(The Reviews Were
Written By College Students In Przemysl,
Poland In 2009)
I edited the reviews a little bit since
English is a foreign language to them. I didn't change the content in any
way. I just wanted to make sure that they were understandable to people
that read in English.
Agata Brycka
IIb
The book I have recently read is called “The Color of Dreams “ written by
an American author Robert Strzalko .
“The Color of Dreams “ is written in a very
interesting way. It consists of many
free spaces between the lines , however in my personal opinion it can be
described as a free verse poetry. The
author took me into a voyage along his dreams . He shows his feelings , emotions , thoughts , and in a
very unusual way he describes all the things
by which he is surrounded . The
reader may simply identify all these words to his /her own experience .
It is not very easy to describe the plot of
book , it seems to me that it is a story within a story . The author presents
the world of dreams . He talks about the passing time “ time , time , time
passes by me the pain of what used to be but is no longer “ , love “ my soul is
on fire , burning with love” . However the main element of the book is a woman
, who seems to be in the center of
attention of the author “ I can’t
imagine being apart from you” . While reading I have noticed that she
was very important for him however it might have been a love without a happy
ending . It is not clearly stated but she might
have left or passed away . Not everything seems clear in the book so it
can force the readers to create their own ideas and thoughts .
To sum up I would like to say that never
before have a read a book like that. It was very hard for my to understand the
idea of it because I am not into poetry. I had to read it a few times to guess
what the author tried to express by his work. For those who like to read this
type of poetry I would truly recommend it because it is something different ,
the way it is written , description of the beloved , expressing emotions ,
feelings it presents the book as a very
interesting piece of work .
THE COLOR OF DREAMS_review
by Katarzyna Niemczewska, IIw
“The Color of Dreams” might be regarded as a perpetuum carmen of changing matter that
circulates in the nature through the process of creation and dying. The concept
is embodied in the characters of the man and the woman being separated by the
death of one of them.
The poetic world of Robert Strzalko echoes the
principles of the Chinese cosmology. The universe is viewed as a mixture of yin and yang, two complementary forces vibrating together in the continuous
movement. As long as they interact with each other, the balance in the universe
is held. The duality of the world is reflected in the nature, all natural
phenomena resemble higher cosmic harmony, e.g. a day’s yang corresponds to a night’s yin
over the course of a day. The world becomes a metaphorical cauldron filled with
the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water), either yang or yin in character, taking their turns in the perpetuate cycle of
creation and destruction as the rising process has to be balanced out by the
process of falling.
The narrator of the story acts in the poem as yang particle. What stands behind this
concept is the idea of masculinity. His yin
opposition is the passionate, mysterious woman who comes to him at night, in
his dreams and memories, with the white flower in her hair. She describes her as though she was dead. He
longs for her to return, he regrets having burnt her letters, finally, he burns
with love himself. His grief is alternated with the questions on the condition
of world, relativity of time and essence of abstract notions. While he is
associated with light and life, the woman’s domain is darkness lit by the
colors of his dreams.
So what are the colors of these dreams? The answer is
put into blank verses flowing freely through pages as a stream of
consciousness. It is believed that the flow of thoughts imitates the continuous
transition of the world never existing in absolute stasis.
The book portrays the poet's feelings and states of mind. By using the first-person-narrative,
the mood of the poetry becomes intimate and nearly confessional.
The
book seems to be open to multiple interpretations. It is very demanding,
ambiguous, and mutable…..like flowing water which is never the same. If you are
the gourmet of literary works, immerge in this poetry and feel its unusual
taste.
Anna Korecka
The Color of The Dreams”
is a first book written by American writer Robert Strzałko. It might be a bit
confused as far as the understanding is concerned. One poem consists of several
separate parts which in some way are connected with each other. In which the
author describe his sore lost using many colorful comparisons.
The author presents his
memories, feelings about his tremendous love to a woman which once upon a time
he lost. The book reminds us about valuable things about which we forget during
our life. There are many questions that the author asks – to some of them he
tries to answer but the others are rhetorical.
Reading this masterpiece is
like a dream that you don’t want to wake up.
There is no visible limit between dream and reality. Curiosity is
something that you feel while reading. The poem have different layout a lot of
space between lines may help to understand the story. More time to make
reflection. He broaches the subject of passing time that causes many
irreversible changes in our life. I read the book twice but I think that in a
couple of time I will read it once more. Mysterious language used by Strzałko
stimulates imagination. Robert Strzałko uses metaphors for unusual description
miracles of the nature.
Although
poetry is not in my favour, I was under great impress. It is incredible
experience could have read this book. I recommend this book to people who want
to take their own journey through “The Color of The Dreams”.
Ewelina
Krasnopolska- gr. 2a
If you are looking for
slightly different kind of book, which can be treated like a story or like a
set of separate poems, you should definitely read `The color of dreams` by
Robert Strzalko. I recently read this book and I must say I was impressed.
The author of the book, who is a narrator at the same time, is
a writer with Polish roots who moved to the USA some time ago, and after personal experiences decided to start write poems.
According to my
interpretation, the book tells a story of unhappy, disappointed man who looses
his lover. He looses his `turtle`- in that way he calls his darling- but he
never stops love her. Despite the fact that separation is a source of
huge disappointment and misfortune for the narrator `desperation,
inspiration, reverberation pushes me forward past`-p. 5, he can talk about
their relationship using a sequence of beautiful expressions `she loves me, she
destroys me, then she wants me`-p. 7. The past is heart-breaking but it
is also the reason for happiness for the narrator `when we were happy
together in the arms of yesterday`-p. 50. Life for him is fulfilled not
only by reverence but also by hope `will I know her dynamic beauty again?`-p.
70.
As far as the style is
concerned, the book is beautifully written, with poetic description and
advanced language. It is unique and distinct in mood and very modern in
form with exellent and gripping monologue of the narrator `how you will feel
and where your heart travels when we are near?`-p. 31. In that way the author
creates optymistic mood which is linked with rays of hope. The love story is
not the only theme of the book. `The color of the dreams` is full of questions
concerning the importance of life, what is more
and the most significant in our life `why is it more important to find the
remains of a dinosaur that it is to feed hungry children?`-p. 46.
`The color of dreams` is
certainly wonderful book and was a pleasure to read it, despite the fact that
if you want to understand the plot fully, you should be advanced reader and
read whole story very carefully. In my opinion, the book is well worth
reading and it will change the way you perceive and think about the world and
feeling which governs it, namely love. Read the book and find out yourself.
Jakub Stankiewicz
‘The Colour of The Dreams’ is a story written by Robert Strzalko. The
main and the only narrator is travelling through his soul. Monologue is the
technique used, probably the most strange and at the same time life-like story
I have ever read.
The whole story begins in an intriguing way, I would say philosophical.
The narrator gives us the chance to look inside him. The main reason of this
‘journey’ is his lost, namely woman that he loves. He asks questions, wants to
find the way to recover or to deal with current situation. He describes his
emotional stages in comparison to colour. He realises that he is lost in darkness
because the only light which shines in his life suddenly disappeared, it was
when she has gone .He cannot find himself in a ‘civilised world’, feels trapped
like in cage made of concrete walls. He wants to return to the natural world,
far away from complicated life and even more complex world. Struggling with
himself, considering and realising that ‘the truth is only the one (…) that you
can hate the truth, deny the truth but it is not possible to defeat the truth’.
He goes through stages that he forgives her, but he cannot forget that he has
lost his faith and his hope has gone away. The reason of this is only one; he
admitted that he does still believe in love. Finally he knows that he done the
right thing, he sets free somebody who he loves.
