Review by Aldonsa -- (Ways to) Lucena by Mois Benarroch
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Aldonsa
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Review by Aldonsa -- (Ways to) Lucena by Mois Benarroch
[Following is a volunteer review of "(Ways to) Lucena" by Mois Benarroch.]
3 out of 4 stars
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When reading (Ways to) Lucena by Mois Benarroch I thought that the main subject of the book is the historical path of Jews. Geographical trajectories from Lucena to different countries and back again; cultural, spiritual and religious paths diverged in time – all history is shown to us with short fragments. Fragments from the recent past and nowadays we get from short stories of contemporary people: sketches of their life or life of their families. Fragments from the remote past we see through the eyes of Lucena – unique thousand year old man who carries inside himself and inside his numerous descendants all Jewish history. He traveled around the world seeking a right place for a Jew; he had many families, saw old cultures dying and new rising, went through many trials. Lucena exists at present so sketches of the distant past, that he shows us, are true, not some doubtful facts “corrected” by historians. Therefore, we have a lot of mosaic fragments: from 12th century to the present time, from America to Israel. Adding these pieces together we can obtain a whole picture of Jewish history from the Middle Ages to nowadays: what have happened with people and what they have become.
A reader who knows history of cultures well is able to put this puzzle together easily. I am not a historian or a cultural specialist so for me this task was difficult but very interesting. The book made me search additional information through encyclopedia, read papers to puzzle out all that variety of Jewish ethnic groups, languages, traditions, religion practices. This work was exciting for me. I have learned much about Jewish culture. Reading the book I pondered over many philosophical questions.
When I have finished reading the book and articles I have changed my mind about the main subject. This book is not about Jewish historical trajectory (geographic, philosophic, spiritual and so on). The book is about the path: a man’s unique path to himself, to the origins and roots. Any man can find himself on this pathway: a thriving businessman, completely disinterested in Jews, Christians, Muslims and their history; a son of a Holocaust survivor, whose life was crossed out from the birth; a cynical copywriter; a convicted criminal; an apprentice writer, to whom ancient Lucena handed over mosaic pieces of Jewish history. All those people stories a reader sees in the book and maybe finds himself in some character.
As I mentioned before I think that the book is interesting and cognitive. The book makes to ponder over many issues: philosophical, religious, historical, psychological. I do not want to judge the author’s opinion about Jewish history and culture. The author is far more competent in these questions than me. I am neither historian nor religious scholar. I am only a reader and I like the book because it causes me think a lot about one man’s inner world. In my opinion a book that urges a reader to think is a good one.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. As a downside I would mention Sci-Fi part that is rather weakfish. The book is proposed to be of science fiction genre but in my opinion it contains a lot of philosophy and a very little of fiction. Besides, I have some unsettled questions to the plot. For example I would know where are people like Lucena, because it was mentioned that he is not the only one. When reading I thought that maybe every nation has such man who carries inside himself the nation history (something like walking tablets), I would know more about them.
The book has many merits. Interesting writing style and light humor makes the book enjoyable for reading. Sketchy style was unusual for me at first. But then I understand that it is the author’s feature for highlighting important things and making a reader to think over them. To my mind a good art-house movie version of this book can be done. The book is almost made-up picture play.
I think that this book would appeal the most to people who like history, philosophy, cultural and religious studies, who want to know more about Judaism and its history.
******
(Ways to) Lucena
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3 out of 4 stars
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When reading (Ways to) Lucena by Mois Benarroch I thought that the main subject of the book is the historical path of Jews. Geographical trajectories from Lucena to different countries and back again; cultural, spiritual and religious paths diverged in time – all history is shown to us with short fragments. Fragments from the recent past and nowadays we get from short stories of contemporary people: sketches of their life or life of their families. Fragments from the remote past we see through the eyes of Lucena – unique thousand year old man who carries inside himself and inside his numerous descendants all Jewish history. He traveled around the world seeking a right place for a Jew; he had many families, saw old cultures dying and new rising, went through many trials. Lucena exists at present so sketches of the distant past, that he shows us, are true, not some doubtful facts “corrected” by historians. Therefore, we have a lot of mosaic fragments: from 12th century to the present time, from America to Israel. Adding these pieces together we can obtain a whole picture of Jewish history from the Middle Ages to nowadays: what have happened with people and what they have become.
A reader who knows history of cultures well is able to put this puzzle together easily. I am not a historian or a cultural specialist so for me this task was difficult but very interesting. The book made me search additional information through encyclopedia, read papers to puzzle out all that variety of Jewish ethnic groups, languages, traditions, religion practices. This work was exciting for me. I have learned much about Jewish culture. Reading the book I pondered over many philosophical questions.
When I have finished reading the book and articles I have changed my mind about the main subject. This book is not about Jewish historical trajectory (geographic, philosophic, spiritual and so on). The book is about the path: a man’s unique path to himself, to the origins and roots. Any man can find himself on this pathway: a thriving businessman, completely disinterested in Jews, Christians, Muslims and their history; a son of a Holocaust survivor, whose life was crossed out from the birth; a cynical copywriter; a convicted criminal; an apprentice writer, to whom ancient Lucena handed over mosaic pieces of Jewish history. All those people stories a reader sees in the book and maybe finds himself in some character.
As I mentioned before I think that the book is interesting and cognitive. The book makes to ponder over many issues: philosophical, religious, historical, psychological. I do not want to judge the author’s opinion about Jewish history and culture. The author is far more competent in these questions than me. I am neither historian nor religious scholar. I am only a reader and I like the book because it causes me think a lot about one man’s inner world. In my opinion a book that urges a reader to think is a good one.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. As a downside I would mention Sci-Fi part that is rather weakfish. The book is proposed to be of science fiction genre but in my opinion it contains a lot of philosophy and a very little of fiction. Besides, I have some unsettled questions to the plot. For example I would know where are people like Lucena, because it was mentioned that he is not the only one. When reading I thought that maybe every nation has such man who carries inside himself the nation history (something like walking tablets), I would know more about them.
The book has many merits. Interesting writing style and light humor makes the book enjoyable for reading. Sketchy style was unusual for me at first. But then I understand that it is the author’s feature for highlighting important things and making a reader to think over them. To my mind a good art-house movie version of this book can be done. The book is almost made-up picture play.
I think that this book would appeal the most to people who like history, philosophy, cultural and religious studies, who want to know more about Judaism and its history.
******
(Ways to) Lucena
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Aldonsa's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "The Fifth Crusade" by Mark Butler
