Reviewed by Anna Kunnecke This book carries the qualities of a stone garden within its very pages. It is disciplined, serene, deep . . . and dry. I will admit to briefly fantasizing about a mad monk hopping across the pages, screaming, "I can't take the serenity any more!" and whacking the stones with his sand rake.
This did not happen.
You will forgive the levity, for it was the only thing missing from this admirable tome — a little lightness. Lightness, of course, is not the point of stone gardens or of this book. Their purpose is to inspire, to calm, and to train the mind toward enlightenment. At this, Mansfield is eminently successful. The history is well-presented, the writing is clear and strong, and the photographs are evocative and lovely.