Holistic Tarot - Benebell Wen

Astraea

I can't speak to the contents of the book, as I've only just received it; but I wish it had been brought out as a 2-volume set, because at 874 pages it's much too thick for a single paperback volume. I am very gentle with books, yet after only a single glance at some of the book's many diagrams, the spine is broken at all of those places. I doubt the book will hold up as a reference work without the binding falling apart completely.
 

Shade

I can't speak to the contents of the book, as I've only just received it; but I wish it had been brought out as a 2-volume set, because at 874 pages it's much too thick for a single paperback volume. I am very gentle with books, yet after only a single glance at some of the book's many diagrams, the spine is broken at all of those places. I doubt the book will hold up as a reference work without the binding falling apart completely.

This is one of those times when I could find it in my heart to forgive someone who bought a ebook since the tome itself is so weighty. I have been opening pages very delicately trying to maintain it.
 

Astraea

This is one of those times when I could find it in my heart to forgive someone who bought a ebook since the tome itself is so weighty. I have been opening pages very delicately trying to maintain it.
Yes, exactly, which will be a real deterrent when it comes to serious study with underlining, margin notation, and so on. Benebell's website contains a section of corrections that need to be added to the book by the reader, but the mere act of turning to the appropriate pages breaks the spine.

I realize that the publisher was probably trying to keep costs down, but I would gladly have paid twice the amount for a two-volume set that would stand up even to normal use.
 

Owl Song

I can't say enough good things about this book. Even if you don't agree with everything Wen proposes and suggests, this is a book that gets you thinking.

Her point about intuition and analysis not being mutually exclusive resonates with me greatly. It always frustrates me when people want to separate the two. They don't have to be separate. They can even complement one another. There's room for a studied and cerebral approach to Tarot and it's just as valid as reading the cards through visual or other associations.

This is a book that you can grow with as you continue to work with the cards. I love her charts and the book is well-organized. The print is good-sized, too, so I find it's easy on the eyes.

I do wish it had been printed in two or three separate volumes. A set with a case would have been lovely -- and in hardcover. I can dream!
 

jema

I am torn, do I want it for the kindle or as dead-tree book?
Think this might be one that I wanna write in and stick post-it notes in and spill tea and crombs in. and that my cat will sleep on.
So will get it next month.
I love my kindle but mainly for novels.
 

3ill.yazi

Yes, exactly, which will be a real deterrent when it comes to serious study with underlining, margin notation, and so on. Benebell's website contains a section of corrections that need to be added to the book by the reader, but the mere act of turning to the appropriate pages breaks the spine.



I realize that the publisher was probably trying to keep costs down, but I would gladly have paid twice the amount for a two-volume set that would stand up even to normal use.


That's too bad. This seems like the kind of book which I would want to forsake my usual preference for ebooks. But this gives me pause.
 

Astraea

That's too bad. This seems like the kind of book which I would want to forsake my usual preference for ebooks. But this gives me pause.
For me, it would be frustrating to try to study a book of this size on a Kindle - even though I could "mark" pages, set bookmarks, and so on - because it wouldn't be hands-on enough for reference and rumination. But the physical book is hard to manage, and I've had to accept the fact that it will be pretty beat-up after reading. The pages might not separate from the binding (too soon to tell), but there's no way around the spine breaking.

I don't know how much the Kindle version costs, but it might be worthwhile to get both if it's feasible.
 

Madrigal

I have the hard copy version and it's a wonderful resource and guide. Very well organized, chock full of all kinds of information both practical and esoteric. I got it in hardcopy because I have found that my kindle works best for fiction. However due to the size and weight of the book I've decided to buy the kindle version as well which, IIRC, is about $6 less than the hardcopy. Being able to take this with me in kindle form will lighten my load considerably and reading in bed is easier with a kindle. However with a book like this I also want to be able to flip back and forth easily which is more complicated in an ebook. I've had none of the spine issues other posters have mentioned and I think if you have to choose between hardcopy and ebook in this case I'd go with the former.
 

Nemia

I bought the Kindle version and don't regret it. If I want to study the diagrams, I can open it on my laptop. But the Kindle simply makes for very comfortable reading. (I read mostly in bed and on public transportation since I have very little free time - and I'm an obsessive reader who resisted e/books for quite some time).

I added a lot of notes, this is also something I appreciate in e/books. They're really easy to find.

I wouldn't have read a huge tome that I have to hold in my poor old hands... I love the Kindle version. I read my Kindle books much more often than my 3000+ paper books.
 

Shade

So one thing the book is making me realize is that I have never performed a lot of the older esoteric forms of reading like the First Operation or even the Opening of the Key. I had heard of them, but I just hadn't ever really given those practices a whirl.