Review by Dee_7Reichardt -- Andalusian in Jerusalem

[Dee_7Reichardt]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Andalusian in Jerusalem" by Mois benarroch.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Travel along with Guillermo on his journey of self-reflection and listen to his thoughts along the way in Andalusian in Jerusalem. This book follows the story of a writer and editor that has travelled to Jerusalem for a festival. The story begins in the writer’s childhood when he claims that he is a Jew to a close friend. This becomes part of his identity throughout this life, even though he may not actually be Jewish after all. In the city, he decides to walk around to find inspiration for his writing. However, the city throws more at him than expected. He encounters multiple strange happenings, including a woman who appears to be his dead mother, some fanatics that claim water memory can prove who owns Jerusalem and wish for him to write a journal article on their discovery, and many people with the same names.

There are several main people that Guillermo encounters while in the city. One is Charly, a friend and another writer who has had less success than Guillermo and asks him for advice on his latest manuscript. Part of Guillermo’s story is the reading and reaction to this manuscript. He also meets with a woman named Nora several times. Guillermo is attracted to Nora, but multiple conflicts cause strife in forming relationships. Finally, there is the mysterious woman that closely resembles his recently-deceased mother and can only be found at certain times of the day.

Overall, the book is a short read, but a lot occurs within the short time-span of this writer’s trip to this old city. In the background, one can sense the struggle within Guillermo’s identity as someone who has become well known for writing about Jewish culture, but himself is not actually Jewish. One can sense the grief of his mother’s passing in his strange, borderline delusional, inner monologues. Also present in the story is the Spanish background shared by many Jewish individuals. Whether this story is taken literally or interpreted symbolically, there are many layers to uncover that surround history, culture, and identity.

If you do not like books that lack a clear plot, this book may not be for you. It should also be noted that this book was originally written in Spanish and translated to English. Within the novel, there are many references to places in Spain and parts of Jewish culture. As such, if one does not have prior knowledge of Jewish religion, the conflict between the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions in the regions of Spain and Israel, or the Spanish language, the storyline can be quite confusing.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. While I did like the informational background on history and culture, the structure of the sentences and lack of clarity in the writing style made it hard to read. At times, I was not sure who was speaking, which direction the story was going, or if what was happening was real or part of the Jerusalem syndrome that afflicts visitors to the city. In reading the Spanish sample available on Amazon, the flow of the language seems more conversational than the English. There are a great number of sentences that have no ending for several lines, which caused difficulty in keeping the story moving. While it may be due to translation, the number of comma splices and run-on sentences was surprising to me. Even if those errors are ignored, there are several grammatical mistakes throughout the entirety of the novel that should have been caught during the editing process. There is a Wikipedia article and the aforementioned manuscript inserted as part of the story, but instead of adding to the main character’s thoughts, I felt that it was excessive to the point of breaking up the flow of the writing. I would not want to try to interpret this unless I had a high school degree at minimum. If the author was trying to convey symbolism in his story, the parts intended to do so are not clear. However, the perspective of a writer and the process of writing was interesting to me. If you can look past the writing style, a mysterious and emotional journey awaits that will not disappoint.

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Andalusian in Jerusalem
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[Helen_Combe]

Great review. It sounds like a lot happened in a short space of time. I read Keys to Tetouan by the same author and was astonished to find that one sentence ran over 2 pages. In the end, I put it down to artistic license, as he’s a poet.