Official Review: Epic of Time by Sandip Goswami

[CCtheBrave]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Epic of Time" by Sandip Goswami.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Sandip Goswami's Epic of Time is a collection of poems that centers on themes of God, Identity, and Holistic Love. Throughout his collection, Goswami muses about his childhood in India and the individuals around him that have inspired him throughout his life, such as Mother Teresa, his parents, and various other family members. The author also uses this collection of poems to delve into discussions of spirituality and religion, often drawing a line between internalizing love and passion for God versus externalizing those feelings and exhibiting radical behavior.

While several of Goswami’s poems may leave you with inklings of the famous Sufi poets, such as the great Rumi or the ever-romantic Hafiz, the majority of this work is underwhelming. As a whole, Goswami’s poems contain disjointed stanzas and inconsistent, distracting grammar. The author's intended use of elevated English is easily the most frustrating aspect of reading through this collection of poems, as it leaves reader confused about the true meaning of the stanza or thought.

Readers must first "sift" through the author's ramblings in order to finally uncover the few jewels that lay within, such as the individual poems “Hopeless”, “Kashmir-The woman,” and “Circle of Love.” In these few moments of eloquence, Goswami was able to impart a lasting impression of heartbreak, political unrest, and complete devotion to his native land, India. Within these poems, Goswami provides simple, clear images to his readers and proves that despite his flaws as a writer, he is, indeed, a poet.

Sandip Goswami’s Epic of Time will not appeal to the more romantic or expressive readers, unless they are willing to weed-out the many poems that fall flat of charm and panache. It may, however, strike a chord with those who enjoy reading musings or memoirs which lean towards ideas of politics and identity. Regardless of which category readers may fall into, though, Epic of Time will, at the very least, elicit a strong reaction, which is the very point of writing poetry, is it not?

Overall, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars because although Sandip Goswami’s writing is sometimes eloquent and flows well, the majority of the poems within this collection lack lyricism and style. The poet’s improper use of punctuation (which he uses to signify gravity of a statement, rather than using imagery or metaphors) was distracting, to say the least. Epic of Time will simply not keep readers interested throughout the entirety of the collection.

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Epic of Time
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[Sandip Goswami]

Official Review: Epic of Time by Sandip Goswami

Post Number:#1 Unread postby hannahbm13 » 18 Jul 2015
4 out of 4 stars Review by hannahbm13 Share This Review
"Epic of Time" by Sandip Goswami is said to be "The fossil of humanity by an individual..."

As that is the first thing I read, I get a certain image in my mind. In millions of years, when future civilizations dig us up, they will find this book. Based solely off the information within, they will come to know our society. That is my mindset going into this, and I should say, I was not disappointed.

Diving headfirst into the book, I feel at first that it is a wonderful representation of who we are. Touching on subjects such as religion, poetry, love, and life, it really expresses the things we hold dearest to us. Three poems in, I feel like the culture described is beautiful, and tries to heal all the wounds it inflicts upon itself by creating. Whether that be art, family, or the idea of a higher power, it really sums us up pretty well.

Bearing in mind my first image of the future civilizations, I appreciate all the little explanations very much. For example, after the poem about Mother Teresa, Goswami puts in a little part at the bottom explaining who she was and what she did to change our world. There are other little things like that throughout the book that make it that much better.

After writing about all the wonderful aspects of the book, I must admit that there are some things that I would change. As this book is supposed to be representing humanity as a whole, I feel like there was too much focus on India. I would have much preferred something with more diversity. While I'm on the topic of India, I noticed that there were two almost identical poems included about the Prime Minister of India. They even had the same format. I would suggest including only one of them, specifically the one entitled "About India." Two other cases of almost identical poems were found, which I won't go into detail about.

Overall, I would give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. The idea of this book was exceptionally unique, and it was executed very well, with just a few exceptions. I'm not the biggest poetry fan, but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and would suggest giving it a read

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Epic of Time
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[hannahbm13]

Wow, thanks for referencing my review on here, @Sandip Goswami! That means a lot. @CCTheBrave, what do you have to say about my review? I think your view point on it is very interesting.

[CCtheBrave]

Honestly, I don't agree with your review, but it might just be an issue of personal preference. I recognize that poetry is incredibly subjective, so i'm not trying to invalidate your viewpoint, but I genuinely disagree with parts of it. For instance, when you say
"As that is the first thing I read, I get a certain image in my mind. In millions of years, when future civilizations dig us up, they will find this book. Based solely off the information within, they will come to know our society. That is my mindset going into this, and I should say, I was not disappointed."

That entire paragraph seems to be irrelevant because you decided something about the text before you read it. I'm glad that the text lived up to your expectations, but I wasn't moved by the content, myself.

Next, when you wrote the following:
"Bearing in mind my first image of the future civilizations, I appreciate all the little explanations very much. For example, after the poem about Mother Teresa, Goswami puts in a little part at the bottom explaining who she was and what she did to change our world. There are other little things like that throughout the book that make it that much better."

I didn't agree that the explanations that Goswami gave were particularly helpful. I would expect most readers to know a little bit about Mother Teresa, so it felt unnecessary and a bit obvious to explain about her.

Lastly, you said
"After writing about all the wonderful aspects of the book, I must admit that there are some things that I would change. As this book is supposed to be representing humanity as a whole, I feel like there was too much focus on India. I would have much preferred something with more diversity."

From the very beginning, Goswami told readers that this book of poetry was about his experiences in India and he stated that most of the poems were somehow related to India, so I'm not sure why you were expecting more diversity of topic?

I know I sound very harsh right now, and I don't mean to be rude; instead, I hope to simply let you know that I disagree with a lot of the content of your review (which is ok, and I think it's always good to have different viewpoints on a piece of literature) and overall, I stick to my original rating of the book. I hope this doesn't discourage the author, either (I don't think it will, because most poets understand that their work will get a wide spectrum of critique and comments).

Thanks for opening this up for debate, I think it's very healthy to think critically about what we write, whether we are editing, authoring, or critiquing work.

[Sandip Goswami]

Thank you so much dear friends. I love and respect your views. I am grateful. Keep it up without any hesitation. Great jobs. Best wishes from my heart.