Review of Shadows

[Mandira Samanta]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Shadows" by William Stephen Edwards.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Shadows is a collection of poems by poet, professor, pathologist, former hippy and Vietnam War veteran William Stephen Edwards. Though I am not an enthusiastic reader of poems, I just chose this book to give some fresh air to my reading habit.

The book provides readers with poems on love, nature, pain, suffering, death, fantasy, war, disability, and many more. Most of the poems are short in length and crystal clear in their approach. His poetic excellence can be felt in poems like 'Mechanical Man', 'Meet Me There', 'Julie in the Nursing Home', 'Soul Rape', 'Prometheus', 'Is It Not', 'Blasphemy', 'First Flying', 'Beauty and Youth', 'How the Hell', 'Touching', 'Hope' etc give goosebumps to a reader while savouring these poems. Poems like 'Mentally Retarded' and 'Shadows' are poignant with emotions and empathy. His 'War Debris' and 'Forgotten Soldiers' express the futility of war and they carry the legacy of great war poets like Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.

The poet is well-balanced in keeping his themes diverse and does not make his readers feel boredom throughout their reading journey. His easy yet poignant and unequivocal language makes his poems easy to read and comprehend. Yet, sometimes he uses a complicated style as in the poems like 'Playground Slide' and 'Jesus Says'. The poet's strong emotional approach makes his poems enjoyable.

I like how the poet kept his themes and language simple and provided insightful and empathetic messages to his readers. His poem 'He Dreamed' made me remember a childhood rhyme, 'A Sailor Went to Sea,' and I felt quite nostalgic about it.

However, I did not like the arrangement of the poems. Both the author and editor could categorize the poems according to their themes. It would be easier for the readers to relish his poems more attractively. This book also contained some poems which were too complicated to understand.

Otherwise, the book is professionally edited and I cannot find any typos. This praiseworthy book deserves a rating of 4 out of 5 stars as it failed to entertain my expectations at some point. I would love to recommend this book to all poem lovers who want to enjoy and relish truly heart-warming poems of diverse themes.

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Shadows
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