March 2012
CLRI Reviews
This March is Holi—a festival of colours in India. CLRI Reviews celebrates Holi with a colourful template.
March 2012
Book Reviews Book Releases Journal Reviews Film Releases
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CLRI Reviews
An imprint of Contemporary Literary Review India
March 2012
Book Reviews Review on Concept of Man in Sri Aurobindo’s Poetry
Concept of Man in Sri Aurobindo’s Poetry by Nishi Sharma
by Jitendra Sharma Concept of Man in Sri Aurobindo’s Poetry is a distinctive work of art by Jitendra Sharma, based on Sri Aurobindo’s phenomenal poetic endeavor. It is a brilliant attempt to discover the concept of Man in Sri Aurobindo’s poetry. This book brings out Sri Aurobindo Ghose’s integral philosophy of Man and his existence in this universe—and beyond it. Man is everywhere in his poetry with minute projections, innumerable possibilities and natural tendencies towards self-exceeding. He sees Man through the quintessential prism and finds him as: ‘the increasing God’, ‘selfliberating person’, ‘the eternal portion of the Divine’, ‘a God in the making’, ‘a portion of the Divine Consciousness and Essence’ and ‘intermediate creature between animal and the Divine’. The author, Jitendra Sharma, focuses light on the concepts of evolution, consciousness and transformation of Man and his mind which are intertwined in Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy. He traces the footprints of Sri Aurobindo’s life and his growth and excellence as a poet in initial chapters. The third chapter emphasizes on his perception of Man, and in the subsequent chapters the author discovers the concept of Man in his early poems, long poems, sonnets and his magnum opus Savitri in details. Sri Aurobindo (15 August 1872–5 December 1950) was a well-known politician, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru and poet. But the poet in him is at the forefront of his personality which expresses his true and deepest spiritual experiences. He is widely quoted as the most outstanding Indo-Anglian writer for volume as well as variety. The canon of his writings includes philosophy, poetry, plays, criticism on social, political and historical topics, devotional works, spiritual journals, thousands of letters on yoga, and translations of the epics such as the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Gita. His prominent philosophical writings are The
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CLRI Reviews
An imprint of Contemporary Literary Review India
March 2012 Life Divine and The Synthesis of Yoga, while his prominent poetic work is Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol. In his early days, Sri Aurobindo’s poems were largely influenced by the serene beauty of nature, Irish patriotic movement and Greek heritage. After coming to India from England, his poetry took mystic philosophic turn. He composed poems that set tune with those of Bankim Chanda Chatterjee and Madhusudan Dutt. His poems like The Vedantin’s Prayers, Rebirth and Parabrahman are grounded on philosophy. In his early poetry, Sri Aurobindo perceived Man as an image of God which is intrinsically divine. He depicted Man as a constantly-evolving creature in a divine image and accepting the ingenuity of Science. In his longer poems, death and immortality of man are largely discussed with a spiritual insight on Man, Nature and God. Sri Aurobindo wrote 87 sonnets in which he described Man and great spiritual truths. Magnum opus Savitri – a Legend and a Symbol, a cosmic poetic epic of nearly 24,000 lines arranged in 12 Books and 49 Cantos, is considered as “probably the greatest epic in English language” by Raymond Frank Piper, a famous western philosophercritique. Savitri is a well-known story of Savitri in Indian Mythology who brought back the life of her husband from the Lord of Death, Yama, that illustrates the power of a woman’s devotion. In this epic, Aswapathy, a childless king, symbolizes a man who grows from an individual to the impersonality of the Self by getting Savitri as his child—an answer to his tapasya, which proves aspiring man’s possibilities. Aswapathy is depicted as a man raising mankind to a higher level by drawing energies and higher consciousness from the Divine. Savitri symbolizes a man who challenges the Lord of Death for the sake of entire humanity. Man is shown as full of imperfections, limitations, ignorance and futilities, confused by doubt and contradictions and turned away from divinity. But the same man begins to make continuous efforts to reach out to the Light after becoming aware of the Self. Concept of Man in Sri Aurobindo’s Poetry is a tribute to the greatest soul and an insightful gift to Sri Aurobindo’s followers. About The Author Nishi Sharma is a senior technical writer with an IT company based in Kolkata (India)
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CLRI Reviews
An imprint of Contemporary Literary Review India
March 2012 and a book review writer with CLRI. Nishi takes side of readers while writing a book review insisting on that she is first a reader and a writer later which makes her review more authentic.
Book Reviews Review on Rising With a Distant Dawn
Rising With a Distant Dawn by David Groulx
by David Groulx Rising With a Distant Dawn is a powerful and moving poetry collection, which stretches across the boundaries of skin colour, language, and religion to give voice to the lives and experiences of ordinary Aboriginal Canadians. The poems embrace anguish, pride, and hope. They come from the woodlands and the plains, they speak of love, of war, and of the known and the mysterious, they strike with wisdom, joy, and sadness, bringing us closer than ever before to the heart of urban Aboriginal life. The book captures timely personal and cultural challenges, and ultimately shares subtle insight and compassion. This poetry collection is an ambitious, lasting, and meaningful work of literature that will not soon fade away. It is an exceptional reading experience to be enjoyed and savoured. David Groulx proves, once again, that distinctive voice of Aboriginal Canadians must be heard. About The Author David Groulx, winner of several literary prizes, has written four poetry books Night in the Exude (Tyro Publications, 1997), The Long Dance (Kegedonce Press, 2000), Under God’s Pale Bones (Kegedonce Press, 2010), and A Difficult Beauty (Wolsak & Wynn, 2011). David’s poetry has appeared in over a hundred periodicals in Canada, England, Australia, Germany, Austria, Turkey, and the USA. He lives in a log home near Ottawa.
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CLRI Reviews
An imprint of Contemporary Literary Review India
March 2012
Books Releases Titles from Lummox Press (US)
WHOSE CRIES ARE NOT MUSIC by Linda Benninghoff DOG WHISTLE POLITICS by Michael Paul WORKING THE WRECKAGE OF THE AMERICAN POEM* edited by RD Armstrong WHAT LOOKS LIKE AN ELEPHANT by Edward Nudelman LIVING AMONG THE MANGLED by RD Armstrong CATALINA by Laurie Soriano THE ACCIDENTAL NAVIGATOR by Henry Denander BORN TO BE BLUE by Tony Moffeit LAST CALL: The Bukowski Legacy Continues* Edited by RD Armstrong
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CLRI Reviews
An imprint of Contemporary Literary Review India
March 2012
Read article writings in the Contemporary Literary Review India March 2012 issue Editorial by Khurshid Alam Poems by Bruce Louis Dodson, Helen Estrada, Jason Alan Wilkinson, Mark L.O. Kempf, John Stock Story by Anne Whitehouse Art & Fiction by Bharati Kapadia Arts by Ivan de Monbrison Critical Essay by Khandakar Shahin Ahmed Book Review by Aakanksha Singh
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CLRI Reviews
An imprint of Contemporary Literary Review India