It is not a straightforward story, but I do recommend it. The other way
it is very demanding story but it gives you the choice to your own
interpretation, feelings, leaves you with uncertainty and at the same time
force you to reflection, help you to understand particular situation in our
life.
Jan Sawicki
“The Color of dreams" is
a poem written by Robert Strzalko which provides reflections about life and
human existence. Generally the book is
about love but the way it is written makes me think that heart and mind without
love hurts. The author contemplates about significance of the truth, world and
his love. At the beginning the author
shows us that our dreams can be colorful when we are in love and the beloved
person is close to us. By reading this book author draws in some way the
picture of girl he loves. Even though being alone he still feels as if she was
present and close to him. After this few question came to my mind: What
happened? Where is she ?
I would recommend this book
because, in wonderful way, it shows essential part of our life, love and it's
absence. The book can show us the answer
to many questions about love, existence which bothers us trough our life and
the things we appreciate only when they are gone.
Joanna
Mazur, grupa B, the colour of dreams
The colour of Dreams is a book written by Robert Strzałko is unique, not only
because of its unconventional form, but also because of its thought-provoking
content.
Its style is similar to monologue, hence it is hard to name the genre of the
book. The author seems to simply transformed his thoughts to the paper, that is
why it is hard to understand all its plots after reading it only once. The book
considers many problems of nature and existence of the human being. His
thoughts circle around life, universe, humanity, love.
The book provides also an insight of well-known themes such as prisoning of animals,
war and so called rat race which are usually ignored by the people. The author
often asks questions, however, he rarely answers them. He rather lets the
readers to find their own answers. His monologue is very twisting. He changes
the topic very quickly. One of the major plots included in the book is love to
a mysterious woman. The author describes his despair caused by the absence of
his beloved. It is not stated exactly whether she left him or passed away. The
only thing we can be sure of that he still loves her fervently. He brings
memories of her, says that she loves him and hates him the same time. He also
confesses that he did something to her.
I like the book very much because it is completely different from the previous
books I have read. The author asks questions and lets them be unsolved, that is
why the book is original. I find the book perfect for people with vivid
imagination, who like contemplation. I think it is worth to read it.
Łukasz Drąg, gr. 2bs
“The Color of Dreams” unexpectedly takes us from the very
beginning into totally Robert Strzalko’s poetry world. The way the author does
it, is surprisingly interesting and undoubtedly innovative in comparison to
other literature I have read or dealt with so far.
The first characteristic feature of his book is the fact that book
is written in very strange way but it brings about the reader to enjoy.
However, the structure allows you to return to the book and read from the
moment you want because it is somehow created as a set of short stories in one
long form. In the same time poetry makes the reader wonder about
content included in the book, concerning human’s dreams, passing love, human
nature and etc.
The book let us come into the world of imagination and our very
own personal thoughts, sometimes charming, other time overwhelming or even
depressing but there is no possible way to stay neutral and calm without any
emotions. The book gives the opportunity to travel among your own
thoughts, feelings, fears, weaknesses but also the bright side of life like
happiness and love.
Although I am not a fan of poetry, and the book is for sure not
really the type of literature you can read and forget easily, it makes you
think about something more important than everyday life but chiefly about some
philosophical approach to your own and the life you lead and this is the main
factor that won’t let you forget about this book.
Natalia Krężel
"The Colour of
Dreams" written by Robert Strzalko is breath-taking and extraordinary book
with poetic descriptions of human feelings and emotions. The form of his book
resembles a couple of brief stories rather than typical poetry. However, each
story is connected with the previous one when contemplated deeper.
The most important aspects
the poetry deals with are love and human existence. It provides reflection on
the world around us as well as offers an insight into human nature. This book
takes the reader on a travel inside his soul.
First of all, the main issue
on which the author tends to concentrate on is a mysterious woman who
definitely plays an important role in his life. The poet paints somehow her
portrait, he returns to the moment when he saw her for the first time.
Although, they are not together any more, she still evokes many emotions in
him. He can still not forget about her face, her hair, shapes of her
body. I would also say that the author feels her presence, as if she was with
him. That is why, his dreams are probably colored. Another aspect of the book focuses on the
human existence. I have never before read a poetry that gives so many answers
to the complexity of existence. The author wonders what is consciousness and why do people dream. Thanks to making
references to the universe, he gains general and ubiquitous clarity of life.
The diversity of feelings is depicted here. The poet asks many questions about
the philosophy of life, making the reader think about his behavior. Some
questions are not answered which provokes thinking.
In my personal view this book is worth not
only reading but also understanding. I recommend this poetry to anybody who
would like to look at their life from a slightly different perspective.
Radosław Niemiec
Gr.
2A
Robert Strzałko’s “The Color of Dreams” is a set of poems which
deals with questions about our consciousness, love and life.
The beginning of tome is quite exceptional, because it
starts with interrogative statements, which place the reader into an
inquisitive frame of mind. In
this way, he/she is prepared for the intensive thinking and analysis demanded
by the book.
At the first glance this book might seem a bit chaotic
(in terms of sentence structure)
with lines divided with a special manner. Almost all words are entirely written with capital letters. This may suggest that every word and every sentence
is crucial to understanding the message of this book.
Within the book lies many different stories and tales,
which are mostly interconnected with each other. These are written in both a
conventional fashion and a disorganized style, where sometimes a single
sentence occupies an entire page. There are also stories which are not written
very clearly. It may suggest that the writer himself wants us to contemplate
the text and meaning of certain lines/stanzas.
Robert’s book deals with different topics, some
regarded as taboos. There is something about love, death, animal instincts, living in cities and consciousness. He describes
those situations as if he were a passer-by. He is neutral.
At the end of each thought, the author finishes each
piece of text with a question. This is a deliberate procedure, intended to
invoke our thinking. Many lines are devoted to his beloved one. In these parts,
the artist recalls times spent with his “other half”. They can’t be together
even though he seems to love her very much.
I am not into poetry, and I do not like
spending long hours thinking about what author had in mind while writing a
particular piece of text, but this book is nevertheless quite interesting.
Mostly because it forces you to think. I am certain that every “poetry-fanatic”
will love it, because of the layout, number of unanswered
questions, and a great mass of metaphors.
IWONA
BARSKA
“The
Color of Dreams” is poetry written by Robert Strzalko. This book comprises of
great number of poems that are formed as a whole. This masterpiece of art
concerns universal subjects, which are: love, longing, pain. passing of time.
The
main ideas of the book are loss of beloved woman and results of it. The author
is full of the sorrow, he remembers the day when she died as it was yesterday,
and at the same time he has hope that one day they will be together. When he
looks at the sky he wonders where she is, he pines for her. The authors
compares her to a star and love to water. At the end of the book they are
together again and their souls are melted. In the poem we also find some refers
to time. The author conveys the idea that particular moment will never occurs
the second time.
I
think I may compare “The Color of Dreams” to metaphysical poetry because of the
feelings, thoughts that we can discover reading this book and paradoxes that
appear here and that create human nature. In my opinion rightness of the words
in poem can be used as the source of quotations.
“The
Color of Dreams” is definitely worth reading. It is very moving and
well-written. Not only the content but also the layout is very interesting. The
book is special as you can read it many times and each time you find something
new and this is the biggest advantage of it.
Alicja Mendychowska
Group 2B
Have you ever wondered about criteria that you
personally follow when buying or at least borrowing a book? Are you attracted
by its cover, price, the amount of pages, theme explored within its conent,
genre, layout, or is there anything else that focuses your attention on a
particular piece of writing? Imagine that you are not a bookworm. To challenge
you to delve into the content of a book, you need to be truly intrigued so that
your inner self resolves to zero in on it. And what if I am in possession of a
book that manifestly proves it is possible to permeate all the potential
recipients? Would you confide to me to such a degree that you would not be
discouraged to abandon attempts to examine it, when seeing it takes a form of a
poem? If I, by any chance, arouse your interest, spend some time on reading
this very review.
