Book Review – Lantern

Title: Lantern
Poet: Sprith Shrivastava & Shashikant Singh
Pages: 126
Publishedin: 2017
Publisher: Notion Press

Lantern is accumulation of poetries with some short stories. It contains 44 poems and 5 stories. The book can be read altogether in about two to three hours! The book is simple and crisp. The stories are of fictional nature, with twist and turns here and there. ‘The Mind Traveller’ is story of a scientist with an ironical ending. ‘Aurum’ on the other hand is a story of pirates and their dilemmas. The authors have really pulled out the story quite well especially with respect to the accent and dialect of the pirates. The story is engaging and well narrated. On the other hand, ‘The Master of Time’, a science fiction story, of how a boy turns a boring day into an adventure by eliminating a probable terrorist attack. There is also a spine-chilling horror story to keeps the reader engaged till the end!

Apart from the stories, the authors have put up a great content of thoughtful yet amazing poetries.

The poems are centered on myriad subjects such rains, street lights, love, thoughts etc. For e.g. in the poem, ‘The Shepherd’ the authors have beautifully compared one’s thoughts and one’s self to the sheep and the shepherd. In the poem, ‘Fallen Leaves of Autumn’, the authors share one side of love and have put it out with beautiful rhythms. ‘The Sweet Family and Me the Culprit’ portrays the life of mother hen and its tragic story. It very carefully sheds light on the very tragic and sorry life story of chickens and their death one by one; and how we as humans are culprit in it. Truly an amazing creation. We all do sins and we know it. ‘The Werewolf’ captures the same and shows how one fights and tries to keep himself away and yet cannot restrain himself and gives up before his sins.

Apart from the above, the book has many good write-ups to offer. It is worth a one-time read and a book to keep and refer to.

The book is engaging and has refreshing content. Some of my best excerpts from the book:

“… we don’t pillage! We trade with principles and rules … good man, ye be… All of you… British merchants trading in India … Ye be quite rich and well to do…”

“… if destiny has other plans and I don’t return … Then perchance this letter would be my last…”

“… some are silent

some are weak

some are tender

some are sleek…”

“… standing around the mountains,

I look down on the sunny days,

I couldn’t find you, amongst the crowd…

Against the sun, to find me, do you look up and gaze?”

“…I yelled on my fate…

For what I had this date…

I found myself as the culprit…

For I had seen the whole lovely, innocent family Converted in to spirit…”

“… the agony is unbearable,

And he tries to break the shackles…

For every second seems an eternity,

The affliction that needs to be tackled…”

The book is a must read. Won’t take much time and will be a worthwhile. A recommend. Kudos to the writers… Job well done!

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