The Second Book of the Tao
by Stephen Mitchell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen MitchellEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2009-02-19
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Book Reviews of The Second Book of the Tao
Book Review: Exceptional Reading. Worthy of contemplation.
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely loved this book. I was so happy that I took a chance and bought it. Stephen Mitchell's translations of these nuggets ancient Chinese wisdom are excellent as usual, but what really sets this book apart are his commentaries. On the page opposite each of the 64 poems is a prose commentary that has humor as well as insights that brilliantly illuminate the original. I know this is high praise, but I admit to liking his accessible commentaries even better than the poems he is commenting upon.
In fact, Mitchell acknowledges in the light-hearted introduction that the translations are "loose." Thus, the combination of his adventurous translations with his finely-crafted commentaries give this special volume a clarity that absolutely works. It connects spiritually with a wholeness that I don't think I've ever experienced amongst all the many Eastern wisdom volumes I have read. The fact that it is compact and concise--just 64 poems and commentaries--adds to its power (as well as its convenience.)
Yes, I am someone who already respected the work of Stephen Mitchell (including his exceptional collaboration with his wife Byron Katie, "A Thousand Names for Joy," another favorite of mine). But "The Second Book of the Tao" is, in my opinion, absolutely one of his greatest works. If you love Eastern Wisdom, don't miss this gem.
Summary of The Second Book of the Tao
Enhanced by Stephen Mitchell?s illuminating commentary, the next volume of the classic manual on the art of livingThe most widely translated book in world literature after the Bible, Lao-tzu?s Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living. Following the phenomenal success of his own version of the Tao Te Ching, renowned scholar and translator Stephen Mitchell has composed the innovative The Second Book of the Tao. Drawn from the work of Lao-tzu?s disciple Chuang-tzu and Confucius?s grandson Tzussu, The Second Book of the Tao offers Western readers a path into reality that has nothing to do with Taoism or Buddhism or old or new alone, but everything to do with truth. Mitchell has selected the freshest, clearest teachings from these two great students of the Tao and adapted them into versions that reveal the poetry, depth, and humor of the original texts with a thrilling new power. Alongside each adaptation, Mitchell includes his own commentary, at once explicating and complementing the text.
This book is a twenty-first-century form of ancient wisdom, bringing a new, homemade sequel to the Tao Te Ching into the modern world. Mitchell?s renditions are radiantly lucid; they dig out the vision that?s hiding beneath the words; they grab the text by the scruff of the neck?by its heart, really?and let its essential meanings fall out. The book introduces us to a cast of vivid characters, most of them humble artisans or servants, who show us what it means to be in harmony with the way things are. Its wisdom provides a psychological and moral acuity as deep as the Tao Te Ching itself.
The Second Book of the Tao is a gift to contemporary readers, granting us access to our own fundamental wisdom. Mitchell?s meditations and risky reimagining of the original texts are brilliant and liberating, not least because they keep catching us off-guard, opening up the heavens where before we saw a roof. He makes the ancient teachings at once modern, relevant, and timeless.
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