The Art of the Japanese Garden

Authors: David and Michiko Young

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I confess to a passionate interest in Japanese art, culture and aesthetics, so this book was too wonderful to pass over. I’m not sure how many students will borrow it, but it will be on display and like many of our books of colourful and fascinating photographs will get lots of passing interest.

Japanese gardens do not exist to merely look quaint. They are intended as expressions of various aspects of both Buddhist and Shinto philosophy, and are designed to act upon the viewer’s mind or spirit as much as to please the eye. Any book about Japanese gardens that deals only with lists of plants or landscape techniques would really fail to grapple with the function of these exquisite art forms. The authors, fortunately, give a good historical and philosophical introduction, many fascinating details of techniques, and then extensive illustrations and descriptions of famous gardens of many sorts.

I was especially pleased to see that as well as quarter page photographs illustrating points in the text, they have included a number of full double page spreads, and also used nicely detailed drawings to clarify details of special techniques and garden layouts. Each chapter is richly supported with illustrations. There is a lot of text, despite all the illustrations. The book runs to over 170 pages... my main quibble would be that a rather small font size has been used for body text and illustration captions.

It is far beyond the capacity of most of us to re-create the larger temple or palace gardens... I was fascinated by one photograph showing at least six workers busy shaping and manicuring four incredible old trees. The book isn’t really designed to show one “how to do it”. It would be a wonderful resource for someone planning to travel to Japan, and is certainly a beautiful presentation in reasonable depth for those with an interest in the gardens Japan has created for the world to wonder at.

I could not resist adding my own photograph of one of the mysterious sand mounds discussed in the book.

Andrew Lack

Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

Chapter House Dune

Author: Frank Herbert

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This is the final book of the outstanding Dune series. There are other books authored by Herbert’s son after his death, but I have not been able to warm to these after the epic creation and fascinating writing of the originals.


The series has enormous scope in space and time. One of the problems when an author chooses to tell a story covering millennia is how to engage the reader with not one major character but a series of characters. Some of the “middle” books of the series start to loose momentum, though Herbert’s imagination never run dry. This book recaptured me and it seemed fitting that it ends with a whole series of unanswered questions. Herbert probably intended one more book but passed away in 1986.


For those unaware of Herbert’s writing, I’ll note that he creates a future universe complete with antagonistic philosophies (e.g. the Bene Gesserit, a secretive order who manipulate human breeding lines, and the reviled Tleilaxu who have mastered the manipulation of genetic material). There are quotes from philosophical and religious writings (created by the author) and dazzlingly complex machinations between power blocks and individuals.


In the first books Duke Leto has been manoeuvred into taking control of an arid world... a world that slowly reveals incredible secrets. In some ways the novels are ecological science fiction, but the themes Herbert touches on are very wide ranging, including ethics, eugenics, politics, warfare, leadership, honour and parenting. In this final, densebook, the terrifying “Honoured Matres” seem intent on enslaving the universe. A small group of Bene Gesserit seek to outwit them and preserve hope for the future of humans.

This is not for younger readers: it is full of political and personal reflection by different characters, and the Honoured Matres enslave males by using sophisticated but soulless sexual practices. These are not dwelt on salaciously but certainly earn the book an “Adult Themes” tag from me. “Dune” is the best book to read for those new to the series, but this is a book to look forward to.

Andrew Lack