Books Reviews

 
 
Situated on the cusp of one of the world's most dramatic transitional evolutionary zones, the island of Bali is indeed a last frontier for those looking for a tropical paradise. Seen from the air, this resplendent isle - known variously as "The Morning of the Earth" and "Isle of the Gods" - is a sculpted landfall shaped much like a prehistoric fish fossil. Brooding volcanoes, deep ravines, meandering rivers and palm-fringed beaches punctuate the island's interior and coastline. Natural beauty abounds, and, where man lives and works, this nature is reworked into gigantic art forms such as its exquisitely plotted rice terraces. Indeed, Bali from above is spellbinding - whether viewed by the amber of early morning or through the monochromatic tones of dusk. In Bali High, Paradise From the Air you will see, from a new and elevated vantage point, the beauty of an emerald island that is still a special paradise on earth.
Bali has developed and nourished an astonishing variety of gamelan ensembles-a kaleidoscope of sound and rhythm that is recognized today as one of the world's most sophisticated musical traditions. Despite changes effected by a contemporary life, hundreds of village groups still perform regularly all around the tiny island-from isolated mountain hamlets to the crowded neighborhoods of Denpasar. 
This book presents an introduction to more than a dozen different types of Balinese gamelan, each with its own established tradition, repertoire and social or religious context. The instruments and basic principles underlying the gamelan are introduced, thus providing listeners with the means to better appreciate the music. Scores of beautiful color photographs, a discography, and a brief guide to studying and hearing music in Bali, will prove indispensible to visitors and gamelan afficionados around the world. Michael Tenzer is Assistant Professor of Music at Yale University and a recognized authority on Balinese gamelan. He is co-founder of the Sekar Jaya gamelan group in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is a well-known composer of both Western and Balinese music. 
A celebration of Bali style with over 330 photographs that present a magnificent vision of the architecture, interiors and objects that are the essence of this fascinating and beautiful island. 
CONTENTS: 
  • Introduction
  • Balinese Traditions
  • Forms of Bali
  • Bamboo Culture
  • Bali Time
  • Gardens, Courtyards and Gateways
  • Architectural Notebook 
Offerings are the most important mean of maintaining good relations with (the) invisible powers who together with hurnan beings inhabit the island of Bali and who guard the sources life. An Offering is foremost a gift. When presented to the deities it expresses the gratitude and thanks of the Balinese for the fertility of the earth, for everything that makes life on this planet possible. When offered to the demons it prevents them from disturbing the harmony of the universe...
First published in 1937, this book has come to be regarded as a classic on the Balinese people and their civilization. Although many other books are now available on Bali, none contains the wealth of information about its life, art, customs, and culture which is included in Island of Bali, and none is quite as fascinating to read or as pleasing to look at. The author, a Mexican, was not only a brilliant painter but also an intelligent traveller and a serious student of anthropology. Only an artist could have penetrated so deeply into the spirit of the dance, theatre, music, decorative arts, and pastimes of Bali, and only an anthropologist could have understood and recorded its religion, sexual customs, family life, and economic and political organization. The illustrations to the book are magnificent. Besides a supplement of 114 half-tone photographs, there are 90 drawings by the author himself and others by Balinese artists. Five paintings by the author are reproduced in full colour. 
"This is the story of a unique ten-year voyage of exploration amongst the steamy islands of the volcanic Indonesian archipelago. It begins with more bravado than common sense, when we found ourselves on the island of Celebes in the South China Sea. From there we set sail with sixteen fierce Bugi tribesmen on a 2,500-mile voyage through the Spice Islands in search of the Greater Bird of Paradise. For nine months of storms and doldrums we drifted amongst forgotten kingdoms of silk and gold, fire walkers, grave robbers, pearl divers and pirates. Eventually we reached the Aru Islands, close to the shores of West New Guinea, where we managed to record the first-ever color footages of the golden-tailed bird in its natural habitat. On finally seeing these creatures, mating in the high forest canopy like cataracts of spun glass, we found them to be transparent with a deeper meaning, something which lay beyond them, in the undiscovered wisdom of the islanders themselves. The birds proved to be merely the lure which was to draw us into ten years of adventure through a land of waking dreams."
Indonesia is well-known to surfers the world over as "The Last Frontier" of their sport. Indeed, except for Hawaii, where the ancient Polynesian sport of surfing originated and was refined, no other maritime nation on Earth is so rich in challenges for accomplished waveriders. Periplus' team of renowned authors-photographers-surfers take you on a surfari that is the stuff of dreams-from the huge island of Sumatra in the west and on east through Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and Indonesia's "Far East". Join us on this exotic journey. We guarantee that you too will be stoked! 
  • More than 120 action-pumped photographs.
  • Insightful essays by surfers for surfers.
  • Detailed maps of important surfing sites.
  • Up-to-date travel advisories.
  • Surf, surf, surf and more surf! 
"I feel as if there is something peculiar about this boy... he is destined to meet many dangers in his life, but he will always survive unscathed..." With these words, a balian or a holy priest annointed a young Balinese prince, citing as evidence a curious birthmark between the boy's collar bones.  

From the jungles of Sulawesi to streets of pre-war Amsterdam, The Birthmark tells the extraordinary story of a young Balinese prince as he grows up within the confines of a Balinese palace, faces culture shock during his education in Europe and embarks on career as a roving doctor. Fighting disease and malnutrition in some of the remotest parts of the world, his account provides a fascinating evocation of a world long gone, as well as an insight into present-day Indonesia. 

A.A. MADE DJELANTIK was born in 1919 in Karangasem, east Bali. Son of the last Raja of Karangasem, he was educated in Denpasar and Java, and at the University of Amsterdam in Holland. Graduating after World War II as a doctor, he worked in various parts of the archipelago for the Indonesian Ministry of Health, eventually attaining the position of Bali's Chief Medical Officer in 1957. In 1969 he became a malariologist with the World Health Organisation, taking postings in Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. After retirement in 1979, he returned to Bali, where he currently resides.
 
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