Book Review: Shadow: Unparalleled Waves of Life

        I do not have the poet's soul that Aarika has, so I was quite nervous to read this book. Shiva contacted us via email, and he struck  me as an extremely warm individual, which also makes it difficult for this critic. Aarika says I have no soul--she has also not seen me ugly cry over Old Yeller. 

        Shadow: Unparalleled Waves of LIFE was intended to be part of a collective effort between Shiva Vangala and his cousin, Satheesh Kotoju. They wanted to write and publish with the pen name SanthuSnehama, however this dream ended when Satheesh died unexpectedly in 2019.

        The book is very short, clocking in at 16 poems. It is beautifully illustrated, and each poem has its own black and white illustration that helps to convey its meaning.

        When read with the knowledge that this was to be a collected effort, you can feel a spectrum of emotions. In some, Shiva captured his grief at his cousin's death. In others, you feel the confusion of a young man entering adulthood: "The world becomes lonely, carrying loneliness/We don't know which one is alone and who we are/The angle which familiarizes us is a puzzle/are the familiar and the unfamiliar knowledge and ignorance?/Is there falsehood in the path of truth?/Is there truth in the house of untruth?" (Vangala, 2020, p. 15, Kindle edition).

        Because it was originally written in the Teluga language, the poetry does require a bit of effort to fully understand it. The lack of punctuation does give one E. E. Cummings' vibes, and the wandering words are reminiscent of Walt Whitman. However, the book resonated with me most as I just finished reading a lecture on Modernist Literature. (Basically, the Modernist Period followed the collision of science and faith, as science became the foundations of people's belief systems. The world felt desolate, because the long-held traditions were called into question, and no one could decide what to believe.) Shiva, and the few poems by Satheesh, seem to fall into this category. 

        The poems perfectly reflect that feeling of being a young adult, when you are grappling with your personal beliefs. "When do your tears become another man's tears?/When does your happiness not become another man's happiness? You overflowing with the colors of envy and hatred..." (Vangala, 2020, p. 18, Kindle edition).

        There are no advisories for this book. There is no sexual content or bad language. 

        Shiva told me that the proceeds of this book go to Satheesh's family, which is an amazing reason to buy the book. (And it's only $2.99 on Kindle.) With that being said, I did give the book four stars, because while beautifully written, some of the translation feels a little off. 

        I do wish Shiva the best of luck going forward. I hope he finds success and sends us more of his work to critique. If you would like to support his work, and ours, you can purchase his book through this link: https://amzn.to/3qJZzLU ( It is an affiliate link, so we will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.) 

Jayna Gerhart is a psychology major at the University of West Alabama. She likes to debate ethics using books like A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess as references for her arguments. She firmly believes that literature can shape our worldview and make us better people.