Review by Spring Thyme -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch
Posted: 04 Sep 2017, 15:34
[Following is a volunteer review of "Keys to Tetouan" by Mois Benarroch.]
2 out of 4 stars
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First of all, I rate it 2 out of 4 stars. As a genealogist, I chose this book for the historical aspect of the topic and the fact that Mois Benarroch is an award winning writer and poet.
The story covers several generations of the Benzimra family and their struggles to find their own place in the world. The family spreads all over the world and their story is told through recounting from other members, letters, and conversational interviews. This is also the first in a series of three books chronicling their lives as well.
The facts recounted in the Keys to Tetouan are a part of history and for this fact for the reader to fully understand what is happening throughout the book one may suggest that they do a quick search on Tetouan from the time periods listed. While this book is not a non-fiction book by definition, based on the history of the author having lived in Morocco and his Jewish upbringing, I do feel there is some cross over between fact and fiction for this story to blend properly.
As a Christian reading this book, I realize how little I truly understand the plight of the Jewish people. It is fascinating to read that they have lived in harmony with Muslims for thousands of years and have been persecuted by other Jewish people as well not to mention facing conflict and strife within their own mixed religion families.
I found the book interesting to read but had a lot of difficulty following the story at times. It did jump from person to person without warning so I found myself re-reading passages to figure out from whose perspective I was hearing the story. I did have to do a quick search on the history of Tetouan to learn about what I was reading which really did make the story easier to follow.
There are several grammatical errors, mainly run-on, scattered throughout the book and a few misspelled words, though I did catch several language errors which I attributed to the author being multi-lingual (i.e. merci instead of mercy). Reading the book straight through leaves you rather breathless as it moves very fast from person to person and from period to period.
While I gave it a 2 out of 4 star rating, I would love to see the author re-edit the book. Just adding more headings to help readers really follow the story dialogue and maybe writing a short preface of the history of the time periods covered would be beneficial.
******
Keys to Tetouan
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Spring Thyme's review? Post a comment saying so!
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
First of all, I rate it 2 out of 4 stars. As a genealogist, I chose this book for the historical aspect of the topic and the fact that Mois Benarroch is an award winning writer and poet.
The story covers several generations of the Benzimra family and their struggles to find their own place in the world. The family spreads all over the world and their story is told through recounting from other members, letters, and conversational interviews. This is also the first in a series of three books chronicling their lives as well.
The facts recounted in the Keys to Tetouan are a part of history and for this fact for the reader to fully understand what is happening throughout the book one may suggest that they do a quick search on Tetouan from the time periods listed. While this book is not a non-fiction book by definition, based on the history of the author having lived in Morocco and his Jewish upbringing, I do feel there is some cross over between fact and fiction for this story to blend properly.
As a Christian reading this book, I realize how little I truly understand the plight of the Jewish people. It is fascinating to read that they have lived in harmony with Muslims for thousands of years and have been persecuted by other Jewish people as well not to mention facing conflict and strife within their own mixed religion families.
I found the book interesting to read but had a lot of difficulty following the story at times. It did jump from person to person without warning so I found myself re-reading passages to figure out from whose perspective I was hearing the story. I did have to do a quick search on the history of Tetouan to learn about what I was reading which really did make the story easier to follow.
There are several grammatical errors, mainly run-on, scattered throughout the book and a few misspelled words, though I did catch several language errors which I attributed to the author being multi-lingual (i.e. merci instead of mercy). Reading the book straight through leaves you rather breathless as it moves very fast from person to person and from period to period.
While I gave it a 2 out of 4 star rating, I would love to see the author re-edit the book. Just adding more headings to help readers really follow the story dialogue and maybe writing a short preface of the history of the time periods covered would be beneficial.
******
Keys to Tetouan
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Spring Thyme's review? Post a comment saying so!