Patricia Jane Graham

The exact reason for why Patricia Graham wrote this book is unclear to me, in the introduction she writes that she first learned of the Sencha ceremony during her "dissertation research on the life and art of a Japanese painter, Yamamoto Baiitsu". But why she wrote the book in the style she did, I do not know. If she where researching for a Ph.D. graduation, the book would probably be a less formal version of her thesis, but anything else is beyond me.

The book goes into great detail of the evolution of the Sencha ceremony, its history and whom influence it was under during the various periods. It is very well researched, contains many pictures of important artwork, many of which are in private collections but has been photographed by the author, and is well designed. The format, approximately 25×20 cm, makes it a little difficult to hold while reading, since the width of the book is greater then the hight it has little firmness and want to bend this or that way. This is not helped by the weight of the paper and the thickness of the book (260 pages). This is not a big problem, and nothing that should be held against it, but nonetheless, lengthy reading can become a problem.

If one is very interested in the history of Sencha, this is definitely a book to get. Almost any prominent person that has influenced the ceremony has been mentioned and almost any fact that is known has been included. A very well researched book indeed! But as a leisure reading about tea, it is far from the mark.

The main problem with the book, and the one that it is easily forgotten, is the amount of facts. Every time an artist, a tea sage, or anyone else, is mentioned (and these are quite a few), his birth and death years are presented within parentheses. The problem is that they are so many that all these dates interrupts the reading and devastates the flow of reading. The text is at times dull and interesting and it is not uncommon that the reader finds that his mind has wandered off into other thoughts and that the last couple of paragraphed needs to be reread. This is not helped by the, sometimes, piles of information, lined up like boxes in a warehouse. Interesting content, but too many to comprehend and to get both a detailed look and an overview. Sadly enough, since so much work has gone into the research.

I would like to recommend the book to anyone that is interested in Sencha, the wealth of facts is interesting, but the book should be read in portions, and not when one has other things on ones mind. It is well produced and is a good reference for anyone that is interested in the topic. If you are looking for a book about Sencha, and the mentioned flaws doesn't bother you, this might very well be the book to get.… (more)