Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Review by Ayobami Kehinde -- The Immigrant's Lament

Review by Ayobami Kehinde -- The Immigrant's Lament

Post Number:#1 by Ayobami Kehinde » 02 Aug 2017, 20:23
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Immigrant's Lament" by Mois benarroch.]

Book Cover



Review by Ayobami Kehinde

Something I love about poetries is the way they let you into the very soul of the poet. You can know and decipher, if you have a poetic sense, what s/he is going through or thinking at the time the poem is written.

The Immigrant's Lament, written by Mois Bennaroch, is an anthology of poems that describes the writer's perspectives about life, his regrets, sorrows and sometimes joys. They are all beautifully written and I enjoy how the poet used his poetic licence. A whole lot of the poems got me smiling, some made me sad and others thoughtful. The poem that describes his childhood got me nodding and smiling all the way except at the end. I could relate with some of his experiences especially how he destroyed his teacher's cruel cane after class with some loyal classmates. I didn't destroy my teacher's cane but my dad's, my siblings and I.

I love how the poet through the poems tells the story of his life, starting from his childhood to his adult life-- his marriage, friendship, his struggles, fears and regrets, his views about life. Thus, I will simply describe the book as an autobiography.

My best among the poems is "The Land of Freedom" which you cannot ever get to if you are not stubborn about being your unique self. It so much resonates with me. I also learnt history, the destruction of the Buddha statue in Afghanistan for example,  from the collection and a new literary term, "Les poetes maudits".

I however think the poems are not too well edited. This is the only grouse I have about the book. A few of the poems are not properly titled (first lines are emboldened). I noticed two poems in wrong positions, merged with other poems. An example is a poem titled "Promises". It appears as part of "Global Economy" but obviously a separate poem. The punctuation could be better than it is right now. Also the table of content should not have been the last section of the book plus a few spelling mistakes like spelling "leave" as "live". A little more of professional editing will make a big difference.

The book will appeal to poets and poetry lovers (as I understand it is not everyone that appreciates poetry), literary minded people and to anyone who reads Shakespeare. Folks that seldom enjoy poetry may not like the book. I am a poet, so I enjoyed myself reading through the book. I do recommend it to literature students and teachers as well. It will be a great asset to them.

I am rating the book 3 out of 4 stars. I would have given it 4 stars if the editing was perfect or near perfect. On the other hand, I do not give it two stars because in spite of the editing, the poems can be easily understood and are beautiful and soulful.

I will suggest you get the book so you can appreciate it better.

******
The Immigrant's Lament 


Read  The immigrant's Lament in
English https://www.amazon.com/dp/1519012616


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