Leonard Koren Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2000.
Gardens of Gravel and Sand
Reviewed by William Will
A collection of photographs of nothing more than raked gravel and sand, Leonard Koren challenges the many myths surrounding the ‘Zen gardens’ of Japan in short essays interspersed throughout this book. He shows that their special context as part of temple precincts does not necessarily imply that these gardens were meant as ‘spiritual’ installations, but only that they grew in the context of a specific aesthetic and function that developed in Japanese ritual and society.
While Koren’s book is bound to ruffle the feathers of traditionalists that would like to idealize these gardens as an expression of Zen philosophy, I believe he contributes to the demystification that is going on in contemporary writing about Japanese gardens. In that regard this book is an important contribution to the ongoing dialogue and discussion about the origins and history of the dry landscape garden in Japan.
