Review: Great and varied collection
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 11, 2013
I'm not someone who knows how to really talk about poetry. It's pretty much, I like it or I don't. I've always just been a prose kind of girl which is a great deal of this book so I thought I'd get the poetry a chance to. So if you want to know about the structure and whatnot of these poems, I'm not the reviewer to help. I can just tell you what I thought of them. With that said, this is an interesting collection and I've already reread it.The poetry deals a great deal with nature and emotions and was unlike most of what I normally read. But it was thought-provoking and concrete enough that I didn't feel lost in existential wandering. Each was on the short side, making me actually wish for a little more. It seemed like several left off. At first I wasn't sure how to interpret them, but I came to see them as seeds that made me think. If you give the reader the whole scene with no holes, what encourages their imagination? It covers a wide range of topics from Native American figures to sculpture and mythology. Shaw's poetry is well-rounded and interesting. And it's paced around the prose well; the whole collection flows nicely. It isn't overly complicated. I don't mean simple as an insult because it's not a child's poetry (think roses are red). I mean simple more in the sense of clear and we'll thought out. Shaw has a good command of his writing and you don't feel like you're reading a puzzle.The prose is equally entertaining. He goes from describing Emerson and his writing and views to describing a Utopian society where teachers are paid as well as CEOs (novel concept). I think that society is actually my favorite of his prose pieces. That could just be because I have never understood why we go with the vicious cycle that refusing to pay teachers well enough causes. But I'm not going on that rant here. Let's just say I agree with that aspect of his Utopian vision (and a few other aspects, too). His prose takes different forms and the subjects exist in different times and places. Shaw had flexed his creative muscles to provide a wide range of work that pulls together in a well-thought-out organization. His writing is clear and shows confidence. The vocabulary and structure aren't so elevated that a reader gets lost in complicated diction that they can't appreciate the story. Too many writers strive to use obscure words and unusual sentence structure to seem impressive. But Shaw doesn't fall into this trap and his writing shows both an education and creative mind. He doesn't have to try hard to entertain.The pieces complement each other well and I appreciate his bold stances and chances. A Papal sculptor that goes rogue and sculpts a goddess. Taking on universal laws. Poking fingers at problems in society. Gaps in the history. It's easy to shirk away from the more challenging or controversial issues. Shaw just storms through and writes what he wants to write. Have to respect a writer that doesn't worry about censoring his own voice. Don't get me wrong; he doesn't push any extreme views. He just isn't afraid to write what comes to mind. And not all of his work can be labeled as button-pushing. I just enjoyed seeing a platform behind the writing; a purpose. And he isn't all serious, though much of the work is. But you will find the occasional "hater" included in the diction or a warmer, more fun thought. It may sound like he bounces around a lot, but that's not the case. Somehow he's taken all these pieces and put them in an order that makes perfect sense. There's no jarring moment of, "And now for something completely different."One small issue: in the e-book file on my Nexus 7 the whole thing is centered. Even the prose sections. It's really not a big deal--you learn to ignore it quickly--but it's something that could be fixed in updated versions. With self-published books, I'm very lenient on formatting. I work for a small publisher and it's a headache to format e-books, especially if you don't have every device to test it on.This collection was a good read (and reread). I expect to reread it again. I do wish it were a little longer, but there is plenty to entertain in this collection and it does say "Volume 1" so I don't think there will be much of a wait for more from Shaw.