Customer Review

The unpleasant truth in sixty-three poems: not for the faint of heart.

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2020

This is a difficult book to read. It is extremely well written, and its graphic power to describe horror will shake you.

For example, in The Opus of Pain we find this: “So we remain the disappeared, /society’s rejects, the world’s unwanted, /dregs in a cup of tea finished a long time ago /thrown out on the garbage,” and the poem goes on beyond that.

In Love Song to a Stranger, I will give both the beginning: “Hatred is a beautiful word. /It comes from the lips of a stranger. /It pours out forth in volley after volley of madness /that mingles and flies in the dust on the air.” and the ending: “to do his bidding with hatred /singing in your heart. /Like the love song /on a young girls lips, /which you will soon /wipe off with your song.”

I can comment now that Rajapakse has given us an unsettling insight into interpersonal relationships during the conflict in Sri Lanka.

For a glimpse at the family members’ impact, turn to Disenchantment where where we find this: “curled up like an old man waiting /for the last glimpse of his son that /went to war, a sad salute to /an unknown soldier that never returned. /They said there was nothing left to bring back. /Everything had rot.”

For a personal response to propaganda, turn to Singing for his Supper, where we find this: “Money rules and lines are penned to /appease the paymaster. Coffers are filled. /The writing machines are hard at work /churning out stories that /such folks like to hear.”

I have not included quotes from the more violent poems, which include torture and mutilation. I did warn you that this was a tough experience, reading or reviewing this book. (I read all of a poetry book, write down the titles and put small notes next to them to guide my review.)

Now for my star count boilerplate. My personal guidelines, when doing an ‘official’ KBR review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. This is an interesting and unusual work, to put it mildly. Roughly equal to best in genre? I’ve never seen anything like this. Five stars feels right on to this curmudgeon, so five stars it is.

Kindle Book Review Team member.

(Note: this reviewer received a free copy of this book for an independent review. He is not associated with the author or Amazon.)