Reviews

Does the Stephen Mitchell is the best translation like so many pretend? Hard to say honestly. I read four so far, and probably will stop here, and I can say without a doubt that it is a truly good one! I still very much like the Le Guin one, it was my first so I feel loyal to it (I'm a madly loyal person for better or worse) and I think it is a very easy one to get into, but this one is definitely a good one. I love the Tao philosophy it speaks to me and help me greatly since I start study and putting it in practice (still a lot of work to do, but I'm improving). Don't bother that much with which translation is the best, fine a nice one at a price you can afford and read this book. Slowly. Take time to think about it and put in pratice. It will change your life!

renny's review

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3.0

Stephen Mitchell gets dings for translating a book without actually learning the language it was originally written in. Fair enough. Not being a scholar on the Tao, I can't comment on the quality of Mitchell's translation, but I think he has given me a good enough intro to the subject, and I very much appreciate that. The subject is the whole point here, and a verbatim translation might be off putting. Mitchell tries to open up the Tao to contemporary readers. He alternates from masculine/feminine pronouns from one chapter to the next. I found this refreshing. Some of the Tao makes little sense to me, but that's not Mitchell's fault.