Review by TLD99 -- Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexp...

[TLD99]

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

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

I realize that this review will probably be rejected because it doesn't quite follow the guidelines, but I feel that writing it this way was necessary, for reasons that will soon become apparent.

In award-winning poet Mois Benarroch's semi-autobiographical novella Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected), he creates a woman who lives the life he has always wanted to live. He names her Raquel, after his mother. She is the same age as him, is also Jewish, and is also a writer. The book takes a surreal turn when Mois and Raquel get to know each other better through emails. Raquel's messages inspire him to reconcile his past with the present.

As the story progresses, Benarroch revisits his life as a 12-year-old called Moisito whose move to Israel was somewhat traumatic, his teenage years and young adulthood when he was girl-shy Moshe, and his life as mature Mois. Through continued email contact, he and Raquel eventually realize that they have barely missed running into each other numerous times throughout their lives, and arrange to finally meet.

The line between fantasy and reality in this book is blurred to the point that it's impossible to understand the story without rereading it several times. I procrastinated for weeks before writing this review because, to be perfectly honest, I found this story more than a bit confusing.

It seems that this book is aimed primarily at those who are already familiar with Benarroch's previous works. I did a little research on him, and learning about his background did help me make more sense of the story. I also took the time to read others' reviews of this book on the Internet, including a review that was published on your website, and I couldn't help noticing that their authors also apparently had trouble understanding the book. The review by Jeyran Main states that Mois' wife left him for another man, which didn't happen at all (she met her former lover several times for non-sexual trysts with Mois' approval and encouragement, but never left him), and also states that “it is not certain how and why they met.” Benarroch makes it quite clear that he created the character Raquel; the characters never actually do meet, but Raquel imagines that they did.

While the story in general is rather difficult to follow, the often poetic, dreamy dialogues between Mois and Raquel are quite engaging. For that reason alone, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.

******
Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like TLD99's review? Post a comment saying so!