Customer Reviews: Read 212 more reviews...
 I Loved This Book November 21, 2008
Simply put, this book is excellent. It is simple and concise, and it keeps you reading. I also think it does a great job giving you the basics of Taoist thought.
 Pooh vs. Confucius. November 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm right to review this book for two reasons, and wrong for one. First, AA Milne was the first book I remember looking for in the school library, as a child. My "inner child" (which is mostly in control of the outer adult, anyway) rejoiced in an excuse to revisit 100 Acre Wood. Second, as a missionary in China (and later author of a book on "How Jesus fulfills the Chinese Culture"), I also learned to love Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, and learn from them. Third, however, while as Hoff correctly points out, there's a little of each these characters in each of us, the owl usually emerges in me when I start critiquing books.
By and large, this is a pleasant and successful introduction to philosophical Taoism. Sometimes it's confusing which are the bits Pooh said in Milne, and which are the bits Hoff added -- even though the font is different -- but then, Hoff's Pooh sometimes sounds quite different from Milne's Pooh. Sometimes he even comes across as overly clever, which is not in character.
When I asked young people in China, I found that more seemed to admire Confucius than Lao Zi. Let me devote the rest of my review to explaining that, in light of Hoff's depiction of both.
If Pooh disses Owl, you can't blame him because (1) He's a stuffed animal; (2) It's funny; and (3) Hoff is critiquing archeotypes, not individuals. When Zhuang Zi disses Confucius, the second two excuses also apply: there's a bit of sectarian edge, but it's more Saturday Night Live than Inquisition. When Hoff steps out of character to diss "dissicated" intellectual types, there's a bit of humor, but it's harder to draw the line between fair critique and cheap shot.
The truth is, lots of "owls" are reasonable people. Confucius was one: he loved music, took disciples hiking, and admitted when he didn't know something. And lots of "Poohs" can't tell their heads from the hole in a honey jar, making them not cute and wise, but common, ignorant gluttons.
But this is a critique of Taoism in general, not just Hoff, and certainly not Pooh. This is why Taoism was never "the Way" in China. There was a reaction, often a healthy one, to the Lao-Zhuang philosophy. It's the weakness of early Taoist philosophy -- reflected by Hoff's over-generalizations and over-simplicities -- that it did not make the difference clear. Folk Taoism ran off in one diametrically different direction -- as Hoff appears not to know, but probably does -- and Buddhists and Confucius' more proper and stuffy disciples (who often did live down to the caricature) in another. Each had its up side and its down side. Imagine Pooh singing and philosophizing cheerfully at the still-warm grave of Piglet: that's Zhuang Zi, at one point.
The world would be poorer without Pooh, and much poorer without the aphorisms of Lao Zi and the stories of Zhuang Zi. They don't make a full philosophy of life, but they do make part of one; and Hoff's little book is a good, sometimes flawed and sometimes too accurate, but often fun, introduction.
Golden nuggets of wisdom from the Tao in soiled wrappings? October 21, 2008
It is true that Hoff seems to display a certain "dislike" or "bias" against things that go against his vision of the Tao, but overall, this is a wonderful, enjoyable book that gets across in a rather easy and simple manner some ideas central to Taoism, especially when it uses quotes from the Tao Te Ching in explaining Pooh's actions.
In fact, I have used several quotes from the book in a compilation of useful Taoist guides towards the right Path:
Simple Tao:
http://www.blueboard.com/tao/
Beautiful, Entertaining, and Thought-Provoking Masterpiece! October 19, 2008
This elegant and well-written volume by Benjamin Hoff, along with its sequel aaeThe Te of Pigleta, is perhaps one of the finest pieces of writing about Taoism in the West. Having just read and enjoyed the original Pooh stories by A.A. Milne, I became intrigued by this book and obtained it. As soon as I opened it I could not find a good point to lay it down. I kept reading and reading until I finished it in a single day. The book was so pleasurable, so well-written, and so intriguing. I kept thinking and imagining all the different concepts of Taoism that this book introduces me to. aaeWu Weia or effortless action; living in harmony with nature; Nowhere and Nothing; the importance of the present; the extreme alienation we in the West create for ourselves by being constantly busy. These are all important issues that relate to my life personally, and I feel I have gained something from reading this book, in addition to spending an enjoyable time reading it.
Those who didna(tm)t like this book for some reason are missing the point. The aaeTao of Pooha was never meant to be the definite treatise on Taoism, or the dispassionate comparison of East and West. As a matter of fact, this book is classified under aaeHumora. In fact, it is this humor of pooh which lends itself so aptly to introducing Taoism. Since reading this book, I became interested in reading the other book by John Tyerman Williams called aaePooh & the Philosophersa. What a disaster that turned out to be! See, the defining character of Pooh is that he never really takes himself seriously, which is perfectly in line with the attitude of major Taoist philosophers. Yet Western philosophy thinks of itself as a serious subject, an attitude that is quite un-Pooh-ish, so I dona(tm)t know what on earth Williams was thinking in using Pooh to illustrate Western philosophy. Anyways, dona(tm)t buy Williama(tm)s book, buy this! If you like Pooh and feel intrigued with Eastern Philosophy, you will find a pleasurable reading in this masterpiece that was the first to recognize this beautiful match.
Not very taoist September 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I gave this book 3 stars because it reads easily enough, there are some insightful moments, and because it is fairly enjoyable with the exchange between the author and Pooh bear. But, this book is not recommended for anyone wanting to understand taoism. Much of the book contains almost bitter western bashing, or the condemning of certain modes of life, which does not actually help to reinforce taoist concepts. There are portions that read more like rants, even.
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