The Book of Chuang Tzu

by Chuang Tzu, Martin Palmer (Translation)

The Book of Chuang Tzu draws together the stories, tales, jokes and anecdotes that have gathered around the figure of Chuang Tzu. One of the great founders of Taoism, Chaung Tzu lived in the fourth century BC and is among the most enjoyable and intriguing personalities in the whole of Chinese philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Asia, China, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion

ebook

Published November 30, 2006

Reviews

[Ron]

The writing style felt a bit cumbersome to me at times. Some stories seem to contradict others, some I find questionable and in others I don't see the meaning of it. But as it is put in the last chapter: "understanding is not understanding". Like buddhist Koans, the point sometimes is that there is no point. You are not supposed to "get it", or "getting it" has to do with seeing, not with intellectualizing.

What it is is a messy collecting of quirky stories that do not really lead anywhere. Each one is its own little unicorn, and that is just fantastic! Sometimes I was really inspired or intrigued by what the words conjured up in my mind. And almost every time it stilled me. I found it most pleasurable to read in nature, when you are already in balance. And when I was stressed or impatient I couldn't get into it at all. That is probably more up to the reader, not the book. You have to let it do its thing by just meditating on the words and then you might just see the Dao working its way through it and through to you.

[Orlando Mochi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secondo me è uno dei libri più belli di sempre: profondissimo, originalissimo, spontaneo, leggero, ironico, deliziosamente incoerente, demolisce i pregiudizi, offre una prospettiva sul mondo sempre altra e sempre diversa dalla nostra. Penso che lo leggerò ancora per anni e anni (e che ci troverò sempre cose nuove che non avevo notato prima). Mi ha fatto interessare tantissimo al taoismo e mi ha fatto scoprire altri libri quasi altrettanto meravigliosi. Tutti i miei amici devono leggerlo. È una minaccia.

[Ernst Lanzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horsehead Humpback was pretty funny

[Tdimaginarybff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of THIS translation. Awesome book, kinda lifeless translation in the penguin book.

[Lukas Van Veen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction is best.