Customer Reviews

Rajasthan

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

 

 

When I was the in-house stylist for Style Guide I had this incredibly beautiful Indian girl with dark eyes for an intern. She wore the brightest colors to work everyday and spoke in this rich lilting voice. One day I finally asked her where she got it - "the clothes or the accent?" she asked, "Both", said I. Well, she said, the colors are from my mother's land and the accent is from my father's land. Turns out that my pretty intern's mom came from the desert state of Rajasthan, in the North Western part of India. I have since then browsed innumerable coffee table books on Rajasthan, but Pauline Van Lynden's Rajasthan is certainly a notch above the rest. The photographs are lavish, the details touching, the effect spellbinding. Royals, artisans, dressmakers, housewives - Van Lynden gives us a breathtaking glimpse into these myriad lives.

Another plus is Van Lynden's tone - always inquisitive but never condescending. There might be other books which will give you a lot of information about Rajasthan but Van Lynden's Rajasthan shall remain a front runner due to its evocative prose and dazzling photographs which seem to leap off the page. I recommend Van Lynden's Rajasthan as an antidote for any colorless day.

Tons of fantastic pics, details of fabrics, places etc. If you like Rajastan sty;e, you will fall head over heels for ths heavy "coffee table" book!

I am very pleased with this book. I have been to Rajasthan and this book does a wonderful job of incorporating the vast and colorful culture of that region of India. This book does a great job of detailing the miniture details that can be easily missed in an landscape that is overwhelming to the 5 senses. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Rajasthani culture and encourage them to visit there as well.

If you can appreciate the unbelievable richness of the art and culture of India, you will love this book. I spent a semester in college on a study abroad program mostly in Rajasthan and have never gotten it out of my system. I am an artist and ceramicist and I love the art of this part of the world, My art is influenced by not only the art I saw but on the whole of my experience there.

This book is the most successful of all the books I have ever seen on capturing that wholeness, not only through the individual images of art, life and culture, but through the threading of them together in a beautifully intimate and visionary tableau of this special place. I love the way the author has organized her work into the themes that are experienced; textiles, gems, water, forts and cities, the world of women, festivals, etc. She captures them with a true artist's ability to see the unique and extraordinary all around her, and creates a personal picture of life that can be felt by the reader. Her beautiful photographic arrangements are all displayed in a vibrant collage of images over each two page spread; simply amazing and wonderful!

A beautifully compliled book that pictorially is simply stunning. However I would like to see more historical aspects that reflect the magnificient buildings & monuments. The emphasis is on design aspects such as textiles, jewerelly etc. That said, it is a must have book if you are interested in this amazing Indian state.

The rich beautiful cover of this and the price made me expect more of this travel pictorial of Rajesthan. Many of the photos are overexposed, in much too harsh light and not distinguished as photos--nothing like spectacular books of this genre like African Ceremonies, for example. So as a photographic book it was somewhat disappointing but as a travel overview of the state of Rajesthan I enjoyed it. So three stars, not 5, but worth having until something really fabulous comes along.

Colorful book of a world I've never been to, don't understand but find alluring. There is an impressive letter from a governing authority at the beginning of the book. Many of the images seem to highlight artisans and festivals. I wish there were more written explanation of what the photographer was trying to accomplish. I did read through this rather quickly so I may have missed an explanation somewhere. It seems that the photographer spent considerable time in this town. It also seems like she participated at a local level with the inhabitants of Rajasthan. I wonder how these images will age. I think they will date themselves with time.