Review of Released on Licence
Posted: 25 Nov 2022, 10:46
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Released on Licence" by J. G. Barwell.]
Released on Licence: (Poetic Licence) is a collection of 29 poems written by J.G. Barwell. The poems explore themes like life, death, birth, family, old age, and love. For example, the poem titled "The Blue Balloon" explores, metaphorically, the realities of life. The poet compares life to a half-blown, untied balloon released into the air, which darts high as it loses its breath before suddenly crashing on the ground.
When we examine "The Blue Balloon" critically, we see that we just come into this world with a life "not insured, not guaranteed." Like the balloon, we storm the world to explore and dominate it, enjoying the good things of life only to be cut off when we least expect it. The author uses the required poetic devices to bring out the message in this poem, and I found it insightful. Readers will come across this poem and many other well-written poems in this book.
The poet picked his words carefully and intentionally. The result was creating beautiful poems for readers in a relaxed, calm atmosphere. The poet embellished each poem with relevant poetic devices in line with its thematic preoccupation. There is the artistic use of alliteration, repetition, simile, onomatopoeia, and personification, among others. For example, in the poem titled "Life as a Treasure Hunt," we see this beautiful use of simile: "His torchlight scanned the night-time garden, Like a searchlight seeking out enemy aircraft" (page 35).
Readers will come across poems with different rhyming patterns. I was most thrilled by the creative use of couplets in the poem titled "The Reluctant Hero." The themes explored in this book are great and inspirational. For example, the theme of family bonding in the poem titled "William’s T-shirt" (page 25) should inspire parents and grandparents to create time to share lovely moments with their children. This book is professionally edited. I had a great time reading the poems in this book.
However, there is no space after the title in the poem titled "Epiphany" (page 27). Again, I don't think the space left after some stanzas in some poems is necessary. In addition, I found three grammatical errors and two uncounted errors in this book. I hope the author addresses these in a subsequent publication.
I am delighted to rate Released on Licence: (Poetic Licence) five out of five stars because of the above positive points. I do not consider the negative concerns I raised about this book serious enough to warrant the deduction of any stars from the rating. This book is recommended to lovers of poems written with creative use of poetic devices. This book will also appeal to readers who look out for poems written in easy-to-understand language. Those who like to read literary works that explore the practical lessons of life will have a great time with this book.
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Released on Licence
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Released on Licence: (Poetic Licence) is a collection of 29 poems written by J.G. Barwell. The poems explore themes like life, death, birth, family, old age, and love. For example, the poem titled "The Blue Balloon" explores, metaphorically, the realities of life. The poet compares life to a half-blown, untied balloon released into the air, which darts high as it loses its breath before suddenly crashing on the ground.
When we examine "The Blue Balloon" critically, we see that we just come into this world with a life "not insured, not guaranteed." Like the balloon, we storm the world to explore and dominate it, enjoying the good things of life only to be cut off when we least expect it. The author uses the required poetic devices to bring out the message in this poem, and I found it insightful. Readers will come across this poem and many other well-written poems in this book.
The poet picked his words carefully and intentionally. The result was creating beautiful poems for readers in a relaxed, calm atmosphere. The poet embellished each poem with relevant poetic devices in line with its thematic preoccupation. There is the artistic use of alliteration, repetition, simile, onomatopoeia, and personification, among others. For example, in the poem titled "Life as a Treasure Hunt," we see this beautiful use of simile: "His torchlight scanned the night-time garden, Like a searchlight seeking out enemy aircraft" (page 35).
Readers will come across poems with different rhyming patterns. I was most thrilled by the creative use of couplets in the poem titled "The Reluctant Hero." The themes explored in this book are great and inspirational. For example, the theme of family bonding in the poem titled "William’s T-shirt" (page 25) should inspire parents and grandparents to create time to share lovely moments with their children. This book is professionally edited. I had a great time reading the poems in this book.
However, there is no space after the title in the poem titled "Epiphany" (page 27). Again, I don't think the space left after some stanzas in some poems is necessary. In addition, I found three grammatical errors and two uncounted errors in this book. I hope the author addresses these in a subsequent publication.
I am delighted to rate Released on Licence: (Poetic Licence) five out of five stars because of the above positive points. I do not consider the negative concerns I raised about this book serious enough to warrant the deduction of any stars from the rating. This book is recommended to lovers of poems written with creative use of poetic devices. This book will also appeal to readers who look out for poems written in easy-to-understand language. Those who like to read literary works that explore the practical lessons of life will have a great time with this book.
******
Released on Licence
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon