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Goodman, Jim (Author/Photographer) & Other Contributing Photographers : Thailand: Land Of Enchantment

Times Editions, Singapore, Singapore, 2004

ISBN 9812046461

Second Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 145 pages. New and Expanded Edition of the travel-guide classic. One of the finest photography books on Thailand ever published. The first appearance of the title in this Revised And Expanded Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Times Editions: Oversize-volume format. Hard boards with titles on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Jim Goodman and other contributors. Running commentary/text by Jim Goodman, which is perceptive, informative, and insightful. Printed on glossy stock paper in Singapore to the highest standards. In matching pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Jim Goodman's "Thailand: Land of Enchantment". Refreshing and colorful photographs of the Kingdom that the world identifies with both grace and grandeur. Together with Japan, Thailand is one of only two "aesthete" cultures in Asia, which is dominated by Confucian moralism, and is therefore quite daunting as such as foreign lands. Thailand's unique appeal to travellers and tourists is that it remains foreign ("exotic") yet somehow approachable and hospitable (sometimes overly so). Jim Goodman understands the culture and celebrates its celebration of beauty as the highest good: The Thai word for "good" is its word for "beautiful"; for "bad", is its word for "ugly". Aesthetics rules and somehow supersedes ethics, not the other way around and perhaps not always wisely, and as is not the case in the rest of Asia, and in much the West as well (always excepting the cultural capitals of Paris, London, and Rome). Goodman shows how the presentation of food (how it looks), for example, is as important, if not more so, as the food itself (how it tastes). Fruits are carved into delicate sculptural flowers and other exquisite objects; utilitarian baskets are made as though they were meant for royal ceremonies. The elaborate Buddhist temples, palaces, wood carvings, paintings, gigantic stone sculptures, royal barges, ceramics, fireworks, and indeed, the entire cities of all the three great dynasties, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, and Rattanakosin (the reigning monarchy that was built from the marshes of what foreigners, and now, the Thais themselves, call Bangkok, and the Thais themselves lovingly call Krungthep), are nothing less than awe-inspiring testaments to the aesthetic worldview in its most developed and refined form (again, like Japan). The perfect introduction to and memento of a great kingdom and her people. An absolute "must-have" title for lovers of Thailand. This title is now collectible. This is one of few copies of the 2004 New and Expanded Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. A scarce copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates and archival materials. One of the world's most enchanted and beautiful kingdoms. A fine copy. . ISBN 9812046461.

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