Mois Benarroch

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WordHound
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Mois Benarroch

Post by WordHound »

Today's book of the day, Gates to Tangier, is by Mois Benarroch. I recently reviewed one of his other books and was disappointed by the lack of resolution to the plot. Has anyone read his other books? I'm curious if this was just something he did for Expelled, or if it's typical of how he writes his books.
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Post by Khaya »

I've read and reviewed two of his books, Gates to Tangier and The Noble Prize, and it seems to be typical of how he writes. He focuses on creating interesting characters, rather than a solid plot structure.
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Post by Christina O Phillips »

I read The Nobel Prize (and reviewed it: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewt ... 14&t=41719). I also read today's sample. I just do not care for this author's writing.
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Post by Rebeccaej »

I haven't read Expelled, but I did read Gates to Tangier and read reviews of his other writing that suggest he has a consistent pattern. Benarroch does a WEIRD thing in a fair amount of his writing that might not be clear to people who aren't into like...theoretical mathematics or something like that.

If you tried to draw out a diagram of an average book's plot structure, you'd end up with something that looks like a river with tributaries, right? Ideas starts someplace else and then flow into the main plot, or they branch out from the main plot and then rejoin in later.

To do the same with Gates to Tangier, you'd have to cut the paper and twist it into a mobius strip.

There's stuff that happens early in the book that feels jarring and out of place. Then several chapters later, a character says things that, if you catch it, if you put the book down and think through the implications, you might start to doubt whether the jarring stuff happened at all, or if one of characters made it up.

And then you'll start wondering who is supposed to be writing this story in the first place, and where you, as the reader, fit into the timeline of it all.

I really liked Gates to Tangier, but I think of it less as a story, and more as a sculpture built out of words, and existing in time instead of physical space.

It's written for the kind of person who drove their parents crazy when they were nine, asking questions like, "but if the universe is expanding, AND the universe has all of space inside it, where is the space that it's expanding into?"

It's weird and niche. You need a high tolerance for confusion to enjoy it, and the ability to say, "I'm going to stop thinking about that now, because that way lies madness."
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Post by EMoffat »

I am not a huge fan of the author either, and I find his writting disjointed and hard to follow. Some of his characters are interesting, but I never find the plots engaging (or understandable). He has won lots of awards though.. maybe I am missing something??
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Post by WordHound »

EMoffat wrote:I am not a huge fan of the author either, and I find his writting disjointed and hard to follow. Some of his characters are interesting, but I never find the plots engaging (or understandable). He has won lots of awards though.. maybe I am missing something??
Disjointed. Yes, that is definitely the word for it.
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Post by Emilyflint »

From what I have read by him, I find it is almost like reading front diary or something similar. Interesting read but it almost seems lie there is no actual plot but only themes.
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Post by WordHound »

Interesting comparison. I had never thought of it that way. Throw a bunch of themes into a pot, stir, and ta-da you have a Mois Benarroch book.
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Post by Kelebogile Mbangi »

WordHound wrote:Today's book of the day, Gates to Tangier, is by Mois Benarroch. I recently reviewed one of his other books and was disappointed by the lack of resolution to the plot. Has anyone read his other books? I'm curious if this was just something he did for Expelled, or if it's typical of how he writes his books.
That is so true! In his book "Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)" the plot was vague and I feel he focused more on conveying his thoughts and feelings than on telling the actual story.
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Post by Rebecca Henderson »

I've read a few of his other books and I have to admit that I was disappointed for the most part as well. You might find his poems a bit more inspiring, but both fiction pieces I reviewed had multiple (read: way too many to be considered a professional publication) errors and the narratives were disjointed and often random in nature. I'm not sure whether translator or author was at fault there. However, as I said, his poems were a bit more intriguing and gave me a look into his personal life and the topics he likes to muse upon. I'm really torn about his work, honestly, as I know that sometimes "lost in translation" can really affect an author's reputation. At the same time, we are in the business of word-crafting . . .
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Post by Zupanatural »

Rebeccaej wrote:There's stuff that happens early in (Gates to Tangier) that feels jarring and out of place. Then several chapters later, a character says things that, if you catch it, if you put the book down and think through the implications, you might start to doubt whether the jarring stuff happened at all, or if one of characters made it up.

And then you'll start wondering who is supposed to be writing this story in the first place, and where you, as the reader, fit into the timeline of it all.

I really liked Gates to Tangier, but I think of it less as a story, and more as a sculpture built out of words, and existing in time instead of physical space.
Rebeccaej wrote:It's weird and niche. You need a high tolerance for confusion to enjoy it, and the ability to say, "I'm going to stop thinking about that now, because that way lies madness."

It's similar in The Expelled- he actively goes out of his way to confuse and disorientate the reader. If someone starts reading only looking for a story, they'll be sorely disappointed. If they can take something from the reading experience, though, they should really appreciate it. A sculpture of words is an excellent way to look at it.

As a sidenote, there's a great quote about landscape paintings which is well worth applying to books in this vein: "Dans le paysage, ce qu'il y a de plus interessant c'est le paysagiste." In the landscape, the most interesting aspect is the landscapist :wink:
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Post by jimthorne2 »

I find Benarroch an interesting writer but one who cannot restrain either his thoughts or control his language. That's is why I do not consider his writing to be worth the attention he desires.
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Post by Storygamer88 »

I read his poem collection and rather hated it too. I don't think he's a particularly good or noteworthy author in any capacity honestly. But maybe his other works are better.
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Post by SilviaP21 »

I read and reviewed two of his books and I have to say I was intrigued. He has a complicated style, confusing stories and ambiguous characters. But something made me curious and interested in reading more of his work. Sometimes is almost difficult to finish a novel of his but then all you can think about is reading another one. At least that is what happened to me
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Post by Alice Heritage »

I have read "The Expelled" and also downloaded "Gates to Tangier" on 26 May. "Gates to Tangier" had a structure that was easier to get hold of than that of "The Expelled" and, while the ending left some things tantalizingly open, you could say that the central question of the story was resolved. Also, the English was much better in "Gates to Tangier" than it was in "The Expelled".
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