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Chaos to Order and Back Again: A collection of short stories, poems, and other dangerous things.
This is a collection of short stories, poetry and other writings by Rob Krabbe. Rob Krabbe is a singer, songwriter and author of thirty years, and currently resides with his family in the Upstate of South Carolina.
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 14, 2010
Chaos To Order And Back Again by Rob Krabbe, published on July 28, 2010, by NoonAtNight Publications, 224 pages.
Chaos To Order And Back Again is both brash and vulnerable, but intentionally so, with a back cover illustration reminiscent of the wildness of Hunter S. Thompson and a subtitle of "A Collection Of Short Stories, Poems And Other Dangerous Things." Rob Krabbe dedicates this book to those who have stayed with him (when he thinks they should have left), that is, to those who haven't abandoned him. He tells us about "a place of deep passion/Its dreams lay waiting" and this entire book, although sometimes humorous, is absolutely not flippant but an in-depth dissection of one person's life. Krabbe acknowledges the individualities and eccentricities of others as God-given, which many people do not, and added onto the title on the back cover is the phrase "The Desperate Seach For Something More."
In the short story "The Stalker" Krabbe presents an eight-year-old murderer, scared to death at what he's done and afraid to go home, whereas in the poem "And": "I remember a time when I was very young/and I wish sometimes I could go back for just a day" when his dog Peppy dies. The book is full of zest as the author loves the smell of freshly-cut grass and each new day, while at the same time gunshots and fears and nightmares abound, energetically! The words almost jump off the pages at you, sling-shot as they are from the author's enthusiasm. In juxtaposition there are churches and sanctuaries and searches for God, as the author exists "Like every other day in that particular eternity" (from "It Was A Day In 2002," a story about manic-depression).
The book is so imbued with the word "death" or a form of it (actually, possible death) that you can't go for ten pages without encountering it, which shows us just how much the author is trying to live. (One story includes "a vial of eternal life", which would certainly be useful!) This is definitely not the work of an introvert but of someone who lives larger than life out among many people. Talking about Sally in the story "Come September" he notes that "Everyone, to the number, who heard about the way she had died allowed that it was by far the best way a person could die. One minute you're living, and the next without fanfare or trouble, before you yourself even notice, you have already moved on."
Finally, in a poem Krabbe talks of a God "Who, in Spirit, translates the groaning of my heart/Who says no, flatly/when I want to take my life in my own hand/and I weep again/For I know that today I would have died." All in all, Chaos To Order And Back Again is a spiritual portrayal of one person's struggle to remain alive and embrace life without abandoning it, as he himself has not been abandoned.
Reviewed by Christina Zawadiwsky
Christina Zawadiwsky is Ukrainian-American, born in New York City, has a degree in Fine Arts, and is a poet, artist, journalist and TV producer. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts Award, two Wisconsin Arts Boards Awards, a Co-Ordinating Council of Literary Magazines Writers Award, and an Art Futures Award, among other honors. She was the originator and producer of Where The Waters Meet, a local TV series created to facilitate the voices of artists of all genres in the media, for which she won two national and twenty local awards, including a Commitment to Community Television Award. She is also a contributing editor to the annual Pushcart Prize Anthology, the recipient of an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, and has published four books of poetry. She currently reviews movies for http://www.movieroomreviews.com, music for http://www.musicroomreviews.com, and books for http://www.bookroomreviews.com.
Chaos To Order And Back Again is both brash and vulnerable, but intentionally so, with a back cover illustration reminiscent of the wildness of Hunter S. Thompson and a subtitle of "A Collection Of Short Stories, Poems And Other Dangerous Things." Rob Krabbe dedicates this book to those who have stayed with him (when he thinks they should have left), that is, to those who haven't abandoned him. He tells us about "a place of deep passion/Its dreams lay waiting" and this entire book, although sometimes humorous, is absolutely not flippant but an in-depth dissection of one person's life. Krabbe acknowledges the individualities and eccentricities of others as God-given, which many people do not, and added onto the title on the back cover is the phrase "The Desperate Seach For Something More."
