Customer Reviews

Building My Zen Garden

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Get this book if you have been suspicious about the hype surrounding the Zen of garden building or if you want a hilarious account of a brave amateur confronting the sham purity of Japanese garden design. But this is also a serious and wryly understated account of how to confront the task armed with the basic philosophy of the design of a garden and teahouse, and as well, a humorous introduction to the kind of characters you might meet if you go past the DIY stores to meet the suppliers.

While this isn't an all inclusive guide to japanese gardening, its a fun and inspiring read. After reading this book I set about building my own japanse style garden; and while I didn't find myself referring to it for specifics of actually building the garden - I did find myself referring to it for motivation. Egan's self-effacing sense of humour is particularly enjoyable, as he struggles with such tribulations as moving a large rock, or dealing with a leaking pond (problems that I also found myself dealing with). I would highly recommend this book to any do-it-yourselfer thinking about building a japansese style garden.

Kieran Egan's account of building his backyard garden unfolds in what feels like real time. There are the painstakingly detailed accounts of the crooked fence, driving to the store to buy pond liner, and moving a large rock followed by sections on "putting in the support posts," and "laying the pavers." Building My Zen Garden is neither a how-to book nor a meditation on process. It's more like a collection of journal entries that are perhaps too long and too dry for my tastes. And while there's a part of me that is happy to see an academic take on a project with so little self-consciousness, another part of me is annoyed that Egan reduces the sophistication of Japanese aesthetics to a series of anecdotes about a backyard project.

I enjoyed the author's witty and honest tale of what turned out to be like most of my "how-hard-can-it-be?" projects. He is a great story teller and I like the photos of the progress. I did feel that, near then end, he lost some of his early enthusiasm in writing it and perhaps was just trying to get the book finished, as his project segued from into a book deal with a deadline. Or perhaps, like some of my own projects, he was tired and just looking forward to finally getting it finished so he could sit back enjoy the results of his labors. But he did a beautiful job both building the garden and writing the book; it was worth the cover price and it's a book I have kept.

Professor Egan is witty, self-deprecating, interesting, and entertaining. I particular enjoyed the research and random facts he includes about his garden, cats, St. Francis of Assisi etc...His writing style is light, descriptions vivid, and philosophy simple, yet inspiring.

Kieran Egan's account of his adventure into the relatively unknown world of backyard landscaping was wonderful. I could relate to his story so well and found his writing style so readable, witty and engrossing. Egan's decision to relate his experience of building his Zen garden gives hope to anyone who aspires to creating something similar in their own backyard. A practical and very amusing account of backyard landscaping for the novice.