TWIB-II 51: 9/22-9/28
Oct. 10th, 2008 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkanOnly one book during this week, as I was busy finding an apartment and then moving into it (via city bus, no less!) Anyway, here it is:
1) Must-See in Kyoto - JTB International Travel Guidebook Division
I'm of two minds about this little (but at roughly $10, pricey) book. On the one hand, it offers a lot of interesting tidbits about traditional Kyoto that will definitely enrich one's sightseeing experience. To wit: readers of this book will gain basic knowledge concerning Kyoto's history, Buddhist iconography, Shinto shrine layout, and traditional architecture, arts, and cuisine that will provide depth and context to what would just, without it, be a slog through a bunch of mildly interesting but seemingly repetative old stuff. In other words, this book will actually explain the significance of what one is looking at, eating, and buying.
On the other hand, this information is presented haphazardly (by geographic area, not chronologically or topically), the index is inadequate, and although the text laudably does not shy away from presenting unfamiliar terms (referenced in the accompanying glossary), this definite plus is marred by the fact that several referenced terms lack entries entirely, while the presentation of others is poorly considered. (E.g. The Warring States period, while referenced as "The Warring States" period in the text, is listed in the glossary as "Sengoku Jidai"; never mind the fact that the people who don't know that the terms are cognate will have no idea where to find the relevant entry while those who do likely don't need to look it up at all.)
Final verdict: it's definitely worth a read for the highly useful information it contains, but due to the sloppy editing, I'd recommend borrowing it from a library. Readers are likely to get the most out of this volume by reading it cover to cover and making their own notes as they go.
That will be all.
1) Must-See in Kyoto - JTB International Travel Guidebook Division
I'm of two minds about this little (but at roughly $10, pricey) book. On the one hand, it offers a lot of interesting tidbits about traditional Kyoto that will definitely enrich one's sightseeing experience. To wit: readers of this book will gain basic knowledge concerning Kyoto's history, Buddhist iconography, Shinto shrine layout, and traditional architecture, arts, and cuisine that will provide depth and context to what would just, without it, be a slog through a bunch of mildly interesting but seemingly repetative old stuff. In other words, this book will actually explain the significance of what one is looking at, eating, and buying.
On the other hand, this information is presented haphazardly (by geographic area, not chronologically or topically), the index is inadequate, and although the text laudably does not shy away from presenting unfamiliar terms (referenced in the accompanying glossary), this definite plus is marred by the fact that several referenced terms lack entries entirely, while the presentation of others is poorly considered. (E.g. The Warring States period, while referenced as "The Warring States" period in the text, is listed in the glossary as "Sengoku Jidai"; never mind the fact that the people who don't know that the terms are cognate will have no idea where to find the relevant entry while those who do likely don't need to look it up at all.)
Final verdict: it's definitely worth a read for the highly useful information it contains, but due to the sloppy editing, I'd recommend borrowing it from a library. Readers are likely to get the most out of this volume by reading it cover to cover and making their own notes as they go.
That will be all.