Review of Hold Your Breath
Posted: 03 May 2023, 15:51
[Following is a volunteer review of "Hold Your Breath" by Rana Bitar.]
Hold Your Breath by Rana Bitar is an anthology about solitude and new perceptions. It illustrates the author's concerns during quarantine and her patients' hardships. Also, this non-fiction book presents themes such as isolation, family life, and death.
Briefly, the book focuses on the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 from Rana Bitar's perspective. She shares her memories and experiences from the first months of isolation in 15 poems in which she emphasizes her introspection, starting with what she would do if the world ended. Also, Rana presents the fight with cancer of her patients and highlights the relationship with her family, taking into account the rules of isolation.
I liked the structure of the poems, each with a different metric and length. Some poems combined a narrative and descriptive thread, but the emotions evoked by the poet were not lacking either. For instance, I empathized with Rana's fears and concerns about solitude, and I found myself in the rhymes about the loss of perception during the quarantine. Also, I enjoyed the mixture of comforting and tragic tones best captured in the cancer patients' struggles.
Another positive aspect of the anthology was its figurative language. For example, my favorite metaphor was that of the mask worn during the pandemic, which perfectly highlighted the diversity of human facets that must always be remade in society. Also, I liked the various rhetorical questions about the truth behind masks, and I appreciated the poet's sincere tone, which emerges from the rhythm of the poems and the coherence of the message through the abundance of punctuation.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because there was no aspect of it that bothered me. I felt that I had leafed through the pages of a journal sprinkled with both certainties and uncertainties, and I appreciated that the poet shared the soliloquy of her private thoughts during a difficult period in her life. I liked the stylistic diversity of the poems, especially that Rana Bitar managed to capture all my attention by combining some analytical verses with some full of emotional depth. Also, the book was exceptionally well edited because I didn't find any errors while reading it.
I recommend this book to people who enjoy collections of poems, especially those interested in the experiences of a woman at the beginning of a pandemic. It is perfect for those who are eager to read a melange of thoughts and descriptive imagery during the quarantine. Also, Hold Your Breath is suitable for a large audience because it has no profanity or erotic content.
******
Hold Your Breath
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Hold Your Breath by Rana Bitar is an anthology about solitude and new perceptions. It illustrates the author's concerns during quarantine and her patients' hardships. Also, this non-fiction book presents themes such as isolation, family life, and death.
Briefly, the book focuses on the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 from Rana Bitar's perspective. She shares her memories and experiences from the first months of isolation in 15 poems in which she emphasizes her introspection, starting with what she would do if the world ended. Also, Rana presents the fight with cancer of her patients and highlights the relationship with her family, taking into account the rules of isolation.
I liked the structure of the poems, each with a different metric and length. Some poems combined a narrative and descriptive thread, but the emotions evoked by the poet were not lacking either. For instance, I empathized with Rana's fears and concerns about solitude, and I found myself in the rhymes about the loss of perception during the quarantine. Also, I enjoyed the mixture of comforting and tragic tones best captured in the cancer patients' struggles.
Another positive aspect of the anthology was its figurative language. For example, my favorite metaphor was that of the mask worn during the pandemic, which perfectly highlighted the diversity of human facets that must always be remade in society. Also, I liked the various rhetorical questions about the truth behind masks, and I appreciated the poet's sincere tone, which emerges from the rhythm of the poems and the coherence of the message through the abundance of punctuation.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because there was no aspect of it that bothered me. I felt that I had leafed through the pages of a journal sprinkled with both certainties and uncertainties, and I appreciated that the poet shared the soliloquy of her private thoughts during a difficult period in her life. I liked the stylistic diversity of the poems, especially that Rana Bitar managed to capture all my attention by combining some analytical verses with some full of emotional depth. Also, the book was exceptionally well edited because I didn't find any errors while reading it.
I recommend this book to people who enjoy collections of poems, especially those interested in the experiences of a woman at the beginning of a pandemic. It is perfect for those who are eager to read a melange of thoughts and descriptive imagery during the quarantine. Also, Hold Your Breath is suitable for a large audience because it has no profanity or erotic content.
******
Hold Your Breath
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon