Book Description
The phenomenon loosely termed "Bali style" has been the subject matter for countless books on art, architecture, and interior design. In this book, author and architect Gianni Francione showcases the new generation of Bali-style homes, interiors, and artifacts that utilize what he terms a new internationalism.
Even though the timeless, distinctive Balinese balé, open to a panorama of rice fields and the evening breeze, is still there, it may now be made in marble or stone. Similarly, present-day villas, resort bungalows, shops, restaurants, and other buildings are just as likely to use modernist techniques and materials as they are to utilize alang-alang and coconut wood.
Bali Houses presents this new departure in architecture, interior design, glassware, table settings, textiles, furniture, and furnishings in many never-before-photographed locations. It is a fitting sequel to Bali Modern.
Customer Reviews:
This is Bali condensed in a Book........2007-03-28
A beautiful book well balanced in terms of text and pictures. The quality of the pictures is second to none. Compared to other books about Balinese style mostly focused on interiors, this one captures not only the essence of the interiors but also open spaces and gardens.
Sphisticated and Balanced.......2007-02-22
Great photography and awesome scenarios. It really brings the feeling of being in Bali. And the decorations show the artistic side of the new interiors of the open living. It inspires my clients when they come inside my furniture store. Of the books I have from Bali, this is certainly the one with the best pictures!
Bali Houses Design.......2006-11-05
Being a Decorator, this comes in handy for clients who like the look of the Tropics. It's a complete book of ideas, design strategies, and an overall look into another world of comfortable, colorful, Paradise influence to bring a little joy to the reader.
Balinese houses - paradise........2006-01-04
This is a genuinely fine book. The photographs are spectacular, with fine color and resolution.
The text isn't too in-depth about houses in Bali, but the pictures speak for themselves.
I wholeheartedly recommend it, got me?
bali houses.......2005-07-20
Good overall but not as informative as Bali Modern another book by same author. PHotography excellent.
Book Description
Combining great learning, interpretative originality, analytical sensitivity, and a charismatic prose style, Clifford Geertz has produced a lasting body of work with influence throughout the humanities and social sciences, and remains the foremost anthropologist in America.
His 1980 book Negara analyzed the social organization of Bali before it was colonized by the Dutch in 1906. Here Geertz applied his widely influential method of cultural interpretation to the myths, ceremonies, rituals, and symbols of a precolonial state. He found that the nineteenth-century Balinese state defied easy conceptualization by the familiar models of political theory and the standard Western approaches to understanding politics.
Negara means "country" or "seat of political authority" in Indonesian. In Bali Geertz found negara to be a "theatre state," governed by rituals and symbols rather than by force. The Balinese state did not specialize in tyranny, conquest, or effective administration. Instead, it emphasized spectacle. The elaborate ceremonies and productions the state created were "not means to political ends: they were the ends themselves, they were what the state was for.... Power served pomp, not pomp power." Geertz argued more forcefully in Negara than in any of his other books for the fundamental importance of the culture of politics to a society.
Much of Geertz's previous work--including his world-famous essay on the Balinese cockfight--can be seen as leading up to the full portrait of the "poetics of power" that Negara so vividly depicts.
Customer Reviews:
Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali.......2003-11-05
Geertz, a social anthropologist at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, is a prolific scholar on Balinese and Indonesian political and state organization. "Negara" is a Sanskrit word which originally meant "town"; in Bahasa Indonesia it now signifies nation or realm--the seat of political authority. Its opposite is "desa," the village, place, region, or governed area. Between these two contrasting poles-negara and desa-the classical polity developed. In his search for the "negara," the traditional state of pre-colonial Bali, he casts a wide analytical net over the cultural streams that flowed unchecked in to the archipelago for over 3,000 years from India, China, the Middle East, and Europe. Foreign contact/intervention left a permanent stamp on the island chain in the form of a Hindu civilization on Bali, Chinatowns in Jakarta, and a multiplicity of social structures, economic forms and kinship organizations. Geertz traces the sociological and historical interplay of state formation and dissolution and power and status distribution in 14th to 19th century Bali-an island symbolically caught in a parallel tug of nature between the tranquil Java sea to the north and the treacherous Indian Ocean to the south. Heavy on political theory, this book is more suitable for academicians, history buffs, and college students than for the general reader or the package holiday tourist. Substantiated by critical reviews of the scholarly literature, 130 pages of explanatory footnotes, and a lengthy bibliography, Negara puts forth a persuasive final model of the Balinese state as a distinctive political order. To understand Bali's past, is to understand Bali's present and future.
""Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show".......2002-07-31
Bali flits in and out of the Western imagination: Conradian tropic kingdoms, National Geographic star attraction, Mead-Covarrubias-Belo-Geertz himself, tourist paradise (ever-fading). What is Bali all about besides emerald rice terraces, bare breasted beauties, cheap surfing holidays, and tremendously elaborate ceremonies featuring gamelan orchestras and graceful dancers ? Bali is indeed a mystery. If you approach NEGARA with the desire to learn more about this marvelous Indonesian island, you may go away disappointed. There are no Balinese voices in the book; modern Bali is hardly discussed.
NEGARA is an important book, but for those who specialize in the study of Southeast Asian kingdoms, for those who would like to question the standard Western method of studying political power, and for those interested in 19th century Balinese history as interpreted by America's foremost anthropologist, who is rather more known for creative (I'm with him) interpretations than for intensive field work. Geertz' work is going to last a very long time---something that can hardly be said about most anthropological writing. The reason is that he constantly sees things in a different way and can express his vision very clearly. His other books on Indonesia, for example "The Religion of Java", "Islam Observed", "Pedlars and Princes" and "Agricultural Involution" have all been classics for years. His article on the Balinese cockfight is one of the most seminal anthropological pieces ever written.
The Balinese state did not specialize in tyranny, conquest or effective administration. Its emphasis was on "spectacle, toward ceremony, toward the public dramatization of the ruling obsessions of Balinese culture: social inequality and status pride. It was a theatre state..." All the elaborate productions created were "not means to political ends: they wre the ends themselves, they were what the state was for......Power served pomp, not pomp power." (p.13) Geertz spends most of the 136 page book proving this point. [There are also 120 pages of notes.] There are detailed discussions of descent groups, client relationships, three major varieties of village organization aimed at administration, irrigation, and worship, and the connection between court and village. Then follows the scrutiny of ritual, ceremony, and symbols in Geertz' inimitable style. The point must be taken: Balinese society was one of unending rivalry for prestige among very-established levels of hierarchy which were, nonetheless, extremely fluid. The endless reiteration in symbolic, ceremonial terms of a fixed set of relations made up the Balinese theater state.
NEGARA, not a new book, is by now established as a classic text in Anthropology courses, in Religious Studies, Political Science, and Southeast Asian Studies in universities around the world. It portrays a political system that did not conform to the usual Western idea of what political power is all about. Geertz writes that he wanted to write a poetics of power, not a mechanics. He was successful. Readers may wonder if the ability to command and use resources like land, water, timber, or the sea, if the ability to control labor, even if indirectly, if the ability to control power, even if sporadic, do not underlie theater productions in a more definite way. But I think they will have to admit that NEGARA is a powerful politico-historical description that, for once, does not try to twist and mold the data to fit a traditional Western description of a political system. Symbolic action is not at all limited to Indonesian islands. Somebody may yet write a description of the USA as a "Theater State" albeit a very different one from old Bali. NEGARA contains many challenges. It is a great book.
Book Description
This book documents the transformation that Balinese architecture and interior design have undergone over the past five years. Cleaner lines, more imaginative use of space, A-frame roofs, and the use of stone, concrete, and ceramic roof tiles are increasingly visible along with the traditional coconut wood, teak, and thatching.
