| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.50
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (Penguin Dictionaries) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.50, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From the Publisher
Some sample entries:
RAY
At all cultural levels in works of art rays are drawn from the SUN, from HALOES or from other forms. These rays symbolize an emanation of light radiating from a centre, sun, saint, hero, genius or other individual. They express a fecundating influence, whether of the spiritual or material order. An individual emitting rays belongs to the element Fire, and is related to the Sun. The recipient of the rays determines whether they instil warmth, stimulus or fertility, or else burn, dry up or sterilize.
CHAIR
The chair is universally recognized as a symbol of authority. To remain seated while others stand is to demonstrate your superiority, while to offer somebody a chair is to recognize his or her authority or prestige, either as a person or a representative of that authority. In academic circles professional authority is dignified by the Chair in that particular branch of learning, while in the church the bishop's sphere of authority is known as his see, from the Latin sedes, meaning `chair'. Thus the Holy See is the symbol of the divine authority with which the Pope is invested as Sovereign Pontiff. A raised chair confirms superiority.
BUBBLE
Air- or soap-bubbles symbolize a created object which is lightweight, spontaneous and short-lived and which suddenly bursts to leave no other trace of its existence than the transient and arbitrary volume of a little air.
Similarly Buddhists make them emblems of anitya, the transience of the world of illusion. `Whoever', states the Dhammapada, `looks upon the world as upon and air-bubble, can look beyond the kingdom of death.' Another sutra affirms that `the occurrences of this life are no more than dreams, phantasies, air-bubbles, shadows, glittering dew, a lightning flash.' This is no doubt the source from which The Secret Garden Flower teaches `that in the sight of the Tao, Heaven and Earth are but an air-bubble and a shadow'.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
If it was a word dictionary I would understand this reasoning, but because we are talking about a dictionary about something as visual as symbols, it must count as a criminal act to publish a book without images of them. And it wouldn't have mattered if the images had been kept tiny, the size of a thumb nail in a corner, or as a reference. They are simply essential to this book, and they are not there.
Haven gotten that out of the way, I can now turn to a more positively note and say that the word descriptions of the symbols are excellent. In most types of dictionaries you would appreciate concise writing, but here you welcome the lengthy examinations of each symbol's meaning, history and sometimes lost or hidden meanings.
So all in all it's an OK book. But still upset about the error of leaving the images out.
For me, as an academic, this book is the best of its kind, but it will be accessible to anyone - each entry is explained in concise, short-sentence prose, which includes some sparse details of stories and traditions. Best of all (and this is where this book really towers head and shoulders above nearly all its competitors) is that it is fully referenced, so the source for each symbol is listed in full, and you can go and read up further if you find the information too concise. For its breadth of coverage, and the depth of its explanations, this book finds a really useful balance. It's a really decent size, but is well produced and light enough to fit in your hand like a copy of War and Peace or Middlemarch.
It's also got some blank space inside the front and back covers, so if you want any pictures, you can draw them there; although my guess is that you'll be too engrossed in the text to ever get round to it.
The meanings given behind many symbols are far too long winded and combined with added 'waffle' make this book nothing short of a chore to study.
The company that publishes this book is Penguin. I suggest they get their 'international team of experts' together (see back cover) and produce a book aimed at the people who actually pay for it, namely me!! the customer. I'm sorry but in my honest opinion this book fails and disappoints at every level. I regret making the purchase.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Mythology > Encyclopaedias
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Mythology > Folklore
- Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism
- Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauri
- Books > Reference > Encyclopaedias
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Customs & Folklore > Folklore
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Communication Studies > Semiology
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
