Invisibile world

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

I am ashamed to admit that I could not read more than 80 pages of this academic book, and I subsequently selected the pages relevant to the keris only... Am I the only one?
Regards

Well, i have read it twice and skimmed many sections since.
As Alan has pointed out, the none keris sections may be as important to understanding the keris in a Balinese context as the more specific keris sections are. As has been pointed out many times in these pages, you simply cannot understand keris in a vacuum. Getting a grasp of the cultural and historical context in which the keris flourished is most important.
While i did not quite find the book as easy to read as Alan i also didn't find it to be too academic in nature. Some of it is indeed quite dense though and i can certainly understand how it can be considered difficult reading, especially if English is a second language. Unfortunately the history itself is dense and complicated, so i'm not sure there is any better way to present it. I would suggest giving it another go if you can stand it. I honestly think it is one of the most important books out there for understanding the keris in Bali.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Well, i have read it twice and skimmed many sections since.
As Alan has pointed out, the none keris sections may be as important to understanding the keris in a Balinese context as the more specific keris sections are. As has been pointed out many times in these pages, you simply cannot understand keris in a vacuum. Getting a grasp of the cultural and historical context in which the keris flourished is most important.
While i did not quite find the book as easy to read as Alan i also didn't find it to be too academic in nature. Some of it is indeed quite dense though and i can certainly understand how it can be considered difficult reading, especially if English is a second language. Unfortunately the history itself is dense and complicated, so i'm not sure there is any better way to present it. I would suggest giving it another go if you can stand it. I honestly think it is one of the most important books out there for understanding the keris in Bali.

Thank you David. Like IP I may find the stamina for fully reading it by small bits...
I do not pretend being a serious keris student for various reasons (access to reliables sources, foreign culture, mythical aspects, etc) and I admit that my passion for the keris is largely due to its extraordinary artistic & craftmanship value. After all the great collectors of the past like the Morozov brothers did the same...
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Agreed Jean.

Nothing wrong with being a pure collector, I was probably a pure collector for perhaps the first 20 or so years of my serious involvement with keris, but as I learnt more, my focus changed.

It just demonstrates what a complex, multi-faceted object the keris is.

I guess there is still a part of me that is collector, its just that where keris are concerned I now collected from a different perspective.