Stephen Bernard Agwai
The contemporary Shakespeare Review of books by Sukanya Basu Mallik ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Bernard Agwai is a book critic and reviewer, a research paper writer. Some of his works can be viewed onlinebookclub.org where he placed his book reviews of different genres and his research papers. He is a graduate of Philosophy from St. Augustine Major Seminary Jos, Nigeria (an affiliate of Urbaniana University, Rome), currently studying environmental Biology in University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. He reviewed books ranging children fiction, romance, non-fiction, adventure stories to even tales. His works and upcoming projects can be viewed on his Facebook Page AgwaiBernardReviews He can contacted for works his email bernardagwai@yahoo.com or bernardagwai@gmail.com BookRix GmbH & Co. KG 80331 Munich
REVIEW OF BOOKS BY SUKANYA BASU MALLIK Written by STEPHEN BERNARD AGWAI Sukanya Basu Mallik is a multi-genre author, film, and book critic. A writer who allows her imagination and thoughts to materialize into literature, in a bid to educate her readers. She has a vast number of literary works published in many journals, magazines, and newspapers; she also has a number of published books and poems. A major trait of Sukanya is she a young woman with the mind of an elder she uses her experience to teach others about life. Her works are more of lessons on life and its struggles, in her own way he proffers solution to the said situation. The teenager will certainly find her works relatable and easy to comprehend, the vocabularies she uses most are easy use to grasp. Her works majorly target those in their youthful age as her readers, with its youthful tone and contemporary format. It is safe to call her the Shakespeare of modern times. Below is a review of some of her major works:
LINES OF PASSION: A COLLECTION OF MODERN ROMANCE POETRY
Love is an emotion worth fighting for and it balances most emotions, we live in an age where love and romance has evolved to movie like and the Shakespearic type of love has almost lost its place in our world, Sukanyi in this her compilation of romantic poems authored poems that remind one of Shakespeare of old but with a bit touch of modernization and way simpler words. She did a good job giving words to the emotions of many lovers with her 20+ poems, sometimes feeling can’t be expressed but with this book at hand that might hardly be the problem. The book is recommended to all lovers of all age grade and even those about to embark on any romantic adventure; it can also be used for academic purpose to educate people on romance using the knowledge of a contemporary poet. The format of the book is ok and commendable; the work has a positive tone, it commends love and romance through the poems in its contents.
REGULAR PORRIDGE It is widely believed that experience is the best teacher, but in this book Malik wrote poems which affected the life of youth coming out of hardship, from writing on a war survivor to writing the stories of a young lad with the struggles of life which almost every youth faces. Maybe not a firsthand experience but a distance experience (reading about such plights) is her teacher. The book is a good eye opener to a young lad in urban and peaceful environment who thinks life is always easy to see the plight and struggles of others teens like she or he, a solid scenario was mentioned in the book where a survivor is narrating what becomes of once flourishing town, a town once secure and trouble free: “Our school had been destructed too… We ran off, totally unarmed. On the road I saw houses in rubble And burned out cars…” (6) Even though they suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, none of us talk about our troubled dreams (7) because all suffer same trouble. We all battle for our motherland, for our nation, for home! (11) This is patriotic action caused by obstruction of the normal runnings of the nation, not by what happens far away from home but what is happening to the home. The book is suitable for persons of 12-20 years old, its language is easy and engaging, the format of the book is not so commendable but on the average it is an ok work. The book is an eye opener to many who have never experienced hardship, to have a thought of what those ravaged by war can pass through even to the extent a mother freely and willingly giving up her child for labour just to get some cash to cater for her material need only ended up receiving a petty price; bad as it may sound, it is very true and happening. “You’re buying my son, for just two bangles?” It was aunt’s turn then, I guessShe looked at ma, corner eyed…
“Son?� and she laughed till her tears shone.�(22) The book when considered from what message it passed across, is commendable by all ramification its positive and negative aspects are somewhat balanced.
ESSAYS FROM LIFE Life teaches a lot towards the events that one experience in day to day living, life tests you before giving you the lesson. An old man is said to be wise not necessarily due to his wisdom but the experience he has and the lessons he learnt from that, counsel is sought from him and he gives counsel base on what he learnt from life. As the title of the book suggest Sukanya wrote about what she learnt from life starting from her experience with love and heartbreak down to natures beauty and even getting stuck in a situation. Sukanya is a writer that sources her contents from life and nature, this work of hers can serve as a life guide to the young between the ages of 13 to 23, it has easy to grasp language. The work is an ok work with a positive tone and positive way out of life hardest tests. A good work recommended to all but more useful to the above age range.
LOVE AND LIES A writer that constantly puts her thoughts into writing is one among the reasons that makes her unique from other authors. In this work she wrote poems that describe love as a good feeling, also gives nice name to her lover, it is a compilation of love poems. The language used is a bit advanced but can be grasped by older generation. The book is recommended for people of 21 years old and above.
