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Product Description
Product Description
Ikebana, the Japanese method of flower arrangement has always been an important part of Zen. Apart from the symbolism of the arrangements there is a meditative art in achieving the right state of mind in which to do Ikebana perfectly.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Physical description:
A small book of 124 pages, paperback with black and white illustrations. (With less white space at the bottom of the pages it could have been rather less than 124..)
Contents:
Reading the description of the book led me to expect a more informative tome. It does indeed tell about the lady's learning of Ikebana in Japan, about the background to Ikebana, but it's all very brief, and tells us many times of the contemplative nature of 'ancient' Japanese way of life and this art form. I guess, if you are to take up the art, this may help you develop your own, suitable environment.
There are a few examples of the symbolism of plants (well perhaps there are in reality only a few, after all) and some ideas of colour, but the black and white illustrations in the main float free of the text and are not referred to.
Most of us are already aware of this contemplative nature and completeness with the universe etc., but there was no guidance to the thought processes behind these illustrations, no hint perhaps of who / how / why they may have been done, how they felt...
As a (brief) description of the author's genuine absorption and passion for the art you may enjoy this book. You may indeed go on to take a further interest in the subject, but I suspect you will have to look elsewhere for help and inspiration to keep you going.
As a painter, my interest in buying the book was to try to understand more of this art form to help bring a more 'spiritual' aspect to my work. In a sense it does succeed, but only by reminding me of the basic principles which I suspect are not exactly difficult to find elsewhere. It does not provide the link I was looking for between the various arrangments why. Perhaps I was expecting too much?
Having come across a far more informative book many years ago and foolishly not buying it, this small book is a desperate disappointment.
It is absolutely certain that, had there been chance to look through it beforehand, I would not have bought it considering it be merely an overgrown pamphlet both in style and content.
But, your needs and mine may differ.....
A small book of 124 pages, paperback with black and white illustrations. (With less white space at the bottom of the pages it could have been rather less than 124..)
Contents:
Reading the description of the book led me to expect a more informative tome. It does indeed tell about the lady's learning of Ikebana in Japan, about the background to Ikebana, but it's all very brief, and tells us many times of the contemplative nature of 'ancient' Japanese way of life and this art form. I guess, if you are to take up the art, this may help you develop your own, suitable environment.
There are a few examples of the symbolism of plants (well perhaps there are in reality only a few, after all) and some ideas of colour, but the black and white illustrations in the main float free of the text and are not referred to.
Most of us are already aware of this contemplative nature and completeness with the universe etc., but there was no guidance to the thought processes behind these illustrations, no hint perhaps of who / how / why they may have been done, how they felt...
As a (brief) description of the author's genuine absorption and passion for the art you may enjoy this book. You may indeed go on to take a further interest in the subject, but I suspect you will have to look elsewhere for help and inspiration to keep you going.
As a painter, my interest in buying the book was to try to understand more of this art form to help bring a more 'spiritual' aspect to my work. In a sense it does succeed, but only by reminding me of the basic principles which I suspect are not exactly difficult to find elsewhere. It does not provide the link I was looking for between the various arrangments why. Perhaps I was expecting too much?
Having come across a far more informative book many years ago and foolishly not buying it, this small book is a desperate disappointment.
It is absolutely certain that, had there been chance to look through it beforehand, I would not have bought it considering it be merely an overgrown pamphlet both in style and content.
But, your needs and mine may differ.....
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Not what I expected
13 Feb 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although this book is not at all what I expected (it is what it says it is: "an account of the meaning and symbolism of Ikebana" which I somehow missed before I ordered the book), it is well written and offers excellent information. If you want a greater understanding of the art form, then this is an excellent book. If you're hoping for illustrations to go along with that understanding, then this is not it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A Small Gem
23 July 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this book as a gift for a friend who admires and utilizes an Asian sensibility in her decor. Before sending it to her, I read a few sections and found more understanding for myself, of the place that minimal and simplistic design elements can have on the energy of one's surroundings. It helped me to draw a similarity between what I like about abstract art and the elegant and serene feel of Ikebana arrangements.
Author writes like an outsider, but has fresh observations
21 April 2011
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book seems to have been written from the outside, looking in at Japanese culture.
I guess that's okay, but for the most part I felt like the author was trying to set a stage and add some drama to things that I thought were kind of mundane and common in Asian culture.
That being said, there are a few passages that actually added to my appreciation of Ikebana. I think the author made some really deep observations that I had never run in to in other books.
If you're a student of Ikebana, I suggest you get this book. It brings up concepts that we don't always get from the secular flower arrangement schools.
I guess that's okay, but for the most part I felt like the author was trying to set a stage and add some drama to things that I thought were kind of mundane and common in Asian culture.
That being said, there are a few passages that actually added to my appreciation of Ikebana. I think the author made some really deep observations that I had never run in to in other books.
If you're a student of Ikebana, I suggest you get this book. It brings up concepts that we don't always get from the secular flower arrangement schools.
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