Fionnáin reviewed Seaweed Collector's Handbook by Miek Zwamborn
Seaweed as art
4 stars
Miek Zwamborn presents a book of many parts that is very poorly named as it has almost nothing to do with seaweed. In nine chapters, a history of seaweed in art and science is described, drawing from many artists, thinkers and writers. These sections are presented as if they share themes (with msmatched names as poorly chosen as the book title), but often the sections are so scattered with good information poorly connected that the threads get lost. This can be forgiven only because the content is fascinating and because the reproductions of artworks are beautifully printed.
At the end of the book, recipes using seaweed are printed and then follows a section with Zwamborn's fantastic illustrations next to descriptions of many different types of seaweed. This final section alone makes the book worthwhile, but the other parts add value. It would be a perfect book if the early sections …
Miek Zwamborn presents a book of many parts that is very poorly named as it has almost nothing to do with seaweed. In nine chapters, a history of seaweed in art and science is described, drawing from many artists, thinkers and writers. These sections are presented as if they share themes (with msmatched names as poorly chosen as the book title), but often the sections are so scattered with good information poorly connected that the threads get lost. This can be forgiven only because the content is fascinating and because the reproductions of artworks are beautifully printed.
At the end of the book, recipes using seaweed are printed and then follows a section with Zwamborn's fantastic illustrations next to descriptions of many different types of seaweed. This final section alone makes the book worthwhile, but the other parts add value. It would be a perfect book if the early sections were not so disorganised.
