Review by Jaime Lync -- Raquel Says (Something Entirely ...

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Jaime Lync
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Review by Jaime Lync -- Raquel Says (Something Entirely ...

Post by Jaime Lync »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)" by Mois benarroch.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) by Mois Benarroch is a psychological fiction novel that starts off very intriguing but quickly confounds me. The prologue sets the premise that an unidentified mystic entity invites Moshe to create a person. Moshe seems to have made Raquel. Who is Raquel? She is portrayed in various ways: a figment in his mind; a character in his book or as an actual person in a parallel world. There is also another possibility – she is a childhood friend of Moshe. Moshe’s identity is also in question. He is obviously schizophrenic but what Raquel Says about him near the end of the book is definitely something entirely unexpected…or is it? This novel delves into the theme of reality perception by presenting the convoluted thoughts of a demented writer in a very unique way.

Benarroch employs a very unconventional writing style that is simultaneously attractive and repulsive. The heading of most of the chapters are actually the first words in the opening sentence. This puzzled me the first time I read it but then I embraced it as a unique writing technique. The chapters begin with Moshe declaring the objective of the chapter. However, he seems to ramble on about a myriad of other topics without fulfilling his goal. This may be attributed to the prose being mainly the thoughts of a writer with dissociative identity disorder. Moshe seems to be the main character but his mind is host to Mois and Moisito (younger versions of himself with different personalities). This may explain why the reader is never able to fully grasp the chronology of the novel. Moreover, most chapters end with a poetic dialogue that leaves it up to the imagination of the reader to decipher who the speakers are or if it is just a monologue. I was enthralled by the metaphoric language used throughout the book but at the same time I was distressed because most of the story-line was confusing.

On the other hand, the many off-topic commentary served to address a variety of themes in a very candid tone. Benarroch writes about both religion and politics in the prologue. Throughout the book his views on these themes become more fleshed-out. I may not always agree with the author’s views but I can definitely appreciate his honest approach. Another topic he expresses his view about is the discrimination that migrants face from both their countrymen and foreigner. Moreover, I enjoyed reading about the hardships of a writer and how society views them through their work. What I find most striking is how despite the central theme of reality perception muddling the storyline the themes: love, marital affairs and family are intricately discussed.

There are a couple of things in this book to criticize apart from the convoluted story-line that I already mentioned. Firstly, there are a few grammatical errors in this book that are not easily overlooked. Since this book was translated from Spanish to English by Sally Seward the reader may chalk it up to be due to poor translation. Another issue that I had with this book is the fact that a somewhat pivotal character was introduced into the story but seems to have been forgotten by the author until he was near the end of the novel trying to ‘tidy up loose ends’. Also, although I have praised the unique writing style of this book I was greatly tempted to skip some portions that seemed very long-winded.

This book is actually a part of Benarroch’s Love and Exile series consisting of six other psychological fiction novels. Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) seems to be third book in the series but I am not sure that is the case because it was published on the same day as what I suspect to be book four and five in the series. I am not intrigued enough to read the remainder of the series because though the writing style is unique it is also very confusing to follow the story-line.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I would highly recommend this book to writers (poets mainly) who are looking for inspiration for branching out into a unique style of writing. However, these are the only people that I would recommend to read the novel. Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) is thought provoking. Unfortunately, this compliment can also be viewed as an insulting remark – this book gave me a headache.

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Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)
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-- 26 May 2017, 14:02 --

Wow. I wrote this review back in March and it was not published but counted as complete. Now that it is finally published I feel great. Thanks OBC.
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Post by AuGold »

Congrats bro! This is not a book that I would read but I appreciate you sharing it with me. I'll definitely be reading and commenting on your other reviews.
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Jaime Lync
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Post by Jaime Lync »

Thanx for stopping by AuGold.
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General Doc
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Post by General Doc »

Congratulations on getting your review published. The premise for this novel does sound cool. Thanks
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Jaime Lync
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Post by Jaime Lync »

Hey General, thanks a lot.
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Post by va2016 »

Be aware that Mois's books are translated versions! The awkwardness and the weirdness that we see in the narration is probably because of the translation of expressions from the native language to English. Thanks for the review.
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Jaime Lync
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Post by Jaime Lync »

va2016 wrote:Be aware that Mois's books are translated versions! The awkwardness and the weirdness that we see in the narration is probably because of the translation of expressions from the native language to English. Thanks for the review.
I totally understand you. Since he writes in Spanish I might just go and read the Spanish versions because that is my mother tongue.
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Post by Flor26 »

I actually am not a fan of book series or at least not something more than a trilogy so this does not seem like it's for me. Nice review though, bro.
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Jaime Lync
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Post by Jaime Lync »

Thanks for your comment Flor
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Post by kandscreeley »

The whole thing sounds a little confusing to me. I don't think this is something I would enjoy. It sounds interesting enough as a story line. Good review. It told me all I needed to know. Thanks.
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Jaime Lync
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Post by Jaime Lync »

This is confusing indeed. Thanks for the compliment on my review.
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Post by Czarmaine AM »

I totally agree with all the issues you encountered in reading this book. There are some chapters I had to read twice. Plus, the writing style of the author really needs some getting used to. However, I found the uniqueness of Mois and Raquel's story beautiful so I gave it a higher rating. Thank you for this great review!

P.s. My head also literally ached while reading this. Haha
"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
(The Old Astronomer to His Pupil by Sarah Williams)
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Jaime Lync
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Post by Jaime Lync »

Thanks for reding and commenting Czarmaineam. I do believe your right when you say that Benarroch's writing is very unique.
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