Review by Alexander Shechtman for Ancient Pagan Rating:
Pagan or Bagan, as it is now called officially, is one of the most important archeological sites in Asia; sadly enough it is relatively unknown and unvisited due to the internal political problems of Myanmar/Burma. It is a pity, because anyone who loves art and architecture will be captured by its unique beauty. “Lonely Planet” is currently the only solidly written guide to Myanmar. The Bagan chapter is informative and useful, but certainly not sufficient for the art aficionado, who wants to know something beyond the few lines devoted to each of the most important monuments. This book fills the gap. It is academically precise, very well written, provided with important plans and informative highly professional photos; the choice of monuments and their grouping is perfect. Finally, it is beautifully published. The only point I will disagree with the authors, is the stress they make on the wall painting (without damaging the sections devoted to architecture and architectural decoration). The perfection of architectural forms and proportions in Pagan is on pair with the achievements of Italian Renaissance. The murals, albeit old, were not the strongest representation of ancient Burmese artistic genius (compared on my opinion, for example, with Indian Ajanta). The book is rather big, something between regular travel guide and small coffee table edition, but I carried it around the site without any discomfort.
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(out of 1 reviews)
Review by Alexander Shechtman for Ancient Pagan
Rating:
Pagan or Bagan, as it is now called officially, is one of the most important archeological sites in Asia; sadly enough it is relatively unknown and unvisited due to the internal political problems of Myanmar/Burma. It is a pity, because anyone who loves art and architecture will be captured by its unique beauty. “Lonely Planet” is currently the only solidly written guide to Myanmar. The Bagan chapter is informative and useful, but certainly not sufficient for the art aficionado, who wants to know something beyond the few lines devoted to each of the most important monuments. This book fills the gap. It is academically precise, very well written, provided with important plans and informative highly professional photos; the choice of monuments and their grouping is perfect. Finally, it is beautifully published. The only point I will disagree with the authors, is the stress they make on the wall painting (without damaging the sections devoted to architecture and architectural decoration). The perfection of architectural forms and proportions in Pagan is on pair with the achievements of Italian Renaissance. The murals, albeit old, were not the strongest representation of ancient Burmese artistic genius (compared on my opinion, for example, with Indian Ajanta). The book is rather big, something between regular travel guide and small coffee table edition, but I carried it around the site without any discomfort.