Official Review: Painting with Words by Ian Prattis

Rafaella Michailidou · Post by **Rafaella Michailidou** » 12 Feb 2019, 16:17

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Painting with Words" by Ian Prattis.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Painting with Words by Ian Prattis is a collection of poems written at different times throughout the writer's life. This collection is divided into six parts each one with a different theme. Every part is unique and deeply emotional with an extraordinary aesthetic, that I've never come across in poetry before.

I really enjoyed the variety of themes, feelings, and lessons I received by reading this book. The first part “Bittersweet” is, in my opinion, the most melancholic. It's the dark side of the poet who seeks consolation in writing poems to overcome his frustration and sadness. Soon after that, our writer takes us to wonderful landscapes to calm our troubled souls. “Painting with words” is the second part, and it's literally a series of beautiful images illustrated with words. This part is a great reminder of how beautiful our world is if we just stop and behold it for a while. My personal favorite part is “Speaking of True Love”. As a romantic soul myself, I couldn't help but adore each and every poem in this part. I could clearly see the depths of the poet's love for his wife since every poem of this part is inspired by her. She is obviously his muse, and they have a beautiful love story that makes every poem even more sentimental and meaningful. The other parts are “Agua Viva”, “Footsteps of Buddha”, and “Ancient Wisdom”. I won’t give more details of these ones as I want readers to discover for themselves the rest of this collection.

What I can say though, is that after you finish reading this book you'll probably find yourselves knowing the poet like he is your old friend. Every part is a different piece of Prattis’ puzzled life. He made sure to share every emotion and experience he had with us, and I think that is really brave and beautiful.

Reading this book was definitely an emotional roller coaster. The first part almost made me cry, especially the poem “ The Old Mare”. Some poems will make you think and others will put a smile on your face without realizing it. I'm sure everyone would find a poem to his liking in this collection. Furthermore, what I really appreciated while I was reading this book, was that the author, before every part, wrote an introduction. In those introductions, he explains why he wrote each poem, what inspired him, and what he was trying to achieve by writing it. This is extremely helpful because many times I find myself devaluing a poem since I can't understand what it means. I also got to know the mentality of the poet better. I also loved the fact that the book starts with a poem dedicated to a Muse. This used to be a custom back in Ancient Greece when poets and writers asked inspiration from the Muse of writing. As a Greek, I'm very honored that a foreign poet decided to do that as well.

Overall, it's clear to see that I loved every minute of reading Painting with Words. There was nothing not to like in this collection of poems. I actually read it twice, and I'm planning on reading it many more times. Moreover, I was pleased to see that it was exceptionally well edited. Thus, I'm happily giving this book 4 out of 4 stars. For those of you who love poetry, you should definitely give it a try. However, please keep in mind that some of those poems have curse words and some are hard to understand, so I wouldn't recommend this book to an underage audience. Last but not least, many of these poems represent a Buddhist lifestyle and interpretation, so if you are offended by that, you probably wouldn't enjoy this collection.

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Painting with Words
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Post by **kandscreeley** » 15 Feb 2019, 08:37

Good poetry should elicit an emotional response. It sounds like this does just that. I'm glad that you enjoyed it so much. However, I'm not really a fan of poetry, and I'm not really interested in the Buddhist lifestyle. So, I'll skip this one. Thanks, though.

Rafaella Michailidou · Post by **Rafaella Michailidou** » 16 Feb 2019, 07:10

kandscreeley wrote: ↑15 Feb 2019, 08:37 Good poetry should elicit an emotional response. It sounds like this does just that. I'm glad that you enjoyed it so much. However, I'm not really a fan of poetry, and I'm not really interested in the Buddhist lifestyle. So, I'll skip this one. Thanks, though.

Thank you for reading my review and leaving a comment! Poetry is a very subjective art, so I totally understand your decision.

Chrystal Oaks · Post by **Chrystal Oaks** » 17 Feb 2019, 17:39

The cover and title is what drew my attention to this book, and after reading your review, I'm convinced that I will enjoy reading this book of poems.

Furthermore, what I really appreciated while I was reading this book, was that the author, before every part, wrote an introduction. In those introductions, he explains why he wrote each poem, what inspired him, and what he was trying to achieve by writing it.

I think every poet should do this. It definitely helps to better understand what the poet is trying to convey. Thank you for the great review!

