3 out of 4 stars
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An independent and autonomous community named Andalusia is located in Southern Spain. In all of the autonomous and independent communities of the country, it lies at the second largest number. It is famous for historical nationality and has eight provinces. Jerusalem is a city located in the Judean Mountains on a plateau between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea in the Middle East. Three major Abrahamic religions---Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are found in Jerusalem.
Andalusian in Jerusalem by Mois Benaroch is a personal story of the author Guillermo. He is a Spanish teenaged 8-year old boy. He imitates to be a Jew in front of his peers and classmates. He adapts his imitation to permanent identity as he grows up in order to avoid the sarcasm from his friends. Actually, he doesn't know anything about himself. He is fond of writing and becomes a writer because he knows the Jew writers are most prominent. He wrote a book on the history of Jerusalem upon which he is invited by a writing festival in Jerusalem.
Guillermo met Charly on that festival and introduced himself as a Jew. Charly was a writer also so they became friends soon. An Andalusian woman met Guillermo and claimed to be his mother. She told Guillermo that her son was lost in the Lebanon War. Charly met with a woman who looked like his wife. Both friends have the similar stories. Guillermo was kidnapped by owners of Jerusalem and was enforced to write about the Jerusalem. His friend Charly gave him a manuscript to read and comment which Guillermo liked the most. Next day Guillermo started to search the woman again, who claimed to be his mother.
This story is interesting and entertaining as it has many magical and supernatural themes. Lucena is a city which has mystical experiences in its sad past. Actually, it's a religious and travel story of the writer himself. Different religions have been discussed in the book but there is a difference between the appearance and reality throughout the story. The monologue is also the part of a story, as the concept of reality has been built by the writer himself without any other being involved. The interactions between the characters of the story are not consistent with logic and plot line is lacking a visible organization.
The writer describes the Jewish communities outside the Palestine and modern Israel by giving examples of their language, culture, religion, and traditions. An effort to make compatibility between the reality of the past and identity of the present for gaining respect in the society is explained in the book. The vast and long manuscript given by Charly creates boredom for the readers who are not interested in the poetry.
The part of the story I liked the most is writer's identity because a feeling of sympathy is produced for Guillermo when he hides his identity to overcome the pressure of his classmates and peers upon him. Religion is a personal aspect and enforcement to convert the one religion into another is an ethical and moral issue. So the part of the story I didn't like is when old Christians enforce Jews to convert their religion from Judaism to Christianity.
The story is well written, accessible, and understandable with the simple flow of language. That's the reason, I rate it 3 out of 4 stars. There are some points in the story which are not coherent with the reality, as some houses and streets are existent only in the night but not during the daytime. This aspect of the story makes me ineligible to rate it 4 out of 4 stars. I will recommend this book to those readers who are interested in the Jewish culture, heritage, poetry, and religious studies.
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Andalusian in Jerusalem
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