Customer Reviews

Wabi Sabi: A New Look at Japanese Design

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

 

 

How can two books with virtually the same title be so different? I bought both books that Amazon lists with "wabi" and "sabi" in the titles. The other book is highly informative, imaginative, and profoundly artful in the manner of wabi-sabi. WABI SABI: A NEW LOOK AT JAPANESE DESIGN, however, would be more accurately titled "WABI SABI LITE." It is a regurgitation of all the tired cliches about Japanese design and culture I have come to loathe rereading. Sorry. I'd let this one pass.

This book only skims the surface of wabi-sabi, dealing in the tired truisms of the "cherry blossoms in the spring" type and the cheap exoticism that often plagues Western writing about Japanese aesthetics.

As a student of Japanese culture, I bought this book and was very disappointed. You're not missing anything--skip it.

This book is derivative and enraptured with cliche. The photos look like cheap snapshots gussied up for placement in a rather nice design. But the elegance of the overall production is the exact antithesis of the the REAL wabi sabi, so expertly revealed in that other book. They could have named this anything, and you wonder if the title was chosen to do anything but ride on the other author's achievement. I'd ignore this one.

This is a beautiful book. The book is not comprehensive, but I don't believe it intends to be. I appreciate how the author visually and lyrically introduces vocabulary and ideas through his own experiences. I now want to know more. I will continue to refer back to this book as I search for more knowledge and as I pursue my arts (architecture, as well as art). I was enlightened, as well as astonished. I'd like to keep that feeling.

How can two books with virtually the same title be so different? I bought both books that Amazon lists with "wabi" and "sabi" in the titles. The other book is highly informative, imaginative, and profoundly artful in the manner of wabi-sabi. WABI SABI: A NEW LOOK AT JAPANESE DESIGN, however, would be more accurately titled "WABI SABI LITE." It is a regurgitation of all the tired cliches about Japanese design and culture I have come to loathe rereading. Sorry. I'd let this one pass.

As a student of Lennox Tierney, I have had the honor of his scholarship for several years. He is one of the few people of non Japanese birth who has been able to bridge the gap to understanding the culture as a native would. He is fully trained in Japanese art and received advanced degrees in prestigious japanese art schools. Plus he is a creative writer and wonderful story teller. His understanding of Zen and the application is intuitive as well as scholarly.

Read this book. But don't imitate and imulate it or you will miss the point.