Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a HUGE fan of 'A Pattern Language', and found this book in the local library. It took me a while to realize that this book is a far cry from its predecessor. I found the patterns themselves interesting, but over-distilled from the quirky things that made 'Pattern Language' so wonderful...that book is full of the HUMANITY of places that people can create, and the effects on how places feel to us, how we interact, and how we live our lives in the context of these places. My big problem with this book is with the photographs. I actually had a hard time seeing and feeling the point of the patterns. These are all, for the most part, big, expensive architect showcase homes of the west coast. How about showing these patterns in more modest or 'hand made' type houses? How about showing some of these patterns in desert homes, or old european homes? Homes in Mexico or in Greece? How about the patterns shown in other world homes? All these homes are fancy and expensive...it's ok to show some of those of course, but if the book is about PATTERNS, then the best illustration of a PATTERN is to show it in a wide variety of disparate settings. This book, which I sat down to relish, was actually dull. It didn't stir my imagination and get the desire flowing the way 'Pattern Language' did. It's probably worth a look, but do as I did and request it from your library, and read it. Then decide if you really want it. I didn't.