of Memories a 1 out of 4, though I would put it at 1.5 for the idea. It has really good concepts, it just needs an excellent editor. This is a good first draft, and I would love to read it in the original language (French?). Unfortunately, it just doesn't live up to its potential, and comes out more like something a high school student wrote the night before the paper was due.
******
The Stealer of Memories
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like michiness's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "An Unexpected Life" by Victoria Ortiz
