Review by Yolimari -- Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch
Posted: 21 May 2017, 21:11
[Following is a volunteer review of "Gates to Tangier" by Mois Benarroch.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The patriarch of the Benzimra family, a Sephardi Jewish family from Tétouan and which dispersed during the 1970s, has died and uncovered a secret in his will. Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch and translated by Sara Maria Hasbun follows the trajectory of his adult children, who embark in a journey from their different homes to Tétouan to comply with their father's instructions in order to receive their inheritance.
What I liked most about Gates to Tangier was the bits of history that I learned about the Sephardi Jewish community in Tétouan, Morocco and how Israel's creation impacted it. I also enjoyed the different perspectives of the characters, which were obviously influenced by the countries they chose to move to. Each character developed a lifestyle and set of beliefs according to the place in which they decided to make their lives.
What I liked the least about the book was that it took me a while before understanding the structure of the book. Note that it is narrated from the different perspectives of the adult children of the diseased. Occasionally, the narration is from a particular place, indicating their location in the journey. I also did not appreciate the fact that I constantly found grammatical errors. The most common of these errors was finding words hyphenated that should not be hyphenated. Examples are women, which appears as wo-men, and Madrid, which appears as Mad-id.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I am rating it 2 stars because of all the grammatical errors that I found throughout the novel. A published book should not have some many grammatical errors. Another reason for giving it a rating of 2 stars is because I did not enjoy the structure of the book nor the structure of the prose. The author uses long and run on sentences all the time, and with all of the characters, making the reading tedious at times.
I did not give the book a rating of 1 star because I finished reading it. The plot was interesting enough for me to continue reading. I wanted to find the secrets with the characters. However, I think that some of the secrets did not make sense and were somewhat unrealistic. I would have given the book a rating of 3 stars if its plot would have been better developed. The end did not impress me either.
In brief, I believe that Gates to Tangier is a book with an audience in mind, that being the Jewish community, and perhaps the Muslim community as well. If the reader does not know much about these communities, he or she might lose interest in the book. Personally, I continued reading it because I like learning about the history of diverse communities.
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Gates to Tangier
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The patriarch of the Benzimra family, a Sephardi Jewish family from Tétouan and which dispersed during the 1970s, has died and uncovered a secret in his will. Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch and translated by Sara Maria Hasbun follows the trajectory of his adult children, who embark in a journey from their different homes to Tétouan to comply with their father's instructions in order to receive their inheritance.
What I liked most about Gates to Tangier was the bits of history that I learned about the Sephardi Jewish community in Tétouan, Morocco and how Israel's creation impacted it. I also enjoyed the different perspectives of the characters, which were obviously influenced by the countries they chose to move to. Each character developed a lifestyle and set of beliefs according to the place in which they decided to make their lives.
What I liked the least about the book was that it took me a while before understanding the structure of the book. Note that it is narrated from the different perspectives of the adult children of the diseased. Occasionally, the narration is from a particular place, indicating their location in the journey. I also did not appreciate the fact that I constantly found grammatical errors. The most common of these errors was finding words hyphenated that should not be hyphenated. Examples are women, which appears as wo-men, and Madrid, which appears as Mad-id.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I am rating it 2 stars because of all the grammatical errors that I found throughout the novel. A published book should not have some many grammatical errors. Another reason for giving it a rating of 2 stars is because I did not enjoy the structure of the book nor the structure of the prose. The author uses long and run on sentences all the time, and with all of the characters, making the reading tedious at times.
I did not give the book a rating of 1 star because I finished reading it. The plot was interesting enough for me to continue reading. I wanted to find the secrets with the characters. However, I think that some of the secrets did not make sense and were somewhat unrealistic. I would have given the book a rating of 3 stars if its plot would have been better developed. The end did not impress me either.
In brief, I believe that Gates to Tangier is a book with an audience in mind, that being the Jewish community, and perhaps the Muslim community as well. If the reader does not know much about these communities, he or she might lose interest in the book. Personally, I continued reading it because I like learning about the history of diverse communities.
******
Gates to Tangier
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Yolimari's review? Post a comment saying so!