The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura is the first book I’ve reviewed since elementary school and with how much fun I had doing this review I fear it’s been too long since I did one. Hopefully I will continue to review the books I read and can manage to bring my vocabulary back up to where it should be. Enjoy.
The first time I heard of the book was in an article about perfectionism
and having a bit of a fight with perfectionism in my current web project
I thought it could be an interesting book. Upon the book arriving, my
first expectations were quickly put to rest as false; this book is not
full of information telling you what kind of tea leaves to buy, where to
buy them, what kind of tea to drink when. Instead a poetically versed
story describing the history and aesthetics of tea.
For a book with tea in the title a relatively small section is actually
devoted to the actual arts of creating the drink itself. “The Schools of
Tea” is a mere 19 pages long and yet it still tells the entire story
about the progression of preparing tea. I must admit while very
interesting this was probably my least favourite chapter, simply because
I have never had a desire to drink tea until recently. After reading
this book tea has become more than just another drink to pour into a
plastic cup, guzzle barbarically and refil the glass to repeat again. It
is something to be appreciated and enjoyed peacefully.
This is a book that while you may only read it once, every word is worth
reading. Even with no interest in tea, oriental culture or history the
chapters “Art Appreciation” and “Flowers” will open your eyes and give
you a new insight into the admiration and aesthetics of life.