Re: Official Review: Brown Scarf Blues by Mois Benarroch

[Chrys Brobbey]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of “Brown Scarf Blues" by Mois Benarroch.]

Mois Benarroch is a Sephardic Jew living in Israel and the author of Brown Scarf Blues. I found out from the Bible (Obadiah, verse 20) that when Jerusalem was conquered some Jews were taken as captives to a place called Sepharad. Some of them later migrated to Spain. When they were expelled from Spain in 1492 they settled in nearby Morocco, and since then they have been known as Sephardic Jews.

The book is a recount of events in the author’s life in the context of his Sephardic Jewish heritage and the blues that come with it. The story begins when he and twenty-nine other people travel to the Three Cultures Foundation in Seville to find out what became of the Jews over the past two hundred years and where they migrated to. On a lunch outing with his group, he lingers behind to have coffee. At the time of leaving the restaurant, he finds a scarf and his jacket as the only items left on the clothing rack. He takes the scarf along with him, believing it may belong to someone in his group. When everyone declines ownership he is unable to return it to the restaurant and wraps it around his neck to keep warm. “A scarf always brings back memories,” he writes and thereafter embarks on reminisces that reveal episodes in his life to readers.

Mois Benarroch came through to me as an emotive person when he bemoaned the death of his close friend and writer, Alan, while he was undergoing weight-loss surgery. He lamented his inability to tell Alan of his premonition of the risks and the uselessness of that kind of surgery. He also mourned the recent death of his sister as well as the passing of his little brother many years ago. These were some of the blues emanating from the scarf, in addition to the death of his dream on migrating to Israel from Morocco. When he later lost the scarf in Madrid he felt shattered by that mishap as well.

The scarf was to the author a promise of the warmth that he lacked in Israel where he felt that the Sephardic Moroccan Jews were discriminated against by the Ashkenazi European Jews. This theme has been at the center of his many books as his rage against the world. To him, the world has died without anyone noticing. I was shocked to learn of the reality of an incident he referred to as ‘horrible’, when I checked on the internet and read about Moroccan Jewish kids in Israel who were subjected to excessive radiation treatment for ringworm in 1950, resulting in the deaths of many.

From reading and reviewing the books of Mois Benarroch the impression I have is that he writes for a restricted niche of readers. His style of writing will be best appreciated by those who have done literary analysis in school in the mold of Shakespeare, Donne, and Keats. This book is written in the first person narrative, mostly in monologue, with a small part in third person dialogue. That makes it read like a lecture talk, and not in the least enjoyable. There are long sentences that do not pay particular attention to grammar. There is a jumble up in the recalls where the years of occurrence are listed, but not in chronological order thus making it difficult to follow. These drawbacks impact very much on the ease of reading and excitement, for which reason I rate it 2 out of 4 stars. I’ll recommend Brown Scarf Blues mostly to people interested in Jewish matters, students of literature and English scholars.

[Amagine]

I always found this author's books hard to read. His writing is meant for a specific audience and unfortunately, I'm not one. I do agree that this book would be good for those interested in Jewish matters.

Great Review! ?

[Jaime Lync]

I think that Christians who are interested in understanding Jews might also be interested in Benarroch's work. I would totally hate the lecture vibe you are talking about here though. Great review.

[Azeline Arcenal]

I have read one of this author's book and it was a bit confusing to read. While this seems like an interesting read, I think I'll pass on reading this book. Great job on the review!

[Tanaya]

The writing style does sound problematic, but Jewish history does intrigue me, having recently read the Old Testament. Thanks for the review!