Music & Book Review Zone
PAUL POULTON Fishing for Praise (Resource Publications – ISBN 13:978-1-55635-495-3)
Saturday 1st March 2008 5:00PM
Best known for his music and with nine CDs to his credit, this is Paul Poulton's first book. It is written in simple, clear language and is littered with a whole range of illustrations aimed to link everyday life to our need and responsibility to praise God.
Paul clearly has a 'heart' for the subject. On the cover he describes praise as 'a hidden doorway in the world that enables us to see things outside of the universe' but says that it is 'a doorway that is easily missed; people walk past it, thinking nothing of it, not realizing the value of it' and that 'God has placed it there for us to walk through and see where He lives'. Despite the clear language and frequent illustrations however, I found it a strangely demanding read. Firstly, it was sometimes difficult to link the content of the chapters to the chapter headings. Secondly, I often struggled to relate the illustrations to the points being made. Thirdly, I found little cohesion or development of these points - the writing didn't seem to 'tell a story', the chapters often not appearing to have a definable beginning or end.
Anyone who has heard Paul's music will know that as well as being an excellent guitarist with a brilliant band that can really groove, his uniqueness comes from a gift for cleverly constructed, thought provoking lyrics that really hit the spot (if you haven't sampled Paul in action, I would definitely recommend a visit to www.paul.poulton.com). The book reflects this gift for the short, sharp message, but suggests that Paul needs to develop a talent for expanding these into a longer, unfolding 'whole'.
I am sure the content is there, but in my view it really needs revisiting, reordering or restructuring to become a cohesive, understandable book.
5/10 David Deeks
Paul clearly has a 'heart' for the subject. On the cover he describes praise as 'a hidden doorway in the world that enables us to see things outside of the universe' but says that it is 'a doorway that is easily missed; people walk past it, thinking nothing of it, not realizing the value of it' and that 'God has placed it there for us to walk through and see where He lives'. Despite the clear language and frequent illustrations however, I found it a strangely demanding read. Firstly, it was sometimes difficult to link the content of the chapters to the chapter headings. Secondly, I often struggled to relate the illustrations to the points being made. Thirdly, I found little cohesion or development of these points - the writing didn't seem to 'tell a story', the chapters often not appearing to have a definable beginning or end.
Anyone who has heard Paul's music will know that as well as being an excellent guitarist with a brilliant band that can really groove, his uniqueness comes from a gift for cleverly constructed, thought provoking lyrics that really hit the spot (if you haven't sampled Paul in action, I would definitely recommend a visit to www.paul.poulton.com). The book reflects this gift for the short, sharp message, but suggests that Paul needs to develop a talent for expanding these into a longer, unfolding 'whole'.
I am sure the content is there, but in my view it really needs revisiting, reordering or restructuring to become a cohesive, understandable book.
5/10 David Deeks
