Reviews

The Tao Te Ching by Laozi

joedavison01's review against another edition

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inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

2.5

alchemist_zero's review against another edition

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5.0

After leaving my original faith I'd never really felt any other religion or philosophy really click for me. I was raised LDS/Mormon and essentially researched my way out after studying the history of that church and found myself doing the same for most faiths I learned about.

But there's something about the Tao Te Ching that just spoke to me. A profound simplicity that speaks to something I've always known, but could never describe. Which after all is the very first line, "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao". The Tao Te Ching is a fascinating attempt to describe the indescribable, and point to a way of living that promotes harmony with all those we live with, including the earth itself.

It may not be for everyone, but If you're at all interested in one of the principal works of eastern philosophy, I think its worth giving a shot.

alexandra4's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

tmhwrd's review against another edition

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No idea how accurately this "rendition" follows the original, but it reads beautifully, and Le Guin's notes and appendices are useful guides to further thought and reading.

enchantedcowboy's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

4.0

_lish_'s review against another edition

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informative reflective fast-paced

3.0

casparb's review against another edition

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3.0

A very concise series of insights. There's a rather unique metaphysics to the Tao that is interesting in its quite fundamental divergence from Western metaphysics, and a good deal of the wisdom here seems unfamiliar or unintuitive on the surface - to me at least, as a Western reader. But that makes it more curious I think.

Mostly I get the sense that an awful lot is lost in translation. This is to be expected when we talk about translations from Chinese but a tragedy nonetheless. It's a curious text, and one worth considering.

ahannigan's review against another edition

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2.0

This took me too long to finish. I don’t know if it was the translation I got, but that was very hard to read. I’ve been trying to expand my reading taste as much as possible. It was worth the read, and I was able to take a few lessons from it. Additionally, I know now to make sure I get a translation that fits me.

kpbake427's review against another edition

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5.0

I didn't understand or necessarily agree with everything but I think there is lots of wisdom to be found in this book of scripture. I particularly enjoyed the respect and reverence shown for women and motherhood.

kmheselton's review against another edition

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5.0

I actually listened to the audio book version of Tao Te Ching after hearing it mentioned on the Sword and Laser podcast. With an hour drive into work, an audio book can have a crucial impact on my commute. At first the delivery is a little hard to adapt to in that it flows much like the Tao principle. Letting your mind wander for a moment tends to lose the momentum. While read in a leisurely pace, the concepts of Tao Te Ching all tended to make me drift into introspection. There was quite a bit of turning off my radio so that I could let myself catch up.

I really enjoyed the Tao Te Ching; however, I think that this would be best enjoyed in written form. I plan to put it into my list of books that I read over and over again. There is so much to digest in the wisdom of this translation, and I think that each reading will provide more insight.