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I Ride Tsunami
I Ride Tsunami is a short, socially-focused poetry collection and is comprised of sections titled and described as follows:
'Don't Go Digital' - a series of techno-pessimist meditations. It is especially of note because the author is a technologist currently working in the industry.
'When I was Shaman' - recollections of deeply losing oneself in music, the best kind of shebeens and various highs.
'Dreams Die Here' - poetic polemics against (modern) work environments.
'I Ride Tsunami' - metaphoric outings surfing the swells of the emotional life
'International Klein Blue' - thoughts on and appreciations of art in all forms.
Praise:
"...poetry is horribly difficult to understand, and many readers usually stay away from poetry for that exact reason — because they get confused by it. So Arthur P. Johnson, either on purpose or because this is his writing style, really addressed this by writing a [...] collection that, in my opinion, is accessible and universally relatable." Eliza Lita 'Coffee Time Reviews'.
PUBLICATION DATE 4th OCTOBER 2021
'Don't Go Digital' - a series of techno-pessimist meditations. It is especially of note because the author is a technologist currently working in the industry.
'When I was Shaman' - recollections of deeply losing oneself in music, the best kind of shebeens and various highs.
'Dreams Die Here' - poetic polemics against (modern) work environments.
'I Ride Tsunami' - metaphoric outings surfing the swells of the emotional life
'International Klein Blue' - thoughts on and appreciations of art in all forms.
Praise:
"...poetry is horribly difficult to understand, and many readers usually stay away from poetry for that exact reason — because they get confused by it. So Arthur P. Johnson, either on purpose or because this is his writing style, really addressed this by writing a [...] collection that, in my opinion, is accessible and universally relatable." Eliza Lita 'Coffee Time Reviews'.
PUBLICATION DATE 4th OCTOBER 2021
80 pages, Paperback
Published October 4, 2021
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 27, 2021
Have you ever questioned the sustainability of social media and the internet?
If you have then this collection is for you.
In his book, I Ride Tsunami, Johnson explores in segments life, the digitalization of life and the expiration of reality. The author explores ambitions, the brevity of life, soul starvation, self-optimization, puritanical belief of life and much more. I cannot begin to recommend this collection enough. Here are a few lines in different poems that just resonates;
From the poem Nightmare of Suburbia
I need escape
To flee from this world and
Return to the nitty-gritty
-Honestly to escape is to lose present reality. To escape is to move, maybe in hopes of finding oneself but at the cost of losing comfort and peace- As someone who just moved to a new city, I can tell you I felt that. Adulting is hard.
Another from Hallow Man (for Byung-Chul Han)
I optimised myself
To death
-Working oneself into nothingness. Working to please others, working hard to represent who you think you should be or the image you think you need to project only to end up wiping yourself (the real you) from existence. In a society where presentation and pretence is the order of the day, this poem is one that everyone needs.
This leads me to Don't Go Digital
They seek to harvest your soul
To manipulate your meaning
To track and measure and crunch you
To their own avaricious ends
Hhmm, social media devours. I mean once you step in it is so difficult to step out. No matter how you try. Through the course of this book, you get to see how the author thinks and address social media and the dangers of it. Personally, I think social media has more good than bad, and that it depends on how you use and see it. Through social media, causes have risen for social change and justice, teen girls run campaigns for women and girl across the world for proper education, against child trafficking and more. People have risen for causes they would never have done without information that they have gotten from social media. However, it in no way negates the misinformation and hate that is spread through several platforms. The identity problems and body dysmorphia that lots of people have had to deal with because of the filter life of celebrities and so called influencers. So yes, there are negatives but if we only looked at that we would be blind to what connectivity have provided to the world.
If you have then this collection is for you.
In his book, I Ride Tsunami, Johnson explores in segments life, the digitalization of life and the expiration of reality. The author explores ambitions, the brevity of life, soul starvation, self-optimization, puritanical belief of life and much more. I cannot begin to recommend this collection enough. Here are a few lines in different poems that just resonates;
From the poem Nightmare of Suburbia
I need escape
To flee from this world and
Return to the nitty-gritty
-Honestly to escape is to lose present reality. To escape is to move, maybe in hopes of finding oneself but at the cost of losing comfort and peace- As someone who just moved to a new city, I can tell you I felt that. Adulting is hard.
Another from Hallow Man (for Byung-Chul Han)
I optimised myself
To death
-Working oneself into nothingness. Working to please others, working hard to represent who you think you should be or the image you think you need to project only to end up wiping yourself (the real you) from existence. In a society where presentation and pretence is the order of the day, this poem is one that everyone needs.
This leads me to Don't Go Digital
They seek to harvest your soul
To manipulate your meaning
To track and measure and crunch you
To their own avaricious ends
Hhmm, social media devours. I mean once you step in it is so difficult to step out. No matter how you try. Through the course of this book, you get to see how the author thinks and address social media and the dangers of it. Personally, I think social media has more good than bad, and that it depends on how you use and see it. Through social media, causes have risen for social change and justice, teen girls run campaigns for women and girl across the world for proper education, against child trafficking and more. People have risen for causes they would never have done without information that they have gotten from social media. However, it in no way negates the misinformation and hate that is spread through several platforms. The identity problems and body dysmorphia that lots of people have had to deal with because of the filter life of celebrities and so called influencers. So yes, there are negatives but if we only looked at that we would be blind to what connectivity have provided to the world.
Displaying 1 of 1 review