Robert Strzalko, an American author, has made an
attempt to reveal the story of his true, deep, passionate love towards already
dead lady of his heart. What makes the story both unique and novel, is that
although it appears to carry a single, glaring plot it is in fact much more
complex, organized and that it is a mixture of poetic diction and genre. It is
structured to form various surfaces so a reader can select the most appealing
one according to his preferences; let it be a poem written in a free verse, a
narrative story, a philosophical writing or a loose author’s discourse, the
book displays ambiguity, openness; thus, it can be find with distinct
interpretations. The book which stands as a proof of the author’s aptitude for
comprising diverse dimensions in a professional guise that they form a unique
whole but still preserve their features is titled The Color of Dreams.
There are many motifs explored within the book like
truth, time, water, war, belief, the universe, all of which created to make
readers ponder on their essence, yet in the concept of the whole book they
serve the role of aids of the more powerful theme that is love. The author
gradually divulges the aspects of his love to a women who inhabits other realms
no more unbounded by time. In dreams, he recalls and admires her beauty, longs
for her, recalls time spent together, expresses his unshakeable despair. The
journey through his memories takes a from of a soliloquy performed in a series
of dreams, visions in which he compares, interprets both abstract and concrete
things in terms of love.
The title The Color of Dreams may implicitly suggests features of dreams. It
is known that dreams are reflections of our mind and feelings; however, they
convey them in unconventional way using distortion, exaggeration that makes
them impossible to consider in a single approach. This is also true for Robert
Strzalko’s The Color of Dreams which
may be analysed according to various criteria. What distinguishes this very
book from other writings is its particular layout. The author does not
economize on using irregular line spacing which is not surely a product of his
carelessness, but is either use for placing emphasis on thoughts; thus, when inquiring: Why is it
more important / To / Find the remains / Of / A / Dinosaur / Than it is / To /
Feed hungry children?’, a truth that we occupy ourselves with things of slight
importance, forgeting about more urgent ones is unfolded; or functions as
rhetoric encouraging a reader to contemplate on his life, ‘Have you ever longed
for fate / On dark, starry, rainy nights?’ It is a work full of paradoxes that,
again, imply contradictions of life. As the author asserts, on one side we
escapes wild but on the other side we return to nature. Does it mean then we
try to escape the belief of being integral part of nature in defiance of hard
evidence that we in fact are? Quite
intriguing is the treatment of water and viewing it as a metaphor of love. Both
sustain our lifes, heal us, without them we are nothing, for we need them to
exist. The Color of Dreams rewards
ability to read between the lines, for it does not explicitly expresses all the
ideas. Hence, in order to figure out that, among other themes and motifs, it
also includes a consignment of a carpe diem, a reader need to notice the
correlation between the nature’s circulation and the transitory nature of a
moment implied by the author.
The
description of his lover alternates with subjects which to some extent
influences or troubles his mind yet it is more personal and vivid. The moment
when the poet describes her as a star shining in the sky, I find in a bad mood.
In his soliloquy, the writer says: ‘I simply / Look at the sky / Amazed / By /
All I see / Sadly /There are /Too many lights / Now / For you / To Compete
with’, this may demonstrate us a common belief that when a person dies, a new
star borns and in this moment he unites with those who also turns their eyes
into the sky to look for their relatives with melancholy and desolation;
however, he believes that, ‘Maybe someday / We will be / One.’
The
Color of Dreams by Robert Strzalko is a book that I find quite precious. It
really challenges readers’ minds to re-think subjects that were always considered
in terms ‘out of the question.’ It is a
kind of a book that you need to back again and again, for each time you
discover something new. It is fascinating how within few pages, the author
places all the eternal truths about a human, nature, the universe in such a way
as to provoke our open-mindedness. I can thoroughly recommend this very book
because it can not only serve as a guide which we use to find the right path
but also as an aid to change the hierarchy of values in our lifes, for: ‘If you
believe in nothing / If you stand for nothing / Then / In essence / You are
nothing.’
Joanna Skubisz
A
Book Review – 'The Colour of Dreams' Robert Strzalko
'The Colour of Dreams' written by Robert
Strzalko is an original and outstanding book. It contains the collection of
poems which together create one cohesive story. The book takes you to the world
of colorful and tender thoughts about love, as well as it provokes you to think
about the meaning of human existence.
The author pretends to be a young man who
falls in love for the first time, unfortunately he loses his lover (it still
remains a riddle if she dies or leaves him). Although, she is not with him in
the physical sense, she is still in his minds and memories. He remembers her
face, body, the way of walking, smell – her beauty. The author uses simple, but
subtle words to paint her portrait.
As a broken-hearted man, he
ponders over human nature. He describes it in a very ironic way, however, his
thoughts are the accurate ones and give a real picture of human existance. The
most truthful statement in the book says that people must believe in something:
love, God, freedom, otherwise our existence will be worhtless.
In my opinion, 'The Colour of Dreams' may
be a quite challenging book. It requires an open mind with lots of imagination,
which aspires to find the truth about human nature. I highly recommend this
book, especially under a warm blanket during the rainy weather.
‘The Colour
of Dreams’ written by Robert Strzalko is a thought-provoking and I would even
say intriguing book. This unusual piece of poetry presents the author’s deep
thoughts about life, love and nature. He tries to share them with the reader as
well as invite him to the journey of the author’s mind.
The book
consists of short pieces which bring pleasant pictures from the inner space of
another human being. I think that it is very rare to find such a finely tuned
instruments of poetical speech. Among of many separate ideas and feelings there
is one distinct figure of woman’s adoration. Despite of sometimes raughly
balanced structure of the verse eternal love towards omni present feminine
element strikes with beautiful metaphore:
‘Her yin
Was
All over
My yang’ (p. 91)
I am not a
poet expert but I am deeply enchanted by this fresh song of newly-born poetry.
Although one thing has to be admitted – to understand this book fully an
ordinary reader needs to read it many times. In my opinion that is the vast
advantage of the book. Reading it more than once is pleasurable because every
time you can discover more and set out on another beautiful journey as well.
Aneta Mindziak Gr. IIB
If you are looking for mysterious and striking book where you can find the
answers to many your questions you should definitely read The Color of Dreams
by Robert Strzalko.
The Color of Dreams is a kind of dream vision in which the author's thoughts
are shown in the background of his previous experinces. This book is partly
dedicated to a woman whose author really loves and who is far away from him,
out of his reach. He suffers very much because of her absence. He tries to
forget about her because she destroys him, but it is too difficult. The other
part concerns how the author persives the world. He wonders about the sense of
existence and the human position in those difficult times. He looks at it from
psychological perspective analyzing surrounded him world. He asks himself
questions but does not give answers allowing the reader to stop for a while and
think about them.
The book is unusually writen with somehow confusing system of versication which
ordinary readers are not familiar with. The author has created a set of his
thoughts and feelings characterising his psychological point of view about the
world in forms of questions and separate maxims. Every page refers to new
thought which makes the book gripping and fascinating. It allows us to
understand ourselves and ranking us questions.
I could recommend this book those who like to reach the inferior of onelselves.
Once you have read it, you will never forget it because it helps you find the
proper way and gain the distance in life.
Barbara Kijanka, 2c
“The
color of dreams” by Robert Strzalko is a unique collection of poems which leads
a reader through the path of life of a man who is cogitating existence as well
as spiritual values and endeavors to attain equilibrium between worldly matters
and ethereal qualities.