Customer Reviews:
Interior Designers Must Have.......2007-02-22
Great photography and awesome scenarios. It really brings the feeling of being in Bali. And the decorations show the artistic side of the new interiors of the open living. It inspires my clients when they come inside my furniture store. Of the books I have from Bali, this is certainly the encyclopedia of interior design!
There's no place like Bali..........2000-05-05
Many westerners have set up homes in Bali, which have long been a magnet for western culture-hound. Here,writer and photographer showcase what the island's most inspiring examples of contemporary residences, shops, restaurants and of course the beautiful resorts that Bali is renowned. The work is well researched, featuring architectural and interior detailing of cross cultural legacy and an amalgamation of both modern and traditional. The text includes little stories of origins and legends. And as always, Lucca Invernizzi Tettoni's superb photography, mostly outdoor shots of the creme de la creme of Bali's private and resort landscaped gardens. This work captured all parts of the Balinese tropical living experience, proving why Bali is often remembered as the place to rejuvenate the soul.
Bali,Modern The Art of Tropical Living.......2000-04-03
This is just what the doctor ordered for enthusiasts of tropical decor and culture. By focusing on the use of modern (alibet, longer lasting) building materials with techniques designed to provide a tropical ambiance is neat. It's not something that I have found elsewhere. It would also be nice to provide some interior decorating schemes to be translated into the American shopping market using or importing accessories from the Bali region or using alternative sources for the "tropical" look from other areas, i. e., the British West Indies, the Caribbean, major U.S. catalogues, etc.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
Book Description
The islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali are ecologically one of the richest, most biologically complex areas in the world, sought out by thousands of knowledgeable nature lovers every year for the spectacular variety of wildlife and beautiful vistas. This book provides the first
complete identification guides to the birds of this teeming tropical paradise. It gives descriptions of 820 regional species, illustrated in 88 specially commissioned color plates accompanied by notes detailing distinctive features and habitats. Entries cover nomenclature, plumage, markings, voice,
global range, distribution and regional status, habits, and diet. The main text gives practical information on where to find many exotic species, citing major birdwatching locations. Introductory chapters discuss habitats, climate, land-use, and conservation concerns. Professional ornithologists
and amateur bird watchers alike will find this the indispensable bird guide for eastern Malaysia and western Indonesia for many years to come. It is also an unrivalled source of information for casual travellers and ecotourists.
Customer Reviews:
A must-have.......2003-04-19
Any serious birder to the listed regions of this book would buy this book.
It is the best guide of the region so far with excellent plates and useful details. What I find especially useful, particularly for the raptors, is that they show illustrations of the birds in flight.
The drawings appear consistent and the bird's information at the back of the book is easy to access.
The birds are categorised according to their family which definately makes for faster checks and identification, which I find important when in the field.
The spine of the book though is a little week and you might want to have it rebound before it falls apart - especially with all the browsing that is to be.
Get it re-bound.......2001-11-29
This was the book that everyone who seemed to be serious used in Borneo, but if you are going to be out in the bush for more than a few days and make frequent use of field guides, consider having it re-bound before you leave -- many people I passed along the way were finding that the plate pages were starting to fall out.
A good and comprehensive guide to the region........2000-10-11
Many newer guides have been published about birds of this region, but this book still deserves its place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in birds of South-east Asia. Illustrations are good, and descriptions are detailed and mostly accurate. A bit bulky to carry in the field, but not a problem if you bring it in a backpack. The situation with forest fires in South-east Asia (especially Indonesia) is growing worse each year, so get out there and see some of these extraordinary birds while you still can!
Customer Reviews:
Pleasent weather.......2005-09-21
This book is very usefull to all people who live in countries with sunny all year around climate,with a temperature never below 22·Celcius.Of course wind is out of question!!:
Is a very pleasent way of decorating in a different way your summer house,in a summer place..
Best of the Style books on Bali.......2000-06-12
Excellent photos of the best houses, building materials, gardens, fabric, crafts, and architectural details in Bali. Very beautiful as a coffee table book, quite useful as a style reference book.
