Seven Story Publishing

Title: In Search of Starlight

Author: Ronak Shah

Genre: Poetry

Summary: “Risen apes, not fallen angels, Still stumbling hither and thither Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Doesn’t matter as long as we have each other”Our lives are filled with moments of elation and depression alike. ‘In Search of Starlight’ is an exploration of these moments — and of what it’s like to be alive. Ultimately, it is a celebration of everything that makes us human.Topics covered include disillusionment, individualism, nationalism, technology, companionship, anthropology, cosmology, etc.

Publisher: Writer’s Pocket

Publication Date: Sept 24, 2024

Page Count: 94

General Review

• Description and Imagery: The author does a great job of taking the reader’s imagination to new heights, literally into the stars, with fanciful poetry and exhaled philosophical imaginings. Painting the picture of a lone soul in a vast and strange world, while being able to make objective and rational calculations while suffering from the irrationality and folly of human nature.
• Relatability of MC: The main character is the reader as each poem entices you to think about the nature of your existence and whether you’re living your life to its full potential. Not directly but indirectly as each poem poses an either philosophical or emotional question about reality based on the view point of someone that hides from themselves and their feelings with rationality and mathematics.
• Pacing: Each poem hits with a heaviness that makes you want to read faster while simultaneously forcing you to slow down and absorb the profundity contained therein. Each line is a web that entangles you and forces you to face the depths of your soul, peeling away the safety net that STEM and philosophy often present when people want to hide from their true selves.
• Perspective: Dreaming of the stars while being tethered to the ground, your mind taking you to the skies and while you wish you could stay there forever, you eventually must come down. STEM and Philosophy taking you away from reality only to bring you back to it.
• Vibe Check: One must be in a contemplative mood to read this, in a state of deep thought and perhaps an existential crisis. Perfect food for thought when the mind is starved of higher intellectual and philosophical stimulation.

Personal Review

We at Seven Story Publishing loved the intro poem “A Wintry Night” where the poet describes a wallflower at a party unable to be his authentic self due to fear of judgment masquerading as rationality and objectivity. This poem relates to people on an almost universal level as there are no shortage of individuals that differ from the perception that debauchery is cool while being intellectual and even tempered is considered lame.

Another poem that caught our eye was “Sins of a Dreamer”, where the protagonist is ridiculed because they believe in the heroes that stood against evil without violence, that revealed a more peaceful way of resolving the world’s issues. It almost resembles MLK’s “I have A Dream” Speech except the difference is the dreamer keeps their “sins” to themselves.

“The Boy Who Fell From The Stars” is by far our favorite as we all want to fly high but know in our hearts we must return to the ground. Swimming in the realms of ideas and ideals and chasing phantasms while ignoring reality, analogous to Icarus flying too close to the sun and being burned to the ground. The illusions of superiority as it relates to the common world foiled by the stark reality of human nature and what the soul truly desires.

Rate: 5/5 stars

Follow and Connect with Ronak Shah

About

Ronak Shah is a writer, music artist and visual-novel producer from Mumbai, India. He strongly believes in the power of art, and it is his dream to combine his writing skills with his penchant for physics to promote the relevance of science and technology in an increasingly complex and layered world.

Social Media

Website: http://www.ronakshah.me

Email: reverieofronak@gmail.com

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