Book Review: Voice From the East by Neel Preet

This would be the first Book of Poetries that I review and as part of this I have learnt a lot. It was not easy for me,primarily due to the fact that I’m more of a story person and next I have minimal understanding of world of poetries. But this young author, Neel Preet who is hardly twenty two, made this journey smooth.

It's interesting to see how the focus towards short stories and poetries is back! India has some of the best poets and the next generation is nurturing this passion.

The Title: The Book has an interesting Title 'Voice From East'. I had many questions to Neel, one of them was why this title. The way he answered showed his maturity and his awareness.

The Author has beautifully used the word 'East' to represent that the book belongs to Asia; that the literary work is by an Asian or probably an Indian, as India is referred to as Eastern Cultured Nation.

Full marks for the thought itself!!

Theme/Concept: Of course Poetries... There are thirty poems each has a story associated. Every poetry has a touch of India. And as per the author, the main theme behind each is 'Self-Realisation'.

Some of my favorites are Bose - The Book's title is also derived from this poem, Draught, Earthquake, Dauntless, Mother Saraswati, The City has changed, Soil of The Magadha.

Every poem has its own beauty, but these are my personal favs.

Readers Connect: To be honest, I was not able to connect to the poems when I read them first. I knew just the typical 'Rhyming' poems. A discussion with Neel helped me. He introduced me to Sonnets, Ballads, and Allegory. Once I was a bit comfortable with these formats, I was able to relate to the author.

Is this part important for the Review? Yes indeed. Coz not many of us are into Sonnets and Ballads. So knowing these forms would help the reader.

About the Author: A follower of Shakespeare and loves writing Sonnets more than any other form. He is open to the thought of giving rhythmic pattern a miss, as it may restrict one's ideas.

Definitely a good poet, but needs to work a bit more on building a connect with the reader.

How do I Rate: 3.5 on a scale of 5. Reason being there are still some rough edges and I'm sure our Author would be able to smoothen them out over time. Working on Vocabulary would also help.

Also,every poem starts on a strong note, there are some which retain this flow till end but there a few, which wade off…this leaves the reader wishing for a different ending instead.

Verdict: You must pick this book. Like me at first you may not be able to make out anything, but will definitely have questions. These questions will help you understanding poetry. Not just that, but every Author deserves to be encouraged. Neel is a promising author and it’s just the beginning for him...