The text is very nicely written, without repetition or fluff; it serves mainly to illuminate the huge variety of photographs. In other words, the reader will learn a little about Balinese geography, sensibility and culture from Walker, but not in intricate detail or with scholarly authority. I read it cover to cover in a couple of days, and felt it was a decent grounding in Bali style.
Author, editor and photographer should be praised for finding examples of all kinds of Bali style: garish, sublime, fancy, plain, funky, sophisticated, folksy, casual, formal, sacred.
A solid overview, useful to decorators, architects, mere Bali fans.
Bali style.......2000-04-27
I never read this book, so I'm very happy to discover all the informations about architecture of the Pacific area, and I'd like to be more lucky and get that book in my shelves.
When I read the editorial reviews and the hardcover, I already fall in love (déja amoureux). my mind is risen when I get the opportunity to meet very nice things, when I read very nice descriptions, and mainly when I watch very nice pictures about very nicest, cutest houses.
I really look forward to get an exemplary of this book to enhance the richness of my mind!
may day, may day, may day! Help me to get it!
Book Description
Ease into the best of sophisticated Bali, with its pampering, relaxation and shopping. Against a backdrop of rice terraces, beaches and forests, Bali constantly reinvents and reveals itself through vibrant culture, exotic flavours and world-class design. Such a little island, but so many experiences - Best of Bali gathers them all into a pocket-sized guide.
Customer Reviews:
Great Bali Book.......2007-01-09
I leave for Bali in 2 days. This came in time! Perfect pocket guide. The big Lonely Planet Guide is more in detail. Get both if you can. If not this one is the right one. Great maps, specific quick reference.
Book Description
The Rough Guide to Bali & Lombok is the definitive guide to these two spectacular Indonesian islands. A 24-page, full-colour introduction gives an inspiring insight into many of the islandsÂ' highlights, from the dramatic clifftop temples and sparkling white-sand beaches to the unforgettable sunrise views from Gunung Batur. The guide includes extensive reviews of the islandsÂ' finest places to eat, sleep and drink for visitors on any budget. Whether you are an active traveller looking for advice on the best diving spots or looking for a something more relaxed like a spa or a cookery course, this guide offers all the dependable and practical advice you will need to know. The guide also takes a detailed look at Bali and LombokÂ's history, religion and culture, and comes complete with maps and plans for every region.Â
Customer Reviews:
bali made easy!.......2001-03-26
an exceptionally practical guide to travel in bali and lombok. on a recent month holiday to bali, i used the book from cover to cover. the information is accurate and the maps came in very useful whilst negotiating the other road users in my rented jeep. i will certainly buy a roughguides for my next trip and have peace of mind that what is written is correct.
Average customer rating:
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Visible and Invisible Realms: Power, Magic, and Colonial Conquest in Bali
Margaret J. Wiener
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
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Book Description
In 1908, the ruler of the Balinese realm of Klungkung and more than 100 members of his family and court were massacred when they marched deliberately into the fire of the Dutch colonial army. The question of what their action meant and its continued significance in contemporary Klungkung forms the basis of Margaret Wiener's complex anthropolological history.
Wiener challenges colonial and academic claims that Klungkung had no "real" power and argues that such claims enabled colonial domination. By focusing on Balinese discourses she makes clear the choices open to Balinese, both at the time of the Dutch conquest and in its narration. At the same time, she shows how these discourses, which revolve around magical weapons acquired from invisible agents such as gods, spirits, and ancestors, offer an alternative understanding of Klungkung's power.
Moving between Balinese and Dutch narratives and between past and present, Wiener critiques colonial accounts by recounting Balinese memories and interpretations. Her attention to history and local situations illuminates the ways in which colonialism and orientalist scholarship have obscured the power of indigenous rulers and shows how Klungkung, once Bali's paramount realm, was relegated to a peripheral corner of the Indonesian nation-state. Both as a fascinating story and as a rich example of interdisciplinary scholarship, this book will interest students of colonialism, anthropology, history, religion, and Southeast Asia.
