Official Review: A Lament by Lakshmy Menon Nair

[Amagine]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Lament" by Lakshmy Menon Nair.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Poetry is a powerful art form that elicit strong emotions from its readers. Poetry can make a cold heart turn warm. Poetry can caress a soul. It can have you questioning the meaning of life and wondering how to better yours. In Lakshmy Menon Nair’s A Lament, we see a collection of poetry depicting natural life, innocent experiences and the complications of the world we live in.

Before I began to read a single poem, I was in awe of the book cover. It was eye-catching and demonstrated the essence of nature. I also noticed that there was a profound sadness to it until I remembered what the word, “lament,” meant. After that realization, I was even more intrigued to read the author’s poetry. She was very descriptive in her writing and had an easy, soft flow to her work.

The collection is broken into different sections with different themes. The first theme, which ended up being my favorite, was on the theme of our natural world. In some of the poems, they painted an image with words. You could truly see the image of a little girl trying to catch rain drops with her hands or of a mother bird celebrating the return of spring with her babies. In the poem, “Sunset”, you can picture the image of a curtain slowly closing on the sun. In other poems, the author personifies each season and they become actual characters in a story. In “Accidental Spring”, she physically dances and drinks with Spring. In “Uninvited Guest”, she sees a guest at her door disguised as a winter blizzard and closes the door in his face. Readers will find themselves so drawn into her words that they might be tempted to go outside and tap dance in the sunlight.

A Lament had poems that depicted other subjects as well. The author demonstrates a rare ability to turn the most mundane moments into something more philosophical. We see ordinary scenes in life like an old couple sitting on a bench or a mother in an attic. To the naked eye, these aren’t noteworthy scenes. The author eloquently paints a picture that is so profound that it will leave anyone questioning the importance of every moment of their life. In later poems, we feel a great amount of sadness with topics that are heavy on the heart. The author nurtures her readers by adding in poems that resonate hope and shows the beauty of human strength and kindness.

I rate this book, 4 out of 4 stars. Every poem in the collection told its own story and carried its own message. The one thing that I noted about this poetry collection is that it is simple enough to attract all readers, whether they like poetry or not. It wasn’t unnecessarily descriptive or hard to comprehend. Even when it spoke on the most complicated of topics, it did it in an effortless way that all readers would appreciate. I know I most certainly appreciated the work and that is why I want to end this with my favorite line from one of the poems in A Lament.

A new dawn is shaping up
a new show will conceive
nothing ends without a beginning
and nothing begins without an ending.

-Lakshmy Menon Nair, "Sunset"

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A Lament
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Like Amagine's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kandscreeley]

I'm not usually into poetry, but you have made this sound wonderful. Sounds like the author was able to express herself quite well through this means. Thanks for the review.

[Amagine]

I'm not usually into poetry, but you have made this sound wonderful. Sounds like the author was able to express herself quite well through this means. Thanks for the review.

Thank you for reading! I really enjoyed this collection of poetry. A lot of times, I read poems and they go way over my head. This collection was moving and easy to grasp.

[Chrys Brobbey]

As a lover of poetry I am moved by the imagery this review evokes, and I find myself delving into this volume with relish. Well portrayed.

[Amagine]

As a lover of poetry I am moved by the imagery this review evokes, and I find myself delving into this volume with relish. Well portrayed.

Thank you so much!

[Jaime Lync]

Wow such a great review for such a promising poetry collection. I definitely want to read this book after your review. Thanks.

[Donatelloo]

I don't like reading poetry that much but this review seems amazing .. ???