Review of Contemplacion. Thoughts and Poems.
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
- Christina O Phillips
- Posts: 369
- Joined: 06 Feb 2017, 10:20
- Currently Reading: Oz
- Bookshelf Size: 1326
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-christina-o-phillips.html
- Latest Review: Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress by Gustavo Kinrys, MD
- Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
Review of Contemplacion. Thoughts and Poems.
ContemplaciÓn Thoughts and Poems is a collection of poetry written by Ileana González Monserrat. It opens with a perfectly fitting quote by GastÓn Baquero which, when loosely translated, says that poetry is a product of leisure and thought. Monserrat then goes on to set the tone further with both an English and a Spanish introduction to why she wrote these poems.
The collection is a good sized one and is over 100 pages long and there is a handy index at the end of the book, listing the titles in alphabetical order. As you can tell by the title, there are poems in Spanish and English, but none of the Spanish poems are translated into English for the readers. The poems’ topics vary covering a range of emotions, the truth, love, and life in general. Some of my favorite poems were “Chaos,” “Amor,” “Camino,” “América Latina,” and “The Pain of a Nation.” All of the poems are free verse and I like Monserrat’s use of line breaks. The poems are emotion-inducing and thought-provoking. I would recommend reading them aloud.
Because poetry is subjective, there is nothing I did not like about the book. I would have preferred a variety of forms used but not all poets like to use forms. I think the one negative thing I would say about this collection is the false expectation of Monserrat’s prologue being presented in both Spanish and English, making me think that the poems would be offered in the same way. This is not a huge problem for the book nor did it take away my enjoyment of it; this is just an observation. Translations are not necessary and I was able to still read the poems and enjoy them just as much without the translations. It even helped me as a reader to put more of myself into the interpretation of the poem, which is something that should happen when one reads poetry.
I rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars. Because it is poetry and this style of writing has its own rules, I did not mark any grammatical or punctuation errors. The book is full of beautifully structured thoughts put into verse that I think any reader could enjoy. I would recommend this read for anyone who likes poetry. If you do not know Spanish, you could still enjoy this as there are plenty of poems written in English. The poems would also make a good brief read for someone who is learning Spanish.
******
Contemplacion. Thoughts and Poems.
View: on Bookshelves
- Mayur Arjune
- Posts: 111
- Joined: 02 Jun 2021, 05:19
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 5
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-mayur-arjune.html
- Latest Review: The Pro-Achievement Principle by Dr. Deborah Bright
-
- Posts: 293
- Joined: 06 Jul 2021, 22:50
- Currently Reading: Pearl River Mansion
- Bookshelf Size: 44
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-iamjc-bembo12.html
- Latest Review: Bama Boy by Bobby Morrison
- Novela book
- Posts: 337
- Joined: 27 Oct 2020, 10:20
- Favorite Book: Chameleons
- Currently Reading: The Midnight Library
- Bookshelf Size: 49
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-novela-book.html
- Latest Review: Hattie Vavaseur by M. Rebecca Wildsmith
- Margi zuu202
- Posts: 1177
- Joined: 01 Aug 2022, 06:08
- Favorite Book: Living in Color
- Currently Reading: Water Bound (Sisters of the Heart, #1)
- Bookshelf Size: 90186
- 2024 Reading Goal: 1000
- 2024 Goal Completion: 1776%