Book Review
The Waterfalls of Jamaica: Sublime and Beautiful Objects
Hudson, Brian J. (author)
University of the West Indies Press, 2001
Support this site, buy on Amazon
| Edition | 1 |
| Format | Hard Cover |
| Print Style | Partial Color |
| Book Type | Reference |
| Page Count | 107 |
| ISBN | 976-640-083-0 |
| In Print? | Yes |
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Picture quality |  (3) |
| Picture Quantity |  (1) |
| Accuracy of Content | (3) |
| Thoroughness of Content | (3) |
| Production Value |  (4) |
Reviewed by Dean Goss
Perhaps this is because I am a data miner at heart, but I found the book initially disappointing. It's well written, perhaps scholarly, but it doesn't ooze information. As I read the book more and more, I realize that the treatment of waterfalls as a subject will vary greatly from author to author. This author is clearly passionate about waterfalls and it manifests in a manner not unlike a professor of classical literature expounding upon his favorite subject with expansive prose.
This book is not for data miners, but rather for people who appreciate literature. A dedicated enthusiast can still glean plenty of information from the text, but will have to work with more diligence to extract the raw knowledge contained within. The book doesn't seem to be written as a compendium of data, but rather an ongoing essay detailing the waterfalls and the issues associated with them.
The lack of photographs and illustrations is of some concern. For a book with this quality of written material, the photographs are few in number and not of particularly good quality. The plates are in the same faded, subdued and muted colors that one would normally encounter in old photographs. The map (singular NOT plural) is a very general outline of the island of Jamaica with icons where 12 of the falls are found.
The Bottom Line: This book is more of interest to a collector of waterfallia than as a guidebook. Unless you have an extensive waterfall bookshelf, skip it.