The protagonist is pondering the values that make life
meaningful, the most essential being love, truth, and peace which together
create a harmonic symphony. However, he notices the dichotomy between lyrical
beauty and the omnipresent “pursuit of pleasure” of those who lack the sense of
direction. Having found himself in such plight, the speaker attempts to reach
balance and find answers to questions that haunt him. The recurrent theme of
light, a symbol of hope and felicity, seems to be the solution.
The book is original in its content as well as form. The writer
has created a character whose scrutinies induce a meditative state in the
reader as well. His soliloquies give readers the insight into his mental and
emotional anxieties and consideration. A number of rhetorical questions, like
“What is love?”, make a reader stop and think. Among the pages, one can find
blank ones which are like tabula rasa – it depends on the reader what will be
written on them.
The
book’s main idea, the quest of the essence of life, is not illusory because
each of us desires to feel complacent and fulfilled. The author gives a hint
about that: “How can a flower open to the light if it is afraid of getting
burned”
This means that we should try
to make our lives meaningful instead of waiting for miracle and being timorous.
I recommend this book for those seeking
a guide to introspection.
Husar Justyna Gr IIA
"The Color Of Dreams"
If you are looking for a book which is totally different from these you have
already read, you should definitely read "The Color Of Dreams"
written by Robert Strzalko. The book is unusual but it does not mean it is
worse. On the contrary, this book is outstanding and truly makes you think. The
author takes you on the journey into his world of dreams and nature.
The whole story consists of many questions, In fact, rhetorical questions which
the author tries to answer. What is more, the author makes the reader to stop
for a while and think about many aspects of their life such as God, life and
love. Personally I believe that it is really thought provoking book.
The book is original mainly because of its design. What strikes me the most are
the empty pages with only one sentence. That is really surprising, doesn't it? Just
like the author erased piece of text accidentally. But this is what makes you
even more curious about the book.
All in all, I would like to recommend this book to everyone, even to those who
are not keen on reading. I believe that the reader, especially the avid reader,
will find plenty to enjoy. This book helps you to understand your place in a
modern world. It is nothing short of magnificent. So do not miss it, it will
change the way you see your life in today's world.
Artur Kuropas
If you
want to read a book which probably is different than books that you have read
so far,
“The Color of
Dreams” by Robert Strzalko will be a good choice. Author of this book concentrated on two
aspects – love and reality, namely people, world, universe.
He describes his great love for a woman, about who we know very little. One
thing that we can clearly deduce is that she is not present in his life now,
and that he suffers from her lost.
Author also writes about things that he observed. He describes how everything
is changing and paradoxes present in the society. We can read about a mother
whose son went at war, and how she prays to God to help him survive and kill
sons of other mothers.
From the beginning we know that this book is different. I believe that, it is
not a common thing to do, to devote a whole page just for a one sentence. It is
full of metaphors, questions and some brilliant thoughts. It really makes you
think about the world, that we are living in.
To sum up, “The Color of Dreams” book by Robert Strzalko is worth reading . I
am not a “poetry lover”, but I really enjoyed reading it. This book is not easy
to follow, but maybe that is why it is so
interesting.
Aneta Horochowik, 2a
"The
color of Dreams" by Robert Strzalko is a beautifully written book with
poetic descriptions of human feelings and emotions. This well written book
consists of a set of ` rhetorical questions', and their explanation can be
sometimes startling and sometimes rather
confusing. The most important aspect is that the book is like a journey - from
one dream to another. Thought provoking layout of the book force reader to
think about it all over again.
The story
begins with three rhetorical questions. It covers different kinds of problems
which, although are different but mostly the same… It’s because of a enigmatic
woman who plays a very important role in his life. Although she left him, he is
still in love with her. He can’t stop thinking of her, can’t forget her. It is curiously to go with the author
across his memories about the woman he loved, certainly still loves, but it
doesn’t change a fact that it makes me sad every time I read it.
During the
process of reading I felt as the whole book is like author’s ‘a cry for help’. He
is looking for any solution, which probably will cure him from this huge
feeling as the love is.
Maybe it’s
not easy to follow the authors thought but it’s worth of trouble yourself. I
guarantee you will go back to this book all over again.
Katarzyna Kurpiel
The colour of dreams is a book written by Robert Strzalko that reads like a
story rather than as separate poems. Fabulous description of love connected
with unusual descriptions of nature and natural phenomena.
First page take us to the galactic
and spiritual world where people, spirits and nature are dependent on each
other in existence and have:
Mingles
energy
Yin and yang. (p2)
The speaker is Receding
from yesterday which means that he is thinking about the past when he
was happy and in love with a beautiful girl. He describes her undecided
feeling:
She
loves me
She
hates me
She
destroys me
Then wants me (p7)
He is very fascinate by her
which express:
Explosing
breasts
Not
meant to nourish
Her
flesh calls me
With
eyes that dare me
To
Not be human ( p7)
He mention about the rain all
the time which could be a metaphore for his tears. He is longing for love which
he lost.
We don’t actually know what happened
with the girl, but it seems like she died unexpectedly:
Her
flesh still calls me
No longer imprisoned (p93)
Together
again
Our
Souls
melted
Into
Each other (p93)
He is dying without her, he
want to look in her eyes, touch her like before. He behave like a Romeo who
rather prefer die than live without beloved woman. The speaker also want to die
and get through to her.
This is very moving and great formed
story about never ending love for sensitive readers. Appropriate for couples
for example as a present on Valentines.
Maria Żołnierz IIC
Dreams are integral part of one's
life. If people do not notice them, do not try to understand them then they
loose a particle of themselves. Robert Strzalko takes us into his world of
dreams and thoughts in his work ''The Color Of Dreams''. It is a marvelous
writing which provokes one's thoughts.
The poem consists of two planes which are
connected in a very subtle way, and together create story about author's
beloved lady. Mistress of his heart is not nearby. He misses her, but he knows
they will meet together ''when the moon is full of light''. What is
interesting, description of his love and lust is just a reason to move forward,
into the deepest thoughts about mankind. The writer reflects on such
questions as ''Why do we live on a planet that orbits a star?'' or ''Why it is
more important to find the remains of a dinosaur than it is to feed hungry
children?''.
Interestingly enough, the poem is written in a
curious way, with space after each thought. Maybe author leaves it to us, to
stop for a while, and to think about what we have just read. Remarkable is the stream of thoughts and unanswered questions, like ''What is time? Where is
love?'', which make one think. All these things give the impression of amazing
and incredibly involving piece of writing.
All in all, I strongly recommend this
book, as it is a great source of magnificent description, surprising questions
and recognition of miraculous love. I assure that everyone will read it more
than once, as with each reading one can find something completely new, and this
is the greatest thing about this poem.
Joanna Tucka
If you are bored with all silly romances, pseudo
– intellectual stories and poems containing well – worn cliché, you should
definitely read ‘The color of dream’ by Robert Strzalko.
It’s
a unique in style, form and mood poem, which takes the reader in the world of
provoking questions, considerations and journey into slightly separate spheres
of life, e.g. love, soul, dreams, nature etc., which in fact are tightly linked
together.
The major plot focuses on author’s love of a
woman who passed away. He can’t stand the fact that she isn’t on earth any
more. The author remembers the time when he was still with her. He makes a lot
of comparisons with love e.g. he writes that love as water cleanses, quenches,
heals; that without it he ceases to exist. Love as water never dies, it only
changes forms.. in this way he wants to tell us, that even though the woman of
his life passed away, their love still exist, but is acting out in a different
way, experiences differently.
