Official Review: Tears of Joy and Tears of Sorrow

[Dreamer80]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Tears of Joy and Tears of Sorrow" by Arjomand Kalayeh.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Tears of Joy and Tears of Sorrow by Arjomand Kalayeh is an anthology that explores various emotions, such as the importance of love, the sorrow of having to leave your loved ones, the grief, and the corruption that lies in the world, and the fickleness of human life. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the author employed the power of imagery and metaphors to give the message of humanity and unconditional love.

The book is divided into five chapters, each talking about a different phase of life. Each chapter gives a separate message to lead a good life. For example, the fourth chapter is called “Journey of self-empowerment” and is dedicated to self-love. The imagery in certain poems is exquisite, especially in “Mistakes of Love,” where the author uses the poetic devices meticulously—leaving the reader in a trance-like state. The last chapter, “Selected Poems, Journey of Soul,” was, without any doubt, my absolute favorite. Each poem is on a separate idea, from birth to understanding of love to death, yet the force of humanity ties each of them together. However, there were multiple things in the book that I did not like.

First of all, except only a handful of poems, most of the poems seem like an amalgam of broken sentences. They are devoid of any poetic device, or rhythm. Lacking the basic eloquence required for poetry, I found myself wanting to skip them, especially the poems from the first chapter. The poem “Turning a Blind Eye” in chapter 3 had a lot of potential but the author strayed from poetry to ranting, which was disappointing.

The author talked about love a little too much in the book, the whole idea is exhausted and very cliché. The poems from the first chapter such as “Only You,” “Me and You” and “Because of You” seem to be talking about the same idea of love over and over again, lacking the basic sense of depth required to give the reader a reason to be emotionally attached with it. Some phrases, although very powerful, are repeated, and hence, the punch in the gut feeling was erased after reading them multiple times. For example, “Golden shoes of greed” can be found on page 84 and page 127, and reading it in the second poem made it lose the effect it initially had on me.

After careful contemplation, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I came across only two errors throughout the book, which leads me to the conclusion that the book was professionally edited. There was nothing inappropriate or obscure in the book, making it open to all age groups. However, some topics are very strong, so I recommend parental guidance. People who like to read love poems, or are looking for a moderately light anthology, will enjoy the book.

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Tears of Joy and Tears of Sorrow
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[Usma Khann]

It's a shame that the author couldn't do justice in the execution of such beautiful ideas. Appreciate the honest review though.

[Christabel Uzoamaka]

Just reading about what this book stands for gives me a certain sense of calm. But it’s a bummer when the author’s ideas don’t form as expected.
Thank you for the honest review.

[Harty Muli]

I like the author's positive message of unconditional love even amid the personal challenges he's facing. Thanks for the insightful review.

[Priyanka2304]

Generating imagery and introducing metaphors are great techniques that writers use to grip their audience until the last page. It becomes easy to correlate the content with ourselves. Thanks for the review.

[kljrox]

The theme that the author was going for sounds like it didn't quite make it throughout the entire book. Thank you for your honest and informative review.

[Kanda_theGreat]

I like reading books whose authorship is grounded on a life-changing experience.
Thank you for your honest review.

[Dreamer80]

It's a shame that the author couldn't do justice in the execution of such beautiful ideas. Appreciate the honest review though.

Thank you for reading!

[Dreamer80]

Just reading about what this book stands for gives me a certain sense of calm. But it’s a bummer when the author’s ideas don’t form as expected.
Thank you for the honest review.

Thank you for reading!

[Dreamer80]

I like the author's positive message of unconditional love even amid the personal challenges he's facing. Thanks for the insightful review.

I am glad you liked it. Thanks for reading!

[Dreamer80]

Generating imagery and introducing metaphors are great techniques that writers use to grip their audience until the last page. It becomes easy to correlate the content with ourselves. Thanks for the review.

That is very true! Thanks for your insight and for reading!

[Dreamer80]

The theme that the author was going for sounds like it didn't quite make it throughout the entire book. Thank you for your honest and informative review.

It was disappointing but not entirely. Thanks for reading!

[Dreamer80]

I like reading books whose authorship is grounded on a life-changing experience.
Thank you for your honest review.

Yes such books are usually very impactful. Thanks for reading!

[Zainabreadsnow]

I'm interested in the four divisions he has made. Sad to see it didn't properly address the topics. Thank you for the honest review!