Review by Steph K -- (Ways to) Lucena by Mois Benarroch

[Steph K]

[Following is a volunteer review of "(Ways to) Lucena" by Mois Benarroch.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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I would rate (Ways to) Lucena by Mois Benarroch 1 out of 4 stars. There are a lot of problems with the book.
First off, I can tell this was not professionally edited. There are too many grammar or spelling errors. It is also a book in translation, and I think part of the problem was poor translation. There are some moments of awkward syntax, like when you use Google Translate to translate something. So I question how professional the translation job was as well.

This is listed as Sci-Fi/Fantasy, but I can’t really pin down what makes it SFF. There is a slight time-travel element, and a man who is 1000 years old, but this isn’t for fans of SFF. I think it’s about a man’s Jewish experience, and the history of crimes against the Jewish people. I had a hard time getting the point and understanding the book. It’s like many disjointed pieces stuck together that don’t actually fit. Lucena is actually a city that had a large Jewish population before the Jews were cast out of Spain. A person with more connection or knowledge of Judaism might have a different experience with this book.

It’s really hard to follow the plotline, because there isn’t much of a plot. The book randomly loses the storyline and devolves into scattered poems or short stories. It’s hard to see how it all fits together. I don’t know what the point was.

It starts off with Isaac going on vacation with his wife. He’s having a sort of crisis, and feels like his wife only stays with him for his money. He’s a well paid lawyer. From there it goes everywhere, the beginning made sense, after that it’s hard to keep track of the thread of the story. Somewhere online I saw it compared to Kurt Vonnegut, which is why I decided to read it. But I don’t see the comparison. Isaac is no Billy Pilgrim.

I also feel it necessary to point out some questionable content. There are a few scenes where main characters are having conversations with family and use homophobic slurs. Whenever he talks with family they find it necessary to talk about people they’ve met who are “queers”. The conversations feel like periodic blasts of nastiness. I didn’t see any purpose or point to these slurs, so I feel they were inappropriate.

The main problem was an inability to connect to the character or story. After reading the book, I cannot tell you who Isaac Benzimra is or why you should care about him.

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(Ways to) Lucena
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[Rosemary Okoko]

I like your nice and honest review. This seems to be one very confusing book to read. This is expected of this author. This book, being a book that was being translated should have been professionally edited. Thanks for your review.

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

I've come to realize that Mois Benarroch focuses on creating characters more than on developing a plot. When reading "Raquel Says" also by Benarroch, I was also left feeling confused, although I found myself being able to relate to quite a few of his experiences and feelings. Sounds like you were thoroughly frustrated by this book, I won't put myself through the same torture. Thank you from saving me from it!