Official Review: Religion Divine by Amrik Binapal

[L_Therese]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Religion Divine" by Amrik Binapal.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Poetry is notoriously difficult to rate, since its reception always seems more subjective than that of more traditional prose forms. Amrik Binapal’s poetry volume Religion Divine: Spirit of Oneness is a collection of free verse poems focusing on the general topics of religion and spirituality.

The overall thrust of the poetry collection is the promotion of inter-religious harmony and what spirituality can mean to oneself and the world at large. The content is divided into four sections: “Few Important Keywords” (such as mind, spirit, peace, etc.); “God, Truth and Religion Divine”, which outlines what the author means by the title phrase “Religion Divine”; “Some Significant Misconceptions”; and “World Problems”. The second section is by far the lengthiest and seems to contain the main themes of the entire poetic volume. At a cursory glance, readers might be concerned that some of the many poems in this section seem repetitive, but don’t be fooled! Once read, you’ll find that each poem is thematic but unique, presenting related ideas in many different ways.

While the poems are written in free verse, the author does use a number of poetic devices to enhance his work. Occasionally, the attentive reader will recognize repetitions of sounds or phrases that help delineate emphasis on certain points or create a hint of rhythm in the lines and verses. These kinds of devices do not occur in every poem or indeed in many of them, but they do surface now and again to help keep the poems fresh. The author is far more likely to use metaphor in the poems. One of my favorite poems used the extended metaphor of dolls positioned in a fake drama to emphasize the temporary nature of worldly situations in comparison to the importance of spirituality. It was a clever metaphor that, deliberately or not, recalled the classic “world is a stage” comparison from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Unfortunately, to counteract the richness of metaphor, the poetry collection also had a number of errors in the text. One poem seemed to confuse the words “optimism” and “optimum”, switching them with each other a number of times in a way that did not seem purposive. As I read, I also spotted a couple of occasions where there was disagreement between the subject and verb. At the beginning, the author opens the book by explaining (poetically) that English is not his first language. With this in mind, the number of errors is actually far fewer than one might anticipate, but the book could still use another round with an editor.

If you are a lover of free verse poetry, this book could be an excellent choice. Likewise, readers interested in spiritual-mindedness would almost certainly enjoy it. If poetry is not your genre of choice, this book might pose more of a challenge for you. If you have strong religious convictions, you might want to read the description carefully at your retailer of choice. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars, taking into account the above-mentioned errors. For those who do choose to read the book, expect to find a collection of poems that will promote deep thought while smoothly communicating the author’s ideas.

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Religion Divine
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Like L_Therese's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kandscreeley]

Nice review. I agree completely about poetry being subjective. I think even with fiction works in prose, everyone has a different experience. So, to some extent, it's all subjective based on what YOU like. But that goes even MORE so for poetry. Thanks!

[Chrys Brobbey]

It's interesting that the author is able to compose a whole volume of poetry on only religion, instead of on multiple topics. I like poetry and this one looks good enough for me to delve into it. I enjoyed the review.

[John Cand]

I write free verse poetry often and I enjoy reading other people's poems as well so this sounds great to me. Thanks for the review.

[bookowlie]

Very insightful review. I agree that poetry is difficult to evaluate. It's too bad about the errors. I have also seen the incorrect usage of similar words in a few self-published books I've read. Personally, I find it maddening.

[kittymamamau]

Great review! Reviewing and eating poetry can be so hard, but this is a really thoughtful analysis. I think I'll give this book a shot, as free verse is my favorite style of poetry.