Review: Some Potential Here But Editing Is Needed
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 20, 2013
I found it hard to distinguish between the poetry and essays in this anthology because their typographical arrangement was similar.  So for the purposes of this review, I made the assumption that pieces without any rhyme at all were essays rather than blank verse.I thought that the standout poem was “Sand Thru Fingers” because of its consistent rhythm, sound patterns and strong images. An example of a sound pattern is the alliteration of the opening line “Fresh morning fog in the forest”.  I also liked “Darshan With Shiva” and “On The Danube” which both expressed their subjects well in poetic form despite the single typo in each.It seemed to me that the poems in general used language in a way that was pedestrian rather than original.  There were numerous forced and inappropriate rhymes.  There were breaks in the rhythm of some poems which weakened their structure.  There were also poems that would have been stronger if they hadn’t concluded with an anti-climactic final stanza.  Because language is paramount in poems, typos detract from them so much more than they do in prose writings.  I noticed every typo in the poems.I liked “Simplicity” best of the essays because I can confirm through my own experience that a single focus always has the best result in any form of activity. Some of the essays seemed like unfinished fragments, and others were based on suspect theories propounded by scholars who published before archaeology had a methodology.I identified two pieces that I thought were intended to be short fiction.  Both could have used further development.  The utopian story, “The New Atlantis”, seemed implausible due to a plot hole at the end.  The historical piece dealing with philosophy, “The Academy”, was a fragment.  It lacked a story beyond the lecture it described.An editor who does more than eliminate typos could improve this collection, and make it seem more professional.  I also believe that a more distinctive title would increase this book’s marketability.