“The color of dream” while listening to Miles
Davis’s jazz made on me a quiet good impression. Not only did they fit together
well, but also the music made me feel what I was reading. The book wakes our
imagination, senses and keep our brain constantly thinking and that makes it
well worth reading( a book is good only
than, when it stimulates our thoughts, and opinion, isn’t?) Read it either
listening to a good piece of music, or in absolute silence. Just read it, but
not only once – you will discover that each time your answers and thoughts are
different - depending on present mood, experience etc. This book will convince
you that dreams have a color – which?- it depends…
Pawel Kida
“The
color of dreams” written by Robert
Strzalko is an sophisticated and original book, which procure that readers can
stop for a while and escape from real world to the world of imagination. It is
a set of free thoughts, which very deeply and emotionally concerns the world of
dreams, love, and nature.
The
form of book is very unconventional. It looks like separate poems which should
be read as a one story. It is written with no punctuation but a question marks,
some pages contain only one sentence. Author asks many questions concerning
metaphysical problems and many of them are not answered what provokes to deep considerations.
All those things might be not only surprising for the reader but also
confusing, that’s why it is not an easy
book. Robert Strzalko encourage
people to stop their busy life for a moment during reading his book and start
thinking about things which are important but usually forgotten or hidden deep
in their minds. I could say that this book shows the reader that he should find
himself in the chaos which is around him.
I
can thoroughly recommend this book for people who are not afraid of discovering
something new. Once you have read it, you will never forget it.
Dawid Kaszycki
“The Color of Dreams" by Robert
Strzalko is the description of the author's adventure into his world of dreams,
nature and love. The author mentions about his found and lost love and
contemplates about feelings such as pain, hurt and love.
The content of the book is like an enormous, astonishing metaphor. While
reading you find yourself in another world, your imagination starts to create
every single detail of the poem. The poet included in his book many
philosophical questions about various aspects of life
as well as descriptions of many metaphysical problems during his journey
through the world of dreams. It seems that all stages of the book are connected
with each other creating a sensation of unity, the poem reminds us that
everything in the life has a certain end, it is inevitable.
The author created a unique format of reading the book which allows us to read
it in a very short time, but reading this poem only once is not enough to
understand the complexity of the author's reflections about life, love, truth
and passing time. The question marks are the only
punctuation marks included in the book; they do
emphasize the big importance of every given question.
"The Color of Dreams" is a book well worth reading for sensible and
romantic people; although it may seem a bit confusing at the beginning I would
recommend it to everyone who wants to escape from the everyday world into
another, spectacular "dimension".
Dawidoff Klintonix
“The Color of Dreams" by Robert Strzalko is the
description of the author's adventure into his world of dreams, nature and
love. The author mentions about his found and lost love and contemplates about
feelings such as pain, hurt and love.
The content of the book is like an
enormous, astonishing metaphor. While reading you find yourself in another
world, your imagination starts to create every single detail of the poem. The
poet included in his book many philosophical questions about various aspects of
life as well as descriptions of many metaphysical problems during his journey
through the world of dreams. It seems that all stages of the book are connected
with each other creating a sensation of unity, the poem reminds us that
everything in the life has a certain end, it is inevitable.
The author created a unique format
of reading the book which allows us to read it in a very short time, but
reading this poem only once is not enough to understand the complexity of the
author's reflections about life, love, truth and passing time. The question
marks are the only punctuation marks included in the book; they do emphasize
the big importance of every given question.
"The Color of Dreams" is a
book well worth reading for sensible and romantic people; although it may seem
a bit confusing at the beginning I would recommend it to everyone who wants to
escape from the everyday world into another, spectacular "dimension".
Bożena Tasior II C
“The Color of Dreams ” is a
poem written by an American writer Robert Strzalko.
I must admit that I do not
like poems, but I am flabbergasted that this short book is so captivating and
causes unusual emotions.
This poem is somehow divided. There
are three main rhetorical questions : “ Where is love?” , “Why do we dream? “
and “ What is consciousness? “. It seems that the reader can learn the meaning of real love, life and
soul. The primary plot is focused on a woman, this
woman is
a significant person to the author. She has died recently and he feels
conflicted about the pain of his loss.
The poet remembers with precision the moments when
they were together, he remembers her marvelous eyes and the smell of her body. At last he
writes “I’ve burnt your letters, but I wish I still had them”- without a doubt he misses her very much. Another aspect of this poem is the power of nature. The author warns that life is variable and
there could be many events which we never expect.
Personally, I find this book really
absorbing. During reading I felt as though I knew what the next line of text
would be about. The poet so precisely
and mysteriously describes a real world, a world full of
lust, riddles and uncertainty. It is the first
time that I have read a book which gives so many truly and
unforgettable emotions.
I strongly recommend this book, it is invaluable and absolutely amazing writing. This book
detached from reality, provokes
thoughts and allows you to look at the world from a
different perspective.
Katarzyna Chmura gr. IIc
If you are looking for a short book
providing reflection about our life, you should definitely read “The Color of
Dreams”. “The Color of Dreams” is a poetry book written by Robert Strzalko, who
comes from Poland but lives
in the USA.
The form of this fascinating book is not conventional because is a set of short
poems which are somehow arranged. The book is like a journey into writer’s
world of dreams.
The story of the book is extremely original
– I have never read anything like it before. When I read it for the first time
I was confused, but the second reading helped me to understand the plot better.
The
first aspect of the book is author’s lost love; he describes a woman of his
heart. Although they may not be together, he can not forget about her because
he still loves her.
The
second aspect provides reflection not only on many spheres of life which can be
explain in different ways but also on human existence, our interaction with
nature; we are part of it.
The book is beautifully written, with
poetic description of human feelings such as love or hurt. The writer asks many
philosophical questions (e.g. What is consciousness? p.86), not every question
is answered in the book, The author forces readers to consider deeply about human
nature and his place in the universe.
In my
opinion “The Color of Dreams” is a book well worth reading more than once
because each time you read it you find something new. I recommend this book to
everybody with an open mind for new concepts and ideas.
Jan Dorosz
The
dreams – one of the few things that remain a mystery in our lives and give each
one of us a small thrill from time to time . Robert Strzalko is a writer who
tries to solve the mystery of our dreams or at least take us on a right track
to the answer of this puzzle. In his book “The color of dreams” he takes the
reader on a wonderful and exciting journey through his dreams, where many
aspects of life gather up and mix, creating that unreal yet so well known to us
world.
The book is unique, not only in words
organization but also in content. The story does not provide us with any simple
answers at all, but as we get from one page to another we meet new questions,
new stories. It’s like a rollercoaster, you get from one world to another
without too much time to think about the last one. The time for thinking is
when you close the book, but to be honest with you, instead of thinking you
will read it one more time. That’s why the book isn’t boring, actually to get a
small answers of this riddle you have to read the whole book at least a few
times.
At the beginning, the reader is asked about
the reason of existence, creating this mysterious atmosphere that is the
invitation to the journey and a stimulation for your imagination. Then the
journey continues. The reader is taken through different worlds: world of power
and violence, nature, tranquility and many others. But there is one thing that
is still unique and omnipresent – the world of love – somehow lost. It seems
like a remedy to the madness, but also a beginning of it if lost. This I think
is the biggest mystery in this book, which the reader has to discover and work
out for his own. I will leave the rest to read.
If you’re a person with an creative
imagination or someone that likes to wake it up from time to time – that book
is definitely for you. If you are an average person, I would also recommend
this book to you, it will make your thinking go wild and make you a person with
creative imagination.
Bernadeta
I
recently read a book by Robert Strzalko entitled ‘’The color of dreams’’. This book is unique and
extraordinary. The poem is full of personal
thoughts and feelings. Author
presents us world seen by his eyes, and tells the story about woman which he was
in love.
The
book is full of many questions some of them are rhetorical which makes the
reader to wander about the answers. The plot concerns thoughts about universe,
humanity, nature, and love with the girl who passed away. Author still
remembers the time when he was with the woman, her appearance, the way of
walking, smell, as well as her beautiful eyes, he makes a lot of comparisons.
