Customer Reviews

Zen in the Art of Flower Arrangement (Arkana)

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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.

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.

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.