The Art of Setting Stones and Other Writings from the Japanese Garden (review)

This is a very soothing book! When everything in the world seems wrong or you are overwhelmed by the tensions of everyday modern living, reading a few pages of The Art of Setting Stones may just be the best medicine you could take.

The sense of peace one feels in a well-cared-for garden, especially a garden that embraces the Asian aesthetic style, is conveyed throughout this book. Small water features and naturally weathered stones are extremely important parts of Japanese gardens. Hence the title refers to the way these features are carefully placed in such gardens. The naturalness and apparent simplicity of these gardens belies the complex philosophy behind their design. Like the highly structured process involved with the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, these gardens are precisely designed and constructed. However, when done correctly, the artifice disappears and the viewer experiences a wonderful empathy with nature.

The book has eight chapters: "Currents," "Boundaries," "Closing the Circle," "Trees," "Layers," "Balance," "The Art of Setting Stones" and "Wintergreen." There are quite a number of delightful illustrations, "done on black clayboard by the author, whittling away the cold evenings at his hori-kotatsu, during the late Autumn and Winter of 2000." Marc Peter Keane lived in Kyoto for many years, and the gardens he describes are all from this area of Japan. The book describes many traditional Japanese customs, such as sword-making, and Keane flows in and out of the garden descriptions with snippets of philosophy and words of wisdom on topics ranging from economics to ecology to the nature of existence.

While The Art of Setting Stones is not by any means a how-to instruction manual, attentive readers will understand what is required to create a natural garden place of peace and tranquility for themselves. Keane is an astute observer of minute detail, and this is meticulously reported on almost every page. As an example, "Waves of light ripple off the water, shimmer up the stones, the trunks and branches of the trees, rising in endless waves, as if returning to the sun" (p. 33). Consequently, it is not really the sort of book one reads from cover to cover in one sitting; it has the potential to become a little boring if consumed in this way. Reading a few pages or perhaps a chapter at a time, however, will uplift even the most jaded psyche.

I feel considerable sympathy for those who live in high-rise buildings or congested cities with no regular access to the healing, therapeutic qualities of well-designed gardens. Incidentally, there is a considerable body of emerging research supporting the therapeutic affect of gardens and wild places, such as rainforests. Even in the smallest apartment, a miniature Japanese garden, perhaps 60 × 60 cm., may be created and incorporate the philosophy outlined in this book. Such a small garden has the capacity of bringing about the same sense of tranquility and connection with the natural world as some of the much larger gardens created outdoors. This book may just inspire you enough to create your own place of peace.