Rafaella Michailidou · Post by **Rafaella Michailidou** » 18 Feb 2019, 03:13

Chrystal Oaks wrote: ↑17 Feb 2019, 17:39 The cover and title is what drew my attention to this book, and after reading your review, I'm convinced that I will enjoy reading this book of poems.

Furthermore, what I really appreciated while I was reading this book, was that the author, before every part, wrote an introduction. In those introductions, he explains why he wrote each poem, what inspired him, and what he was trying to achieve by writing it.
I think every poet should do this. It definitely helps to better understand what the poet is trying to convey. Thank you for the great review!

thank you very much for stopping by and leaving a comment. It's true that if more poets did that more people would read poetry !

mihaela_bartha · Post by **mihaela_bartha** » 19 Feb 2019, 02:34

Hmm. I don't know how I feel about there being an introduction to each section of the book. I am thorn between (1) my taste in autobiographies (I love it when people let you get a glimpse of their lives) and my believe that you need context to properly understand modern art (so I can, I guess extrapolate to poetry, to understand why this would work) and (2) the ideea that poetry should be "lived", reading poetry should be a rollercoaster of emotions, the poems should act as triggers for deeper personal feelings by tapping into very personal representations of reality - in this context, preceding explanations may be rather a disadvantage, rather than an advantage.

Rafaella Michailidou · Post by **Rafaella Michailidou** » 19 Feb 2019, 05:12

mihaela_bartha wrote: ↑19 Feb 2019, 02:34 Hmm. I don't know how I feel about there being an introduction to each section of the book. I am thorn between (1) my taste in autobiographies (I love it when people let you get a glimpse of their lives) and my believe that you need context to properly understand modern art (so I can, I guess extrapolate to poetry, to understand why this would work) and (2) the ideea that poetry should be "lived", reading poetry should be a rollercoaster of emotions, the poems should act as triggers for deeper personal feelings by tapping into very personal representations of reality - in this context, preceding explanations may be rather a disadvantage, rather than an advantage.

It is a fact that many poems hide incredible emotions and they are written in a way everyone can tell. When we're talking about symbolism and modern poems though I think many are not so appreciated because few can understand what is hidden inside them. In this case, having an introduction or some thoughts of this poem from the writer or a critic could be proven useful.

randompersonavility · Post by **randompersonavility** » 19 Feb 2019, 20:36

I love poems and It always fscinates me how authors relate their poems with the story of their lives. I would really love tonadd this book on my bookshelve!

Rafaella Michailidou · Post by **Rafaella Michailidou** » 20 Feb 2019, 11:53

Shielasshi_93 wrote: ↑19 Feb 2019, 20:36 I love poems and It always fscinates me how authors relate their poems with the story of their lives. I would really love tonadd this book on my bookshelve!

Then you should definitely give it a try! Thank you for your comment.

IsabelSingh · Post by **IsabelSingh** » 21 Feb 2019, 20:47

This book sounds perfect for me! I am in love with poetry and how people express their emotions in such a creative way. I will definitely be reading this!

Fozia-Bajwa · Post by **Fozia-Bajwa** » 05 Mar 2019, 16:25

painting is a fun which is liked by everyone. Thanks for your review.

DLe_2019 · Post by **DLe_2019** » 14 Mar 2019, 21:02

Sounds good. So basically the focus is peace and meditation via paintings with captions (correct me if I am wrong).
You memtioned persons might ha e issues with the content. Might be interesting to expand. What i would loom for out of it would be calm and peace. Ha e explored the budhist religion a little but not in depth but it also speaks to angels and has some resemblance to the catholic faith by virtue of having a HH i believe is a version of the Pope. Maybe this was depicted in the book. Going to try amd read it. Now trying this. Your review was good. Got the jisy. Look forward to some more

Kimbi_lyn · Post by **Kimbi_lyn** » 18 Mar 2019, 11:57

The title of this book immediately caught my attention! This is how I see poetry and I loved the author's choice of wording for title. Which drew me to the reviews to see if I should read it. After reading your very informative review I've decided to add it to my shelves for future reading. Thank you

gali · Post by **gali** » 30 May 2019, 13:02

A collection of thought-provoking poems reflecting on human nature sounds uplifting, especially as it takes the reader through an emotional roller coaster. It is nice that each section deals with a different theme and that the poems represent a Buddhist lifestyle. That it was well edited is another plus. Not for me, but I am glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the review!