<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Justly awardwinning
Review: Apparently this book won an award, but I did not know that when I bought it. In general I keep well away from gardening books, but when I saw this I could not help myself: the pictures are just too stunning. So far I only glanced at the text here and there but I am quite impressed. This book seems to be admirably designed to raise awareness of how a garden strikes the senses. I can imagine that anybody designing a garden may find this an invaluable book.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining the Sixth Sense....
Review: I garden year round, am a photographer of sorts, and I collect garden and art books. THE SENSUOUS GARDEN by Monty Don is a new kind of book with a fresh approach to garden photography, one that takes the viewer up-close-and-personal and arouses the five senses as well as what Don calls the sixth sense or intuition. I don't know if my intuition is involved, but Don's photographs affect my various senses and the whole effect is greater than the sum of the parts. This is a beautiful book filled with beautiful pictures. In a few instances, Don has photographed places I know (gardens in Spain) but all of his photos have been taken from a unique angle which pinpoints the essence of the thing photographed. Too often, photos are taken with the frame of reference in mind..i.e. the frame. Don's photos are so physical I can hear the tinkling bells and falling water. I can taste the juicy fruit. I can touch the soft rust and white bib of the bluebird. I've seen bluebirds before, as many as five at one time. They are clever and quick and flit away before I can retrieve my camera. But Mr. Don got the photo I wanted. I can only marvel, and sit and enjoy the bluebird a while longer.
Rating:
Summary: The words are as beautiful as the photos
Review: The words are as beautiful as the photos of the gardens. It makes you want to go out and plant a garden this moment. This is one of my favorite gift books. I have copied some of the words and keep them on my computer for quiet moments or to send to someone in an email. A perfect book. I never tire of reading through it.
Rating:
Summary: The words are as beautiful as the photos
Review: The words are as beautiful as the photos of the gardens. It makes you want to go out and plant a garden this moment. This is one of my favorite gift books. I have copied some of the words and keep them on my computer for quiet moments or to send to someone in an email. A perfect book. I never tire of reading through it.
Rating:
Summary: Opened my eyes when I thought I could see
Review: This is an incredible book, and it isn't just for gardeners or those who like flowers. This book can be read by all to their benefit. The pictures alone are worth the price, but what the author has to say along with his pictures has radically changed my view of the world and the beauty of nature. For instance, recently when I was in Ft. Lauderdale on vacation I was sitting on the patio of our hotel looking at the ocean and the lovely palm trees. Suddenly I noticed patterns and shapes I had never seen before. I noticed that on the different palm trees the configuration of the palm fronds make up intricate, harmonious patterns that were fascinating. With one eye on a palm frond, I traced the source at the tree trunk up to the tip of the frond. On the inside at the branch of the frond there were openings, kind of in a triangular pattern, but each slightly unique. I must have stared at that frond for 15 minutes. My husband must have thought I was crazy. This book opened my eyes to beauty that does not hit you between the eyes sometimes. Sometimes it does. But I am learning that there is a world within a world of the tiniest bit of nature just waiting for my senses to soak in and ENJOY. Buy the book...and read it. You don't have to read it like you would a novel. It is one that you can put down after a time, think about what you have seen and read, then pick it up later on to learn more about how nature and beauty are more present than we can possibly conceive of.
Rating:
Summary: Opened my eyes when I thought I could see
Review: This is an incredible book, and it isn't just for gardeners or those who like flowers. This book can be read by all to their benefit. The pictures alone are worth the price, but what the author has to say along with his pictures has radically changed my view of the world and the beauty of nature. For instance, recently when I was in Ft. Lauderdale on vacation I was sitting on the patio of our hotel looking at the ocean and the lovely palm trees. Suddenly I noticed patterns and shapes I had never seen before. I noticed that on the different palm trees the configuration of the palm fronds make up intricate, harmonious patterns that were fascinating. With one eye on a palm frond, I traced the source at the tree trunk up to the tip of the frond. On the inside at the branch of the frond there were openings, kind of in a triangular pattern, but each slightly unique. I must have stared at that frond for 15 minutes. My husband must have thought I was crazy. This book opened my eyes to beauty that does not hit you between the eyes sometimes. Sometimes it does. But I am learning that there is a world within a world of the tiniest bit of nature just waiting for my senses to soak in and ENJOY. Buy the book...and read it. You don't have to read it like you would a novel. It is one that you can put down after a time, think about what you have seen and read, then pick it up later on to learn more about how nature and beauty are more present than we can possibly conceive of.
<< 1 >>
| 