In the short story "The Stalker" Krabbe presents an eight-year-old murderer, scared to death at what he's done and afraid to go home, whereas in the poem "And": "I remember a time when I was very young/and I wish sometimes I could go back for just a day" when his dog Peppy dies. The book is full of zest as the author loves the smell of freshly-cut grass and each new day, while at the same time gunshots and fears and nightmares abound, energetically! The words almost jump off the pages at you, sling-shot as they are from the author's enthusiasm. In juxtaposition there are churches and sanctuaries and searches for God, as the author exists "Like every other day in that particular eternity" (from "It Was A Day In 2002," a story about manic-depression).
The book is so imbued with the word "death" or a form of it (actually, possible death) that you can't go for ten pages without encountering it, which shows us just how much the author is trying to live. (One story includes "a vial of eternal life", which would certainly be useful!) This is definitely not the work of an introvert but of someone who lives larger than life out among many people. Talking about Sally in the story "Come September" he notes that "Everyone, to the number, who heard about the way she had died allowed that it was by far the best way a person could die. One minute you're living, and the next without fanfare or trouble, before you yourself even notice, you have already moved on."
Finally, in a poem Krabbe talks of a God "Who, in Spirit, translates the groaning of my heart/Who says no, flatly/when I want to take my life in my own hand/and I weep again/For I know that today I would have died." All in all, Chaos To Order And Back Again is a spiritual portrayal of one person's struggle to remain alive and embrace life without abandoning it, as he himself has not been abandoned.
Reviewed by Christina Zawadiwsky
Christina Zawadiwsky is Ukrainian-American, born in New York City, has a degree in Fine Arts, and is a poet, artist, journalist and TV producer. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts Award, two Wisconsin Arts Boards Awards, a Co-Ordinating Council of Literary Magazines Writers Award, and an Art Futures Award, among other honors. She was the originator and producer of Where The Waters Meet, a local TV series created to facilitate the voices of artists of all genres in the media, for which she won two national and twenty local awards, including a Commitment to Community Television Award. She is also a contributing editor to the annual Pushcart Prize Anthology, the recipient of an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, and has published four books of poetry. She currently reviews movies for http://www.movieroomreviews.com, music for http://www.musicroomreviews.com, and books for http://www.bookroomreviews.com.
March 1, 2011
A very readable collection of poetry and prose, and one that demonstrates that Krabbe has more than decent range. Most of the stories and poems are meditations (and often pretty lively, by the way) on some aspect of a tested but still kindled faith, or facing the inexorability of death or the nightmare of self-doubt, or how sometimes life's greatest surprises come about gently in the quiet passage of time. Krabbe clearly is a thoughtful writer, seeking to investigate what can be learned from a life of joys and mistakes. The strongest work in the collection shows he has much to tell.
However, over the long haul, the selections proved somewhat uneven. The science fiction-leaning tales were for this reader the least successful, and one or two of the poems felt a bit like retreads of earlier pieces. Additionally, while the cover is clearly well conceived and executed, I thought most of the illustrations found within were unnecessary and added little if anything to the book as a whole.
However, over the long haul, the selections proved somewhat uneven. The science fiction-leaning tales were for this reader the least successful, and one or two of the poems felt a bit like retreads of earlier pieces. Additionally, while the cover is clearly well conceived and executed, I thought most of the illustrations found within were unnecessary and added little if anything to the book as a whole.
August 15, 2010
A collection of short stories and poems that are at times; sublime, tortured, silly, insightful, deeply twisted, moving and hopeful. The author's life is splaid out for the reader like an autopsy leaving his soul bared for examination. He may not solve the mysteries of the universe, but he certainly ponders them. After traversing a life of uncertainty and darkness he is cleansed by the power of love; love for his wife, the love of God and the chance to simply exist. There is only one thing barring his eternal happiness .... Kudzu Vines!
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