Gardens of Gravel and Sand

Designing a "dry" Japanese garden - good visuals for design preps.

Nice book...Not what I expected,but even though it was a quick read,I liked the photography in the way it focuses on the gravel and raked sands.

Today I've read an article on the web referring to this book. If I got it correct the book goes straight to discuss particular kinds of stone used in JGs. Must be very interesting! Going to buy it soon

A collection of photographs of nothing more than raked gravel and sand, Leonard Koren challenges the many myths surrounding the `Zen gardens' of Japan in short essays interspersed throughout this book. He shows that their special context as part of temple precincts does not necessarily imply that these gardens were meant as `spiritual' installations, but only that they grew in the context of a specific aesthetic and function that developed in Japanese ritual and society.While Koren's book is bound to ruffle the feathers of traditionalists that would like to idealize these gardens as an expression of Zen philosophy, I believe he contributes to the demystification that is going on in contemporary writing about Japanese gardens. In that regard this book is an important contribution to the ongoing dialogue and discussion about the origins and history of the dry landscape garden in Japan.

This really is a most splendid book. Loren tells it like it really is, the Japanese stone garden up close. A meditation on stone in all its tactility.

bought for daughter wanting her own gravel and sand garden.........Inspiring.....also to reminisce re gardens visited in Kyoto......loved the photos

Beautiful, simple and classic Koren.