The Book of Tea
by Kakuzo Okakura
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Book Reviews of The Book of Tea
Book Review: The Philosophy Of Tea
Summary: 5 Stars
Japanese green tea has recently been touted as health drinks having lots of nutrious ingredients including catechin and Teanin.
This book by the late 19th century artist Tenshin Okakura whose disciples include Daikan Yokoyama ,one of the painters who well describe the beauty of Mt. Fuji, is not about benefits of tea.
The book by narrating how the tea philosophy and ceremony tradition developed in Japan, tries to take us into the beauty of Japanese minds refined by Tea traditon of Japan and the lure of Budhisim or Taoism upon which the tea philosophy is based. One particular icon representing the tea religion is Rikyu Sen the very founder of the tea phlosophy in Japan. The scene of the death of Rikyu is just brilliantly written.
So for some Japanese tea is beyond health drinks. It is a way of our philosophical backbone.
Verdict: Excellent work describing what Japanese should be proud of
Rating: 90 out of 100 Some of the anecdotes are hard to come by unless you are highly educated.
Recommended for: Anyone who loves the beauty of Japan and Bushido fans.
Book Review: The Tempest in Tea Cup
Summary: 5 Stars
I haphazardly discovered this book when I had undertaken the task of better acquainting myself with tea. Totally ignorant, I opened the book half expecting to find dry writing on types of tea leaves. Instead I discovered something deeply beautiful. This book does indeed teach the history of tea and its preparation, but it also provides an eloquent introduction to Teaism and other aspects of Japanese culture. Okakura wavers most delicately between prose and poetry, between the educational and the spiritual. The words linger with you long after you have finished, and tea, once an ordinary beverage, acquires a soul-- a source of peace."Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life."
(Chapter One, The Cup of Humanity)
Book Review: Yonde Sono Hon.
Summary: 5 Stars
Back in the sixties (which happened in the seventies) this book was a cult classic. Everyone in Berkeley had a brick & board book case with Steal This Book, and Kahlil Gibran, and Mao, and Ferlingetti, and the Tuttle edition of this book.
Tuttle bound it in hand made washi, and slid it into a special little box-cover. It had the look and the feel of a special precious gift. The book itself was art.
It is still a special precious gift. It is the gift of insight into Japan, and esthetics, and Tea, and Art, and Xenophobia, and most of all into yourself. This cheap little book has the power to shine a light into a blind spot within your mind. It will change your prospective, and it will teach you that prospective is everything.
In this most egocentric, self-referential, radio talk-show, don't-think-tank, time in our history,it would be well for us to read this book again. Give it to someone you love. Read it for someone you don't yet love.
Book Review: So much more than tea
Summary: 5 Stars
On the surface, this is a book about history - the history of tea, and art, and religion. But this is really a book about so much more - it compares the culture and way of thinking of the East and West, the past and the present. It makes the reader think about and reassess what is important in life, what is really beautiful, what is worth keeping or fighting for. What is dignity. This essay, which wends its way between the discovery of tea, flower arranging, architecture and Taoism along with other enticing subjects, is truly an enlightening and thrilling book, in a quiet and gentle way (is that possible?) Whether you are interested in East Asian culture, Tea, or would just like a compass to help you re-orientate your priorities, you will probably gain something from this ode to the importance and influence of Tea.
Book Review: Interesting, plus the preface is great
Summary: 4 Stars
I recommend this book to any Western dilettante who, like myself, is intrigued by anything called "a Japanese tradition" but prefers the comfortably exotic world of the tea ceremony and "Memoirs of a Geisha" to the disorienting and totally unfathomable features of current Japanese pop culture. It's as much a look at the ceremony itself as a portrait of a certain romanticizing interpretation of Japanese culture, written by a scholar who was straddling both worlds and sought to explain one to the other. The introduction is immensely readable, not to mention informative - many amusing turns of phrase in there which I wish I remembered for occasional use (need to reread the thing!). A treat rarely offered at this price, even if you read it only once.