I must confess that, for all my love of literature and reading, sometimes it is nice to sit down with a publication that is equal parts photographic and literary. On occasion, it can be nicer to look upon images of picturesque landscapes, scenes, and other sights, without forcing your brain to absorb too much written information.
I find Lonely Planet, a globally focused travel guide publisher, to be a great source for material that is roughly fifty-fifty on images and writing, allowing readers to learn more about the world in a casual sense—almost as if reading a magazine. Generally, I prefer natural landscapes, but the short length and light reading involved in A Spotter’s Guide to Amazing Architecture (written by Oliver Bennett), drew me to it.
In this sub-130-page publication, readers are treated to a formulaic, but east to digest, exploration of 120 unique pieces of architecture. Almost every structure is given a single page to work with, whilst others, such as the Ayutthaya Temple Complex, are infrequently gifted a double page spread to accommodate a wide-shot image.
Regardless of how much page real estate they get, every segment for each architectural structure contains the same array of information and extras. These include (and are limited to) a title; the architect’s name; region and country located; coordinates; year of creation; a brief paragraph or two of context/information/history; a small illustrated map of their location; and one stunning image for readers to marvel at.
Although this condensed and formulaic approach sounds like a detracting factor, especially to those who prefer to read into the history or context of things, I think it is largely fine if you go in without expectations of being well-informed about each building covered. After all, A Spotter’s Guide to Amazing Architecture is, by design, short and light on information. Being a ‘spotter’s guide’ rightfully implies that it is more about looking upon the structures rather than learning the in-depth history behind them or their architects.
Aside from being a simple and well put together compilation of 120 sights—modern, old-fashioned, classical, historic—from around the world, it is also the equivalent of an appetizer. My assumption is that this publication is designed to give reader’s a surface-level understanding of 120 varied pieces of architecture, and that’s all.
I’m sure any reader who takes a particular liking to one of the structures featured in this book will research further into it in their own time, or perhaps even consider taking a trip to see it in person someday. The aim of any travel publisher is to entice people to go book holidays and flights, so Lonely Planet will have achieved their goal if readers fall for at least one of the many locations featured in this compilation.
There is probably something for everyone to consider visiting, with its focus on temples, towers, bridges, train stations, skyscrapers, museums, homes, palaces, educational institutions, churches and mosques, monasteries, tunnels, and more. Moreover, these structures and eye-catching locations are selected from all regions, meaning everyone from east to west will likely be local enough to some of these sights to visit them on a brief holiday or a detour as part of a greater getaway.
In truth, the three-and-a-half-star rating has nothing to do with the issues regarding the publication’s quality. It’s competently written, varied in content, and honed on its focus of showcasing pleasant or unique architecture. It does all of this whilst being laid out in a visually simple, but pleasant, manner. There are no issues with any of this.
Instead, that rating is more down to the fact that I, ironically, can’t really call this release amazing. For all its quality, it is too short and brochure-like to put any higher regarding a generalised five-star system. I know, I know… I did select it specifically because it was short and fairly light on reading, but that does not change the fact that The Steady Read is supposed to review literary works positively, not picture albums. Additionally, I fear giving Lonely Planet’s little architecture book four stars or higher would be insulting to longer publications (fiction or non-fiction) that took the time to include much more research and information.
Even Lonely Planet themselves have much longer publications on whole countries and cities, all of which seem to contain much more writing and journalistic effort than this condensed collection of architecture. To me, it is clear that this release focuses on pleasant photography and places the history of each structure lower on the priority list. You are to ‘spot’ (visually enjoy) architecture through this book, not educate yourself about each structure. As I expressed, you can do that in your own time if you take a particular liking to some of the included architecture.
Still, I think this release is a pleasant, low-effort way to while away an hour or two. For how short the paragraphs within are, the written content is still informative, just not in-depth enough to give any significant praise to. I have no issue with the quality, just the lack of extensiveness given to each structure—every one could have been given two pages, a picture on the left, and a whole page of written information on the right. Instead, readers are only treated to a margin’s worth of insight, barely elevating this whole thing above a picture book or light magazine.
Despite my somewhat unfair criticisms, I enjoyed my time with this condensed and light read. If you want a short book to pick up for five minutes a day and learn some more about other cultures and structures, I think A Spotter’s Guide to Amazing Architecture can be a great time killer in that regard. If you want in-depth reading material about structures from around the globe, I recommend you look elsewhere.
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