The writer has created intellectual atmosphere in every page of
his book. Surely, this book should be read a couple of times because still we
will find something new to us – some new thoughts some new things. This poem
provokes thinking, it is outstanding and completely different from all books
that you have ever chance to read.
In my opinion
"The Color of Dreams" is a book well worth reading. It is beautifully
written and makes one think about life and the surrounding world. I really
recommend to read it.
Monika Fudali Gr. IIc
“The Color of Dreams” by Robert Strzalko
is great, thought-provoking book. It
brings up such subjects as love, nature, war. The text of this book is divided into short paragraphs so
they look like separate poems, but while reading one finds connection between
them and treats them as a story. This book is written in quite original style.
In every line is one or very few words. At first this book makes an impression
of confusion, chaos, and lack of
coherence. After first reading one wants to understand the book better so the
reader is in the mood or the second reading. It makes message of this book more
clear for him.
Strzalko ponders human’s being and life in
his book. He also describes woman of his heart. They are far from each other
and he misses her so much. It seems that love is that what he goes by. The
writer touches on problems of present-day world too. War, universe, destruction
of natural environment are thoughts crowding in on him.
He sees famine and poverty in today’s
world. He asks “Why is it more important To Find remains Of A Dinosaurs Than it is To Feed hungry
children?” He doesn’t understand why people fight with each other, especially in
the name of God, why they let wars to broke out. He appears to be moved by
changes arising nowadays.
The
writer asks different questions that remain unanswered but he just leaves the
empty space. So that the reader could answer himself. This technique gives one
food for thought. Reading
takes a lot of concentration and persuades the reader to reflections. Its style
and mood distinguish this book between books of similar significance.
I would recommend it because it can make
one realize importance of human’s and world’s existence. Don’t miss this book,
it will change the way you see love, longing and your own inner being.
Marta Jamrozik
I have recently read the book ‘The
Color of Dreams’ by Robert Strzalko. It takes the reader on a poetic journey,
among colors of dreams and life, that sometimes bring tears, sometimes a smile.
This book surprised me many times
during the whole reading, because of the way in which it is written. There is a
few empty pages with only one sentence which seems to be atypical and nothing
here is so obvious just like in ours dreams. I suppose that the plot focuses on
author’s love to a woman. The author’s feeling might have been unrequited and
lady of his heart left him. In this book author reveal his emotions, feelings
memories about his love and about many aspects of human life: war, poverty,
happiness, nature. It is aimed to motivate reader to wonder about meaning of
life and values of human being. This amazing book includes many questions about
surrounding us world and reading it gives the chance to find the most important
answers, conclusions for us.
Taking everything into consideration
I must admit that it is not easy book to follow, but I recommend this book to
everyone who is looking for something new, fresh and definitely
thought-provoking.
Patrycja Gajda gr. II A
I recently
read the book "The Colour of Dreams" by Robert Strzalko and I must
admit I was very impressed. Besides, not only I but also my friends who read
this book deemed it to be admirable. It is difficult to say what the plot is
about. During the reading I felt as if I was in a totally different world,
magic world of dreams. The main element to which the author draws the reader's
attention is a woman. I think that she was very important to him. It seems to
me that he loved her very much and she reciprocated his emotion but now she is
in a different place, far away from the author. He tells the reader what he
feels now, what his dreams, memories and whishes are.
From the very beginning there is a mystery that the author reveals step by
step. It is his desire for something and the reders must guess it. What I also
liked about the book is its imbiguity. The author doesn't tell the reader
everything, he has a free space that can be filled with his own images.
I think "The Colour of Dreams" is really worth reading. Its mystery
and beauty absorbed me completely. Moreover, there are a lot of timeless truths
concerning the man and the world that surround him.
Al in all, it was a real pleasure for me to read this book. I can thoroughly
recommend it.
Magorzata Grela
The color
of dreams written by american writer Robert Strzalko is an extraordinary and an
out-of-this-world book that I have read recently. The form of writing is very
original and unprecedented as it covers a lot of space between the lines, which
I found very helpful while understanding the whole story. In general, the book
presents poetic description of human feelings and emotions.
The most
important regards that book deals with are love and human existence. The main
aspect presented in this book is love - lost but still present in poet’s life.
Poet describes a mysterious, beloved woman who left him or just passed away.
Despite the fact that she has gone, she still awakens many emotions in him. The
way of describing his affection that he feels for his beloved, makes readers
think about their own experiences and memoirs. Another important aspect that
appears in book is inexplicable human existence. Poet uses a lot of comparisons
to the nature which helps readers to understand some of the metaphysical problems
that people, as the society, have to struggle with.
Questions
that are not always answered, make readers realize people’s weaknesses “Why it
is more important to find the remains of a Dinosaur than it is to feed hungry
children?” which shows humans vanity.
The color of dreams is very worth reading
book. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to open their mind and to look
at their life from a slightly different view.
Małgorzata Mach Gr 2A
"The Color of Dreams" written by Robert
Strzałko is a volume of poems, but they seem to form one long story.
The
book begins with three quite abstract questions. It introduces special
atmosphere and prepares the reader to rather not very mundane thinking.
“The
color of dreams” is written in a specific way and language which may be
confusing at first. Every sentence of the book seems to be very important.
Every sentence makes the reader think and wonder what did the author exactly
mean.
Each
story of this book presents a different matter. Some of the stories are long
and written in a typical layout, and some are very short and not organized as
we would expect them to be. There are some stories that are not clear but it’s
one of the reasons why the reader wants to read it once more to look for some
answers.
Robert
Strzałko in his book encourages people to stop for a moment in their busy lives
and think about the values which are of great importance, but unfortunately
forgotten.
He describes people's habits
and behaviors as if he was an observer. He shows the irony of human life.
The poet asks many questions
about the philosophy of life. Many questions are not answered which provokes
thinking. The book reminds us that life is very changeable and nothing lasts
forever. Among all the stories we notice a story about love. The poet brings
back memories connected with his beloved woman. Although they are not together
any more, he still has feeling for her.
I
think the book is worth recommending to people who want to look at their life
from different perspective. While reading this book, they will be able to do a
lot of thinking as “The color of dreams” contains many metaphors, unfinished
thoughts and questions which are not answered. It gives the reader a chance to
create his/her own point of view. It provokes to
reflection on life.
Maria Jemiola
“The color of dreams” by Robert Strzalko can be easily called the volume
of poetry since it consists of, at least, thirteen “poems” touching the same
problem: existence of human being and unfulfilled love. Reading this amazing
book, you go on a journey to the undiscovered world of a man's dreams and
desires.
The book begins with three
rhetorical questions which give the basis of the general content. Then the
“journey” starts. From the beginning, there is a mystery hidden behind the
words. But the more time I spent thinking deeply about it, the less ambiguous
the message was for me. The author, in a very subtle way, describes his beloved
woman. Their love is compared with the nature- both vivifying and killing. This
splendid description of a pure love is sometimes fanned by the pieces of
eroticism, shown in a delicate and sensual way. Each time this absorbing
portrait of author's deepest feelings is
interrupted by unpleasant and even scary memories, full of sorrow and violence.
Robert Strzalko tells readers
about his feelings and remarks about the world and life but not in a direct
way. What is really inspiring, he is not imposing his own opinions. The book
gives the reader “free space”- some clues which provokes further reading and
using reader's own imagination.
Although first reading of the
book takes no longer than 30 minutes, it does not allow the reader leaving it
on a shelf. It is like an extreme sport, the more times you do it, the more you
like it. I like the book very much, nevertheless I would not recommend it to
everybody. I think that only mature and experienced person can appreciate
Strzalko's “dreams”.
