Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition
by Lao Tzu
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Book Reviews of Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition
Book Review: Good Translation
Summary: 5 Stars
I did a lot of research ahead of time. I'm not an expert on Taoism or this book, but I do have a background in studying ancient works. Translation is very important.
One of the big reasons I bought this is because as I was reading the verses, I kept having "aha" moments. For whatever reason, this translation feels really clear to me, without losing the tone of the original, which I understand is a bit cryptic in places. I feel he deals well with the paradoxes, contradictions, and riddles. In my opinion, it's bad to over-explain things in a translation, because the reader doesn't have to wrestle with the text. And it's in wrestling with a text like this that it's possible to gain understand beyond the words themselves.
I also love that he goes word-for-word in the back and gives multiple meanings for the words. I don't know much about ancient Chinese, but it's exciting to me that I can get a sense of the broader meanings and associations of these words. That to me is important to a faithful translation in any language, especially ones that are so far away from my native culture and language.
Book Review: Hindu commentary on Taoist document
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great translation, for all the reasons others have stated. However I was extremely disappointed to find that a large percentage of the comments on the text are from Hinduism!
For example the comment on entire comment on verse 69 talks about the Bhagavad Gita and Krisha! It barely mentions the Tao te Ching passage but instead is 10 sentences about Lord Krisha, the Pandava Princes, and dharma. The commentary on the next Tao te Ching verse, 70, consists of nothing more than a quote from "Mysticism in India".
In the first three pages alone, five Hindu texts are quoted at length! For a few moments I wondered if there was a printer's screwup which caused pages of a commentary about Indian religion to be added to the Tao te Ching book.
Besides being confusing, this heavy use of terms from other religions gives concern that the author has a theory that Taoism is just the Chinese version of Hinduism, and tilted his book that way.
Book Review: Words Pointing to the Wordless
Summary: 5 Stars
While this book contains an excellent translation of Lao Tzu's teachings, a huge portion of it is also dedicated to showing precisely the methods of how it was translated. It gives a list of all the different possible words that could have been used as alternatives, for every single character and verse of the Tao Te Ching. If you don't agree with Jonathan's choice of English words, or if you think something is out of context, choose a different word from the list of options.
No wonder it's called "The Definitive Edition". Well, as far as an English translation goes, that is. Any translation is going to lose some of the original energy of the true teaching of the Enlightened Master. It's unavoidable. But then words of any language can't even come close to the experiential Truth of Reality that Lao Tzu tried to explain. The words are merely pointers the Wordless.
Book Review: He bites off more than we can chew
Summary: 1 Stars
This book offers a rather mediocre translation, and contains commentary on the first verse only. Its greatest virtue, it seems, was supposed to be the section in which all of the characters in each verse are given with their individual translations. This section is meant to offer the reader a shot at making up his or her own translation/interpretation. However, any student of Chinese literature or languages in general will recognize the impossibility of translating Chinese characters acurately with only simple equivalencies given as meanings. Thus, the book fails in every aspect. You should purchase two better translations for comparison, at least one of which should have full commentary, if you wish to begin investigating the subtlties of the Tao Te Ching.Book Review: Absolutely Beautiful!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a new student of the Tao Te Ching and know that this will be a life long study. I have begun to collect various translations to enhance my reading and selected this version for 2 reasons. One is that it was translated by Gia-Fu Feng and secondly because it had pictures. When it arrived I was stunned as it so far exceeded my expectations. The B & W photography of Jane English is indeed haunting & powerful on its own. Each shot is beautiful enough to want to display them - any of them or all of them. I Find reading the beautiful verse and then contemplating it while looking at the astounding pictures to be an amazing experience. I am grateful for this edition. I hope you consider adding it to your set.