Island of Bali (Periplus Classics Series)

I love this book. Not being an anthropologist myself I bought it mainly for my interest in the illustrations by its author Miguel Covarrubias, the famous Mexican artist of the thirties and forties. Yet, as I read it, I enjoy that the texts by Covarrubias are extremely well written, in colorful, exciting and romantic ways. The structure of the text shows a conscious approach to connect the physical, social and spiritual contexts of life of the native Balinese population in the thirties in a well ordered fashion, which eighty years later remains useful and attractive even if anthropological studies have evolved considerably afterwards. The text combines tons of detailed information on the life of the Balinese at that time, with rich anecdotal content from the time Covarrubias and his wife Rose spent in the island. The description of people, places, costumes and traditions is very accurate and still adorned with plenty of adjectives in ways that convey both the admiration and love Covarrubias developed for the people of Bali. Were it not because the anthropological and cultural research of Covarrubuas in Bali is well documented, the realities the book describes appear as fantastic dreams of an adventure fiction book.

Covarrubias' epic "Island of Bali" is the defacto guide to Bali's cultural, social and religious life circa 1930's. His determination to document the island before the invasion of mass tourism is useful in that many of the principles he describes are still a part of life on Bali. The advent of modern, western ways; resort hotels, traffic, commercialism and the bombings has not dulled the Balinse penchant for traditionalism one bit, this book details all that survives from the past in the modern era. If you ever wondered what the rice gods looked like, why people still file their teeth or how a temple is laid out, this is the source. It is well written, very accessible and entertaining, it can be read straight through or used as a reference. Miguel Covarrubias was an outsider/foreigner who wanted to understand the rich legacy of the island of Bali, for those that are in this position today, "Island of Bali" is invaluable.

This book describes very detailed and accurately Balinese society pre world war two. Anyone interested in Balinese Culture it is a must read

I should have been alerted by the old dates of the previous comments. The book is badly printed on very cheap paper, so bad as to be unacceptable. Illegible type! Muddy reproductions! An insult to Covarrubias!Amazon has allowed a return. But they really should not be listing it.Product Description: "Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork." THIS IS A LIE!1. It cost (...).2. The name Hesperides does not appear in the book. No publisher would dare take credit for it.3. It is not a reprint using the original text and artwork. It is a photocopied facsimile.4. The "Look Inside" is a different, better produced book.

If you are paying $40 for a book, especially one you bought for the illustrations, you do not expect that it will be an out of focus, physically unreadable, black and white scan of the original book. This is. I'm returning it, but Amazon should not be selling it -- and the "Look Inside" gives you a full colour real version of the actual book, not this rip-off.

I love this book and when I saw that Amazon was selling a hardcover edition I jumped at it. HUGE MISTAKE!!!!! It is a bad xerox between two hard green covers. Since part of the beauty of the book is Covarrubias's illustrations it is a sin.Amazon is ruining its good name by selling this edition.

Wonderfully written and informative. This book is a historical and anthopological document. It surpassed my expectations.

Mexican painter Miguel Covarrubias set sail for Bali in 1931 on an optimistic personal quest to discover, absorb, and chronicle Bali's traditional living culture. Buy into the romance and seduction of Covarrubias-driven by a feverish imagination-- inexorably pulled towards and teased by the lure of Bali, half a world away. Travel back sixty-four years in time to Bali's unspoiled natural vistas-a happy, peaceful. pristine retreat standing apart from a West mired in crippling economic depression and poised on the precipice of World War II. As a fellow artist on an island with three million artists-in-residence (creativity is considered both a religious and a natural activity on Bali), Covarrubias penetrated deeply into the spirit of the dance, theatre, music, decorative arts, and pastimes of Bali.Embellished by 114 half-tone photos and 90 drawings by the author and other Balinese artists, this essential, still-relevant classic consists of twelve chapters on the Balinese people and their civilization in the 1930s. Accompanied by painter Walter Spies, Bali's most famous expatriate resident, they roamed the countryside together with eyes, ears, and canvasses wide open, observing the local life. Covarrubias's most notable writing describes the organization of the traditional Balinese village: the markets, social order, etiquette, language, caste system, the banjar, law and justice, the courts, the subak, rice culture, and the distribution of labor. This intimate, insider's foray into every nook and cranny of his own paradise produced key chapters on everyday family life in Bali: the house, cooking, costume and adornment, childbirth, childhood, adolescence, sexual customs, and marriage.Covarrubias explored the place of the artist in Balinese life and the development and evolution of Balinese art, crafts, sculpture, and architecture. Drama and dance are important components of Balinese life: they come alive through the village orchestras, musical instruments, classical Legong, and the ancient shadow plays. Island of Bali unveils material on priests and religion, temples and feasts, offerings and exorcisms, the Balinese calendar, and the original Bali Aga people. Written from a day when primary forests reigned supreme and witch doctors wielded terrifying power, Covarrubias delves into the cult of the Barong and Rangda, black and white magic, folk medicine, the sacrifice of widows, and death and cremation. The Balinese still lead a magical, mystical, harmonious life that is difficult for Westerners to understand unless they read a profound work like Covarrubias's Island of Bali. With an artist's sensibility and a Bali-lover's eye, Covarrubias paints a complex nirvana with words and easel in this great literary achievement.

On reading list. Ok but would not have chosen it - but perfectly good copy for a bargain price

Very poor quality print. It looks like a photocopy

It is hard to define this text as a book - the producers of it have failed to provide a single syllable of information about it, as the back cover of the book is blank - it simply shows the same photograph as the front cover without any added text. As there is also no copyright page, it is not even possible to find out the original date of publication. Instead, the book appears to be a photocopy of the original text by Miguel Covarrubias, the quality of which is so poor in some places that the text is scarcely legible. According to the text, there were originally coloured illustrations but these too have been photocopied so badly that the details are hard to make out. Most extraordinarily, there are stamps on some of the pages, seeming to indicate that the edition of the book used for the photocopy belonged to a library (although the stamp is too indistinct to read) in which case it is possible that the producers of the book didn't even own it (but simply photocopied it in a lunch hour). As this edition is so expensive this seems little short of a scam. This is such an important seminal book about Bali that it seems strange that a reputable publisher hasn't produced a good edition of it

Bin masslos enttaeuscht! Nichts als gebundene Seiten von Fotokopien, Abbildungen groesstenteils nicht identifizierbar.Kein Hinweis auf Herausgeber etc., m.E. reiner Betrug.Die Ausgaben vom Verlag Periplus hingegen sind gut und authentisch.