Agata Karwańska
'The Color of Dreams' written by Robert Strzalko is a
book full of personal thoughts of the author. They are so intimate that for an
average reader they are really hard to follow.
The book is considered to be about life, love and destiny of the world. The
author presents his impressions concerning these but metaphors used don't amaze
or excite. The themes they are describing seem to be exploited to the very end
by former poets. Sometimes they even look like lyrics taken from a
song, for example:
'My soul is on fire
Burning with love
Burning for you' (56-58)
Nevertheless, few verses make a person think and
are worth remembering, for example:
'But
If you believe in nothing
If you stand for nothing
Then
In essence
You are nothing' (27)
Being a writer gives freedom while choosing language and themes. It also
exposes to the barrage of criticism. Hardly do I understand using writing
method based on shattered verses (unreasonable enjambment) and blank pages left
on purpose. I have a strange feeling that this poetical work would be
interpreted better if its layout was different.
'The Color of Dreams' seems to serve the author's
self-need for expressing himself. Although, the reader finds himself lost too
often.
Anna Szpytman
The Color of Dreams is a poem by Robert
Strzałko, consisting some philosophic
ideas and considerations concerning the life.
The book seems to be the poetic record of
thoughts of a person who is pondering the most important problems of human
being, such as the reason for living, unrequited love, dreams, passing the
time. The author express his feelings that are caused by those particular
experiences. He shows some absurdities of the people, undermines accepted
truth.
The book is a valuable insight into a soul
of a person living in a contemporary world, his concerns, feelings, doubts. It
shows how important and timeless is the need to answer the philosophic
questions: what is the essence of living and what for do we live. However some
ideas to show people’s nonsensical behavior are not new and because of it not
revolutionary or important for reader to see something from different point of
view, but still it can be exciting not to discover something different but to
try to understand how the same world can be seen by just another person.
The book definitely is not a fascinating
adventure through unknown spheres of the world but it is a good choice for
those who seek something more than pleasures of everyday life and like to stop
for a while to try to find out the sense of it.
Justyna Bak
The Colour of
Dreams is a kind of poem which takes
the reader in the world of reflection and contemplation. An author reveals us
not only his thoughts, but also ask questions which make us thinking about our
life.
The plot focuses on memories about his beloved woman
who passed away long time ago. He keeps thinking about her and recalls images
from their mutual life like it was yesterday. In the meantime, he makes an
observation of the world which is full of evil. He wrote that for people it is
“more important to find remains of dinosaurs than it is to feed hungry
children”.
The book is quite unique in
style, mood and form. Although it is written like a poem, the readers reads it
rather like a story. An author’s leaves several time a space which may indicate
a break for reflection. When I read it for the first time I was quite confused
what this book is about but then I noticed that the more I read it, the more I
can find out .
This book original plot guarantee to keep the reader
absorbed from beginning to the end. Every time you read it, you will certainly
discover something that previously was left unseen. So, if you like
unconventional literature – you won’t be disappointed.
Marta Kielar
Have you ever thought deeper about human
mind, our emotions and the complexity of our existence? Robert Strzalko, the
Polish-born, American writer, tries to deals with these themes in his book
entitled “The color of dreams”. It is hard to define unequivocally the genre of
the book as its form resembles a couple of brief but incoherent stories rather
than typical poetry.
The
book is very ambiguous. It considers many aspects of human life, feelings and
abstract values which, at this aspect, I have to agree, makes it
thought-provoking, and gives the reader insight into the writer’s personal
thoughts. The poem describes the men who tries to understand surrounding world
and its sense, through asking questions about metaphysical aspects, mankind,
love and time. ” Time, time, time passed by me The pain of what used to be But
is no longer.” The plot is like a dream- very often chaotic, confusing and
consists of many separated thoughts. Between them, the poet tells us about his
lost love, which is eventually, the main point of the whole story. He describes
the women using meaningful metaphors and some sexual innuendo. The beloved has
passed away, however, she is still present in men’s heart and mind. “I remember
the moment you died As though It was yesterday Sometimes I think you’re still
with me In ways I don’t understand.”
What
are the strongest points of the book? It is like a journey into human mind.
It’s surrealistic atmosphere really make
us contemplate about our world. However I don’t find the book very convincing.
The way the author intersperses the plot make his work confusing. It is true
that our thoughts are often to complicated to express them in clear way,
however the form of the book and lack of punctuation make it hard to understand
the content of it. I didn’t also like the style in which the author expresses
his love towards the women .Ofcourse not only sophisticated words make a work
good love poem, however the men’s words seem to me immature.
In
my personal view The “Color of dreams” is not a book for everyone.
Admirers of the classical poetry can be rather disappointed. I would recommend
this book to those who are searching for something completely different than
other books.
Tomasz Jaroch II W
The color of dreams - review
The book titled “The color of dream” written
by Robert Strzalko is one of unpopular sort of literature. Probably this poem would never become a
bestseller but it is not a target of the author.
The book is written as a collection of
separate poems but Robert Strzalko made a very impressive and reflective one
story. We can read about a lot of problems which are connected each other in a
some way. The author touch on problem with human life, living in a society ,and
maybe the most important topic for the author, love. He tells a lot about
dreams. Every kind of problem gets a color. Expressiveness of colours depends
of situation. The author’s love is showed in dark colours. At the first sight
the plot of the book is very enigmatic. During reading we can discover a main
idea. The author asks “ why do we dream ? ”.
“The color of dream” is a provoking book. It
provokes us to reflection and Robert Strzalko shows his world through his
experience. I would recommend this worth book which is sort of very important
questions. It is a one the most educative book I have ever read.
Agnieszka Szpond
‘The color of dreams’ written
by Robert Strzalko, who comes from Poland
but lives in USA,
is completely different book from the other ones which I have ever read. It
provides reflection about the world, tries to woken our imagination.
The design of the book makes
the impression that it is comprised of separate poems but they create one
story. The author takes up the topic of love. He describes a mysterious woman
who plays a very important role in his life. Her image and her values are
described by using sophisticated language. The next topic is human existence. The book reminds us
that life is very changeable and nothing lasts forever.
The atmosphere of this poetry
is rather melancholic. Sadness because of the loss of someone important and
pessimistic. The author asks many psychological questions, some of which are
answered and some are rhetorical. Thanks to them everybody can reflect for a
while on the own life.
I recommend this book not
only for those who are romantic and sensible but as well for people who seek
the answers on questions about their own life.
This book can be read a
couple of times and still we will find something new in it.
There are a lot of metaphors, unfinished
thoughts and questions which are not
answered. It gives a reader chance to create their own point of view.
Agnieszka Pietraszek
“The Color of Dreams” is a
poem written by Robert Strzalko. The author comes from Poland but he lives in the U .S.
A. It is his first published book.
The book is like a short poems which are
related together that’s why they are create one story.
“The Color of Dreams” is focused on the
most important aspects of every human being life which are feelings, emotions,
and existence.
This book provokes readers to think carefully about their life.
I have impression that there are two
part of the book.
First, where the author tell us about his love, about woman who was very important
person for him . He writes that she loves him ,she hates him, she destroy him .
The writer miss her very much an he is depressed of the fact that his love is
passed away. Although, she left him, she is still in his heart.
The second part of the poem
is about life, about existing.
The poet compare life with
the nature and he asks questions about the philosophy of life :
“Water comprises/ Most of my body/
Water covers/ Most
of the earth/ For/ What is
life/Without water/A/Desert? “ p.65
I think that questions asked
by the author makes that readers stop for a moment and think about the answer.
