Easy Origami (Dover Origami Papercraft)
by John Montroll
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Book Reviews of Easy Origami (Dover Origami Papercraft)
Book Review: Easy Doesn't Do It
Summary: 2 Stars
If you enjoy folding paper into many and varied shapes, then this might not be the book for you. Since childhood, folding paper has been one of my more cultivated avocations. During my grade school years, I was adept at folding paper into many fun and amusing shapes, most notably paper footballs and a paper contraption which, when maneuvered just right, would reveal certain aspects of one's future life (for example, the name of one's future spouse and one's future occupation). Although the accuracy of my soothsaying paper contraption was and continues to be disputed, I have nevertheless persevered in fostering my passion for folding paper into different shapes.
To that end, I purchased this book, and let me say that this book is anything but easy. I am a well-educated lawyer with a graduate degree in economics, but I found the folded paper shapes described in this book to be well beyond the reach of my brain. Another reviewer has described presenting this book to elementary school-age children to teach them how to fold paper into different shapes. After having read this book, I feel I can safely assume that the children being taught from it are the products of secretly government funded genetic research to produce super baby geniuses. Well, if you fit that description, then you should purchase this book. However, those of us whose brains were not created by government scientists in a laboratory buried deep within the earth might be better suited to a book about folding paper perhaps entitled _Seriously, Easy Origami_. If you know of such a book, please write down where I can purchase it on a piece of 8.5" x 11" white paper, trifold it into an accordion-like shape, insert it into a standard-sized envelope, and mail it to me.
Book Review: Bulk Buyers Beware...
Summary: 4 Stars
During my heyday, I readily admit to having lived a life of immoderation. To that end, I followed the advice of another debauched Amazon reviewer and purchased somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve thousand copies of Easy Origami. Possibly, this reviewer intended this advice as a rhetoric device rather than actual purchasing instructions, or even more likely, this reviewer was acting as a shill for the silken paper industry. Someone once said that hyperbole lies without deceiving. While I don't quite understand what this statement is hinting at, I state without qualification that hyperbole bamboozled me out of $3.95 USD times the twelve thousand copies I purchased, money which regained its importance after I realized that I was operating in a fickle industry that all too often turns its back on innovative geniuses. Let me also proffer one more life lesson, never buy thousands of copies of any origami-centered book if you maintain only a passing interest in folding paper.
That being said, the book itself contains instructions on most if not all more creative figures in origami today. As someone that is predisposed to crafting genius, I found his diagrams on the swan and bear cub quickly could be transformed into shapes that resemble butterfly tears and crocodile cheers with few modifications in fold line locations. I just wish that the author and publisher would have included more paper with the book. My ability to pursue the art of origami was quickly disrupted by close associates who illicitly manipulated my papers which in turn halted this newfound passion.
Book Review: John Montross....
Summary: 5 Stars
...The next Akira Yoshizawa. In this exhilarating triumph, Montross conscientiously but fervently makes the case for easy origami. In a world where the art of origami is quickly becoming an obscure relic, practiced largely by only a few extremely advanced innovators and American 3rd-6th graders, "Easy Origami" pioneers the edge of the origami frontier, and, mark my words, will make Montross a figurehead in the new origami movement.
I loved this book and I recommend it to anyone on either side of the origami culture war which has become so divisive in the paper-folding world. The simplicity and elegance of Montross's diagrams are unsurpassed in origami literature today. While many of today's leading origami artists remain obsessed with complexity and increasingly abstract paper-folding visions, Montross brings origami back to its roots. His figures are evocative of a gritty nostalgia which any true origami fan must admire. But he isn't bogged down by tradition, either. He controversially suggests on page 21 that one should feel free to experiment with the color of one's figures and even goes on to diagram-get this-a purple frog! Whether it's his take on the traditionally marginalized occult and fortune-telling figures or his emphasis on basic folding techniques, you can't miss with John Montross here. He's the new Noam Chomsky of Origami.
People in origami will be using this book for years to come. Thank you, John Montross, for showing the way.
Book Review: Everybody likes a penguin
Summary: 5 Stars
If ever there was a perfect harmony between a man and his folded paper, one example stands out above all the rest. This book is a great buy in my opinion if for no other reason than the origami penguin. The penguin is a very complex animal. Mr. Montroll takes all of its real world complexity and channels that energy into one of the most easily constructed origami projects.
As of the writing of this review, I have folded 162 penguins. The $3.95 makes up for itself in the money you will save on gifts. 133 of my 162 penguins have been doled out to family and friends on special occasions. The other 29 decorate my humble home. With a little paint work, the origami penguin traverses all religious holidays: Yarmulkahs for Hanukkah or candy canes for Christmas are both appropriate.
Sadako's 1000 origami cranes is easily within my grasp, I am currently averaging 6 penguins per day with an all time high of 14* (*the 14 were unpainted) in a single day. I will concede that Sadako was quite sick during her origami career. For this reason, I will consider myself the origami champion if I complete 1500 penguins.
I do have one caution. If you do not immediately fall in love with one of the 32 projects, the book should be discarded immediately. If you are as lucky as I was and are smitten by one of the projects, you too will find a lifelong friend in origami.
Book Review: A Great Start
Summary: 5 Stars
As always, I'm amazed at how quickly my items ship through Amazon. This is a great starter book. Yes, as other reviewers said, it is very basic- but I haven't done Origami for 30+ years and wanted to start from scratch learning my folds again. Also, I chose this on an Amazon recommendation grouped with other items- a fantastic asset in buying from Amazon- so the price was just unbelievable. I would so recommend this for anyone starting out and wanting to gain quick confidence, or to start off a child. I was in hospital from a car accident for many months when I started Origami, and it was a great benefit to keeping a shut-in child occupied- this book would have been a blessing as opposed to the heavy, therefore awkward to someone in bed- book I had that was a bit over my head. This is so easy to understand and follow that there is no huge learning curve and therefore no great frustration. There is instant gratification too, a newbie can quickly produce something to show off.