Instructions for Alchemy. Ingredients of Ether.
by David “Judah 1” Oliver

Book review by: Ccep J. Dew, West Coast Editor

 

“If poetry were my religion, your book would be my Bible…”

 

There is truly no other way to describe how I feel about this book. Having met the author and seen him perform his poetry in person a few months prior to the book’s release, I had an idea of what to eXpect: poems, haiku, personal reflections, and religion. As soon as I pulled the book from the mail, I knew I had underestimated the author and, soon after, realized I had underestimated myself, as well.

 

Instructions for Alchemy. Ingredients of Ether. is not your typical book of poetry, so I cannot give a typical review. In fact, I think simply calling it a 134-page, 6 chapters, nearly 8 ½ by 11-sized “book of poetry” or “collection of writings” is an insult. One can flip through the pages to see that time, research, and thought went into crafting this completed work. One can also conclude some things about the author if one looks closely at some details:

 

--there is a firm order to the disorder upon the pages…
--it is not your typically-sized chapbook or poetic collection…
--it has an in-dept introduction by an Associate Vice President of a university…
--“Alchemy” and “Ether” are defined, analyzed, and given new meaning at the start of the book…
--the Table of Contents is “incomplete” and without page numbers, but there is one…
--there are bonus writings, haikus, and “Dear Sanity” letters “scattered” throughout the pages…

 

Haiku for you:
You are but a Breath
And a Word of God; how I
Love when He speaks you.

 

To say that David Oliver breathes life and knowledge into his writings would be an immense understatement. The author appears to be one who doesn’t accept the confines of what is typical of a poetic collection, so it is no wonder that each piece of writing, itself, should not eXhibit the same rebellion. From love and self-awareness to religion and society, the author tackles each subject with a breathtaking consciousness that is backed up with historical references where appropriate.

 

“How foolish of me to believe you when you told me, “Forever”. And how foolish of me to assume our concept
of “Forever” was the same.”

 

I cannot, in good conscious, say that I “read” the book. Quite honestly, I studied it. Each day before I pried the pages open, I grabbed a pencil and kept Wikimobile nearby on my phone. As I read a piece, I boxed off lines and sections that really spoke to me and underlined terms, names, and events that I either didn’t know or felt like I needed to know more about. Once I was done reading that piece, I researched each underlined word, writing a brief definition or information in the blank spaces of the pages. To give you a clear understanding of the time that was put into absorbing the messages in this book, I looked up 9 things in the piece “Terrorist” alone.

 

But, don’t get turned off by the studying aspect. It was something that I chose to do and is not necessarily needed if you don’t want to. My mother got through the book just fine and even ventured to question, “Does he sing?” after noticing the drastic difference in the design of the untitled poem on pages 20 and 21. Although I usually kept the book by my side at all times, she mailed it back to me with a sticky note thanking me for leaving it in Baltimore for her and saying how much she loved it. And my mother, like her daughter, is very picky about what she reads.

 

As I was making my way through the book, I would send little messages to the author, letting him know of my progress. When I told him I was “studying” it and researching so many words and topics, he said, “Wait until you get to the end.” I believe what he was referring to is a line on the very last page of the book that says, “I was going to place a glossary of terms in the back of the book.” However, what he didn’t know was that every December, I choose a quote to guide me through the new year and that I found my 2010 quote on the second to last page, which simply reads:

 

FAITH is a skydive jump.
KNOWLEDGE is ground soon come.
WISDOM is enjoying the fall.
UNDERSTANDING that the fall may kill you.

 

These four lines have carried me through the end of a decade and the fresh start of a new one. After I read it, I drew a little picture of a skydiver on the page and I have shared the quote with several people who all responded with some eXclamation of awe.

 

Needless to say, this book has had a huge impact on me both mentally and spiritually. I would love to go into further detail about the book, but I truly believe my words can do the author’s words and vision no justice. So many phrases from pieces stand so well alone. Take for eXample, this passage from “Race or Relations”:

 

White kids call him “Nigger”
Black kids call him “White boy”
So he nicknamed himself, “Soy”
Feels that he is an imitation.

 

Want to know more about the book? Check out the video below and hear about it from the author himself.

 

*David “Judah 1” Oliver talks about Instructions for Alchemy. Ingredients of Ether.*

 

 

Name
Email Address
Comment