I recommend Robert Strzalko’s book
because for me this book is really nice and pleasure to read even if someone do
not like a poem.
Anna Olchowa, 2A
The Color Of
Dreams by Robert Strzalko is a book
which contains the author’s reflections of many aspects of life in a form of
free verse poetry. If I would like to find a main thesis, it could be difficult to do that.
There are so many themes that author touches on, however, the title of the
whole is significant and influences on the entire text.
The author talks about mysterious female, he mentions
her in many parts of the book. We can assume that everything in book happens at
night because author many times talks about stars, night, moon. In a very short
poem we can find many issues. Author reveals his sensitivity to suffering of
animals, cruelty of war. He notices the absurdities of our world.
The form of the poem is like dreams: chaotic,
unfinished, there are many abrupt words. In poem like in our dreams appear some
visions, memories, people we know.
Author ask many questions and doesn’t provide answers. It may be a task
for us- readers to think about them. Although the questions may seem important,
in fact, they are only repetitions of questions asked by many people in many
epochs. They don’t contribute any new light for presented matters. They aren’t
revealing. In many cases what he says are simply truisms. Especially, the parts
when he mentions the female aren’t very good. They are banal, conventional,
sometimes boring. The words: My soul is
on fire/ Burning with love/ Burning for you are so often repeated in many
text that they are totally meaningless now, they carry nothing new.
After reading that book I had ambivalent feelings. On
the one hand the great matters concerning all mankind: creation, God, war,
suffering, passing of time, memories, love. But on the other we can ask
question- what innovative did he present? I haven’t found any new approach to
these subjects, only commonly stated truths in a not very sophisticated
form.
Bartosz Kurek, 2A,
The Colour of
Confusion
The Colour of Dreams by Robert Strzalko seems to be a
poetical attempt of gainig an inner sight into a very tissue of dreams,
feelings and even contracted reality that is supposedly to be shared by all of
us. In this way it justifies so called “author’s licence” for being
inconsistent and free of any formal bounds. Such approach could be perfectly
appropriate but there are too many feeble metaphors embedded in an extremely
exhausting layout. I cannot understand application of torn lines by enjambment
that serves all purposes excluding melody and rhythm of the verse, if there is
any.
The content of the book is so called poetry, and I am aware
that we live in a world of relentless postmodernism, which could be an sufficient
excuse for producing incoherent pictures from “inner space”. They tray to deal
with every-day problems (loss of beloved one, pointlessness of killing each
other – the best parts of the book) and higher causes like ethernal desire,
admiration of the world’s beauty, etc. All of the above could stand alone as a
means for conveing charm which should emanate from pages, yet unfortunately,
there are no stunning metaphors. What the reader finds instead are childish
challenges taken up by mature man: “Deep / Within her / Thrust / Into / A / New
world / Wet / Soft / Midnight arrows / Pierce / Virgin space” (p. 87) (sic!).
We have a wide range of brilliant poets. Robert Strzalko
probably would reach a prominent place in the refined array, if he was focused
on the virtues nurtured by the classical authors: consistency, clearness of
language and sympathy for the reader expressed by a well-posed form.
Magdalena Blejwas
Do you have enough time in your everyday life to stop for a
moment and think about dreams?
I suppose that the answer is:
No…but everyone has such
thoughts.. If you are looking for an original
but also interesting story about men who reflect on various elements of the human condition, you should
definitely read ‘The Color Of Dreams” by Robert Strzalko.
The plot focuses
on…It is hard to say on what exactly…I had a different feelings and emotions
when I read this poetry. The book is breath-taking and provoke to reflection on
our life. The author, who is also the
main character of the story, from time to time turn to the women who was very
important to him. I think that she was felt in love with Robert, but she left him
. Robert very hurt. He can’t dealed with his thoughts. She will be forever in
his mind…
This book is like
a journey – from one dream to another. The spaces between lines helped me to
understand the story better. You will spend less than one hour on reading
it! Mr Strzalko use al lot of questions like : what it is?
What should be? What could be?, express
his own dreams which in fact, are our
dreams too. It is a huge portion of reflections in a small pill.
I recommend ‘ The
Color Of Dreams’ because it presents in great way reflections on time, truth,
and love. The book can be the answer to many questions: What is the most
important for us? What should we appreciate before we lose it? It is really
worth considering.
Aleksandra Wichryk
“The
color of the dreams” is a love poetry written by an American author R.
Strzalko. He is an astrologer who is written in original way.
This
short book is about love. Author is written about his imaginary woman.. He
compares his beloved to star in the sky. Her beauty is the most important in
the world. Author often refers to the ancient mythology. He enumerates
different names of ancient woman. He wonder how his beloved beauty is better
than their one. The plot of the book is
original and confusing. The title-dream is associated with the woman. The woman
symbolize the colors of his dream. Main theme is focused on woman and her
beauty. Author describes the character of his imaginary beloved as gently and
supportive to him.
The
language of the book is sophisticated. It is not written as a whole, there are
separate pieces of the text. The book has many metaphors and epithets , which
gave its content deeper sense.
I
didn’t recommended this book because it is a bit confusing. The theme written
about everything and at the same time about nothing. During the reading this
book there are so many references that you lost plot.
Kasia Kasperska
Rich with unforgettable
characters and history, intricately plotted and utterly absorbing, The Colour
of the Dreams is a book written by Robert Strzalko which you have to read by
reading between lines in order to understand it clearly. Reading this book
through all the pages one by one does not make sense. I have to admit that one
reading is not enough to understand the real message of this poem. I have gone
through the book several times so far and each time I found something magic.
The
book deals with description of people's feelings, moods and desires. The author
is an observer who describes people's emotions and behaviours. The most
important aspect it deals with is love. The author expounds a woman in a gentle
and romantic way who plays the most important role in his life. The poet
suffers because she escapes but he is still in love with her. Although they can
not be together any longer she still awakens many emotions in him. I was
captivated by this story.
This book
has a beautiful message in it. I was enchanted by this story as it turns out
that we should live every day as it was the last one because one of these days,
it will be. The story shows us that we should not try to achieve success at any
price because life is too short and we should take advantage of every
opportunity we have to enjoy every moment in life.
The Colour of the Dreams is
so gripping book that reading seemed to pass in the twinkling of an eye.
In my
opinion "The Color of Dreams" is a book well worth reading. I would
recommend this book because it is the best way to stop and think about our
life.
Iwona Bundyra
'The Color of Dreams' by Robert Strzalko is a well-written poem which deals
with love and human existance. The author of this book comes from Poland but lives in the USA. This book provides many poetic
descriptions of human feelings and emotions.
The plot of the book focuses on describing and presenting various feelings and
emotions such as love and hurt. The author shows a mysterious woman who plays a
very important role in his life. He describes her appearance, way of walking,
smell and beautiful eyes. The author of the poem hurts because his beloved
passed away. He shares with the reader his deep feelings and memories. This
poem contains several rhetorical questions such as: Why do we dream?, What is
consciousness?, which persuade the reader to think about life. The book
provides us with an insight into the themes well known to us but very often
ignored such as: love, nature and war. The author does not impose on the reader
his own opinions on these subjects but he puts them in different light which
makes the reader contemplate them and form his or her own opinion.
The plot is quite fascinating but also dramatic because the author cannot be with
his beloved. The script is touching and convincing which encourages the reader
to contemplate about discussed issues. What is more, the book offers enjoyable
and entertaining journey into the space with plenty of opportunities for
reflection on human identity. It is sensitively written book for people who
like to think about matters which are not important for everyone.
On the whole, I would recommend it in view of the fact that it is really a good
piece of poetry. I recommend this book to an open-minded, sensitive people who
adores to read about love. Don't miss it, it will change the way you look at
the world.
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