Book Description
In this honest, heart-warming book, William Ingram shares a series of intimate moments that together sketch an illuminating portrait of a Balinese family. With wit and sensitivity, he relates captivating storiesfrom that of a special ceremony to stop a childs mischievousness to a poignant love-match which almost splits the family. His narrative explores the web of relationships that ties the members of the family to one another, their community and their ancestors. At the same time he candidly discloses a personal cross-cultural journey. Some of our notions of Bali as a paradise are affirmed by Ingrams tale. Others are dispelled only to reveal a resilient people who forgive life its tragedies and celebrate its gifts.
Customer Reviews:
A great read from a great person.......2007-07-25
I am Balinese and William, and his wife, Jean, live just down the road from me in Ubud.
They are exactly the sort of neighbours we like to have. They have joined in and contributed to village life.
As is evident from the stories in this book, they have participated in and gained an understanding of our complex, but fascinating, culture. When they first arrived, they stayed with a Balinese family in the village, and many of the stories relate to incidents in the family's life. Many of them are typical, so it's a very good introduction to Balinese life for anyone visiting Bali.
It is clearly and beautifully and sympathetically written and the photographs are good.
Like me they are passionate about textiles and they are doing great work in reviving and keeping alive dying textile traditions throughout Indonesia.
Recommended.
Murni
Ubud
Nice story, writing could be better.......2006-06-07
Wonderful story of life with a Balinese family, very atmospheric. The best part is the family that's depicted -- it's fun to see into family life like that, an entrance that many of us don't usually gain while travelling.
That said, the writing could definitely have been better. Occasionally intrusive, occasionally pretentious, occasionally just clumsy, it sometimes really distracted from the reading experience. Also, it could have done with some good proof-reading; there are some irritating spelling mistakes.
Despite that, I have to admit reading my copy enough times that it fell apart.
A Little Bit One Oclock.......2003-10-14
I found the book plodding, boring and the writer self absorbed. It didn't capture mystical island of Bali.
Delightful Memoir, Life Amongst the Balinese.......2003-08-24
This book has amassed a cult following, and for good reason.
It is an amusing, light-hearted account of a couple's life with a Balinese family. Certainly offers western readers valuable insight into Balinese culture. Great for a visitor or even an armchair traveler, but is pretty much de rigeur reading amongst expatriates in Bali and the rest of Indonesia.
Reader sees Ingram making the jump from long-term backpacking visitor to full-on expat, a transition that many have made, albeit with great culture shock. Ingram and his wife make the compromises and changes with admirable patience and refreshing good humor. Lesser mortals can find a welcome bit of comfort in this text. Never condescending (neither towards the Balinese nor towards bumbling westerners), this series of stories are told with a gentle, smiling tone. Not exactly a page-turner, but delightful and bright.
The author and his wife have gone on to found a truly marvelous charitable concern which is contributing to the rebirth of textile weavers and dyers in the Indonesian archepelago. Their warm attitude toward the people of Indonesia lives on in this work. When visiting Bali, do not miss a visit to Jean's gallery in Ubud, named Threads of Life.
Good Neighbors.......2003-08-23
I am Balinese and William, and his wife, Jean, live just down the road from me in Ubud.
They are exactly the sort of neighbors we like to have. They have joined in and contributed to village life.
As is evident from the stories in this book, they have participated in and gained an understanding of our complex, but fascinating, culture. When they first arrived, they stayed with a Balinese family in the village, and many of the stories relate to incidents in the family's life. Many of them are typical, so it's a very good introduction to Balinese life for anyone visiting Bali.
It is clearly and beautifully and sympathetically written and the photographs are good. Recommended.
Customer Reviews:
An unpretensious and detailed guide to all things Balinese.......1999-05-13
This is a wonderful book that details every aspect of daily life in Bali, from the morning offerings to mask making. Eiseman is a careful observer who clearly loves Bali, and it's a great guidebook for anyone who wants to get beyond the Lonely Planet descriptions of Balinese culture. This book is on every coffee table in Bali.
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