Poem by Poem review of A Book That Never Dies

TITLE: A BOOK THAT NEVER DIES.

AUTHOR: J.Y.FRIMPONG

RELEASE DATE: 28^TH FEBRUARY, 2013

AVAILABLE ON:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BL87O22/

ISBN: 978-9988-1-7864-2

A masterpiece created by J.Y.Frimpong, A book that never dies, takes its inspiration from the popular Ghanaian folklore, Ananse stories and to some extent Tales from Arabian Night. Basically poetry, a book that never dies infuses 5 percent of drama 2 percent of prose and 93 percent to poetry to create a dramatic effect.

Built on the theme “living to die”, a book that never dies commences with discourses between the three characters of the book; Oliver, the poetry narrator, Ramses, brother to Oliver and also supporting character and last but not least Mariyah, a ghost whose constant visitation to Rames has translated into Ramses being called a mad man. As a way to help her best friend, Mariyah tries to show to Oliver, an elitist and to some extent an atheist that in fact the visions he, Ramses see of her are real. She can only be able to do as such after the recitals of the 22 poems in the book have been made by the impeccable Oliver.

MERCY CHRISTMAS: Basically comedy in nature, mercy Christmas is a poem that tries to go into the minds of birds (chickens) to find out what they think of Christmas. Probably a ceremonial poem, mercy Christmas transcends to everyday life in the sense that we always tend to overlook certain events or phenomenon thinking it to be normal but a real introspection shows otherwise.

A MAN FOR THE PEOPLE: This is a poem that talks about the kind of leadership that the people want and how they can identify them when they are needed and come along.

LIVING TO DIE (I-II): This is the theme of the book, living to die appears as a romantic poem but in actual fact it is not. Living to die talks about a man in a confused state even at the point of death! He is dying but yet wants to stay and be by a girl that he himself know and knew never loved him back. The girl in this poem represents dreams, ambitions and hopes. Should we let our dreams, ambitions and hopes die because they are unattainable?

A BOY WALKING ON FIRE:  Are you a boy walking on fire? This poem just talks about how social negligent has given rise to child delinquency and other social problems. Indeed, the problems of the society are caused by the society itself. So far, the most popular poem of J.Y.Frimpong, it is really a masterpiece worth reading

WHEN THREE WOMEN MEET: What can possibly happen when three women meet? Indeed, this poem is a debate between Oliver and Ramses, two opposing characters in the book. Oliver, an anti-feminist, takes an entrenched position in the poem. Oliver portrays the kind of man he is in this poem so as Ramses.

DOMINO (I-X): Ten chapter poem, domino talks about a wide range of issues. It is the most diverse of all the poems in this book. One of the most remarkable thing about Domino is that it never gets boring, each poem in Domino brings with it uniqueness.

HARD TIMES: The most inspiration of all the poems in “A BOOK THAT NEVER DIES”, hard times inspires people to keep on moving on when people are faced with hard situations. Definitely, it is not over when your problems have not ended. If you are still facing problems, it does not mean that your life has ended all what it means is that at the end it will only get better.

HARMATTAN: Harmattan seems to be an extension of hard times in a way that it advises us to let certain things go especially when it can’t be found. You have to let certain things go because at the long run, if you keep on looking for it/them you might end up spending huge time looking that can never be found.

THE VICTORIOUS VULTURE:  This poem talks about how the heroic things done by the man of the streets have been ignored just because the society is busily looking at the big men. The Victorious Vulture is a poem you will love when the society looks down on what you do and the talents you have.

MONEY:   This poem talks about the what money is. It also talks about its positives and negatives. It also talks about the way money looks at itself. A masterpiece it is.

I AM AT THE END WITH YOU: A poem by deception, I am at the end with you, talks of double standards and hypocrisy. Very technical, this poem combines juxtaposition and rhyming schemes to create a wonderful effect. The name tells it all, this is the last poem of a book that never dies and it makes you earn for more for J.Y.Frimpong piece of work.

Reviewed by Emma Smith Kwenu