Customer Reviews

Altars and Icons: Sacred Spaces in Everyday Life

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3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book for a friend for Christmas, as we are both hoarders of odd objects and possess casual versions of "altars" in our respective homes. I found the photography to be very attractive and the overall idea of the book to be sound (which was why I purchased it as a gift), but I wish the creator(s) had branched out a bit from the idea of altars bound to Christian ideas; there seemed to be many. I think that a global approach would have made this book meatier and more enjoyable.

Fun to look at the altars photographed for the book, but majority of them have Southwest/Hispanic feeling, which seems to infer that that's the only style of altar around. Not so. Many people are building/assembling altars with a wide range of materials. Author could have done a lot more with her topic by showing a wider variety of altars.

What a wonderful book. Jean McMann's luminous photographs, paired with her subjects' words, combined to create an enlightening, moving experience for me. I enjoyed the many different kinds of stories and shrines, from the simple little computer shrine, to a more elaborate wedding mantle, to the very moving shrines to deceased loved ones and beloved pets. This book makes me realize that creating concrete ways to remember and commemorate important events and people is a natural, almost involuntary part of human nature. We create shrines, big and small, all the time without realizing it. The simple way we arrange family photos on our living room mantle, the way we arrange a vase of flowers next to a candle next to a souvenir from a meaningful trip...that's a shrine. The realization of this has helped to bring spirituality and grace into my life.

I must say that I was looking forward to Altars & Icons for months, and was surprised at the superficial treatment of the subject, which suggests that any collection of stuff on bedside table, windowsill or knick-knack stand is an altar. If "spiritual" can be equated with "nostalgia" perhaps that is true, but most of the visuals weren't even appealing, and looked as if they had been "set-up." While the presentation by Chronicle was simple & slick, the writing was over-all (with a couple of exceptions) very thin and uninteresting. I do hope this collection points the way to other more meaningful texts on personal home altars and handmade icons. I was just chagrined that this particular book didn't even scratch the gilded surface.

I found this book extremely well writen and interesting. Also, it seems to really address some issues that are current for most of us these days. Jean Mcmann shows us concrete ways to express spirituality and demonstrates how some people are bringing it into their everyday surroundings. It seems to affirm that we do have interests in realms beyond the physical yet explains how to make these interests real and practical in our homes and offices and anywhere we go. I really enjoyed this book.

In many ways this is a beautiful volume but I felt as if it seldom dipped below the surface and fully explored what drives the needs. It was more of a sort of tourist guide to the scared, in all its manifestations. To give the book it's due, it was interestingly diverse, and more than fairly encompassed many traditions of faith.

I flipped through this book and wondered why I bought it. Gave it away. Nothing very creative.

I enjoyed this book thouroughly. It affirmed personal beliefs and practices I've upheld for years. The photographs were gorgeous and the individual stories were well- edited and fasinating. The author's own comments were lovely to read as well. Thank you, Jean Mcmann!

I couldn't let the previous reviewer's comments pass, as I found this a very moving book. Each person whose altars and icons (and they don't all refer to them by such serious terms) tells their own story at some length: how they've saved a postcard their grandparents sent their great-grandmother in 1913; their memories of seeing Elvis on TV for the first time; how a small statue of Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god, is a salute to the avenues Eastern religions opened up in their lives; how they honor dead loved ones by keeping water in bowls for them, according to Mexican tradition. Everyone's got some object (or a few dozen) that they imbue with meaning far beyond its apparent qualities, whether it belonged to someone famous or beloved, or came into their lives at a crucial moment. Jean McMann writes in the introduction, "A shrine is not only a portrait or mirror of its maker, it is also a reflection of the complicated global culture that surrounds us," and she couldn't have done a better job of presenting that wild crazy quilt of influences than in this book.

I really loved this book because the beautiful photographs and simple text showed the deep feelings of the shrine makers and empowered me to create a personal altar of my own. I liked the way everyday objects could be used in this meaningful way. My family used the book as a guide. While I was gathering objects to honor the passing of my father, my eleven year old son got very interested in the book and in what I was doing. We ended up talking about family and feelings, which is something we rarely do, and my son decided to create an alter to Twitch, his pet rat. It may sound silly, but our altars have meant a lot to us. My only criticism is that the book should have been bigger and the photographs larger and more prominently displayed.