MESSAGE FROM THE STARS Astrology says that the most important information needed for an insightful dating includes knowing you’re the birthdates of your partner (1). This book contains the romantic secrets behind the different zodiac signs and what to expect from each set of Zodiac. For Cancer, who the author term as caregivers, give you care much more than you ask for; I pleaded for your love and you let me into your ocean (10). The book is a fun filled book, recommended for any teenager. It contains easy to comprehend language romantic in nature.
#METOO The "#MeToo" movement, spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media to help demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. It followed soon after the public revelations of sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein (1). This book is a literature representation of the sexual assaults women in all ramification of life pass through, Sukanya wrote from the struggles of an office woman, who suffers and is suppose to keep shut because it is against the rules laid down, with no one to speak on her behalf she feels like retaliating They say; money runs the world... They also say; retaliation in the work place is a crime. … But no one speaks on my behalf (5). There is also the mother who now fears her daughter will suffer same fate because she is a successful woman in a ‘man’s world’, woman suffering in love “the man of my dreams is now a scary person… and to love seems bloodcurdling (7), baby sitters, also included is incest between a father and his daughter who he rapes and even on vocations where some ladies experience sexual assault mostly rape. She gave the stories in a summary form but detailed to the reader. Her information look primary due to the nature of the stories, she gave the stories of many in her words, even narrating the personal case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffered by victims of these sexual assaults of all kinds though physically they look ok it is internally that the dirtiest harm is done I still have the PTSD, a mark of their sin, on me… That no surgery… No medicine Could remove…. (6)
The book is recommended for people between the ages of 13 to 60, it will serve as an eye opener for the young and a guide for others to notice when one is suffering from any type of sexual assault.
YES, I’M 20! To capture the attention of a person you have to hit points that interest the person, Malik in her book used this method to capture the heart of her readers by stating out the expectations of a teenager when he/she finally turns 20. Issues ranging from ‘haters’ which almost every teenager believes he/she has (they exist but not as conceived by many), love, crush. The first three chapters were written in a form of letter to the three aforementioned groups. The teenage arrogance is made visible in the first chapter of the book “I cannot and never will please everyone. It’s just not possible, so I let go of having to make everyone happy! I do my best to be compassionate, but I know that sometimes people will still not like me, even if I become a saint, and that’s okay!” (4), this is a so much the mindset of most teenagers though some actually struggle to please some people or their peer group where issue of peer pressure arises. Sukanya went ahead to advice the young with her last paragraph of Chapter 1, “No one ever achieved anything when they stopped trying, and no one is ever born an expert. And, putting others down won't help you raise your standards” (4), she went further to give another essential piece of advice “choose to look at yourself in a positive light. See what is positive and good in you” (9). The work suits the mindset of a teenager and also a person in midtwenties to understand, because its message is related in the language that the suitable audience, people between the ages of 1525, can read and understand. The author a person that is pass the age of 20 wrote the book to help educate the audience on how to behave, what to expect and also how to treat the negative vibe that might rise around them. The author’s advice in chapter 16 is basically on how your brain gets stronger by reading of literature just as physical exercise does to your cardiovascular system; “not only does regular reading help make you smarter, but it can actually increase your brain power,” can be seen as a testimony because the author is herself a prolific reader and writing, not forgetting that it is a positive advice. The author’s source can be said to be primary
because from the theme of the book you will noticed most sentenced are accompanied with the first person pronoun, also most of the storyline speaks from personal experience (the continues reference to books, writing and reading to be considered). The book is fair, but it is too positive; it does not state the negative aspects of life which cannot be solved by running away from them or behaving as they do not exist, some negative vibes are too strong for the methods provided by the author to treat problems. The book is relatable enough to its targeted audience who might are mostly entering the ‘flirty’ period of their lives. To get more about her works both published and upcoming projects visit www.sukanyabasumallik.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Bernard Agwai is a book critic and reviewer, a research paper writer. Some of his works can be viewed onlinebookclub.org where he placed his book reviews of different genres and his research papers. He is a graduate of Philosophy from St. Augustine Major Seminary Jos, Nigeria (an affiliate of Urbaniana University, Rome), currently studying environmental Biology in University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. He reviewed books ranging children fiction, romance, non-fiction, adventure stories to even tales. His works and upcoming projects can be viewed on his Facebook Page AgwaiBernardReviews He can contacted for works his email bernardagwai@yahoo.com or bernardagwai@gmail.com
WORKS CITED Basu Mallik, Sukanya. Essays from LIfe. Munich: Bookrix GmbH and Co., 2019. Basu Mallik, Sukanya. Lines of Passion: A Collection of Modern Romance Poetry. Munich: BookRix GmbH and Co., 2019. Basu Mallik, Sukanya. Message from the stars. Avid Publishing LLC, 2019. Basu Mallik, Sukanya. Yes I’m 20. StoryMirror Infotech Pvt. Ltd, 2018. Basu Mallik, Sukanya. Metoo. Litofest Ink, 2019.
Publisher: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG ImplerstraÃ&#x;e 24 80331 Munich Germany
Publication Date: May 24th 2020 https://www.bookrix.com/-rpd8dbc16c803d5 ISBN: 978-3-7487-4301-9