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Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way |  | Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Publisher: Shambhala
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $10.15
as of 9/3/2010 20:40 CDT details
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New (25) Used (12) from $9.98
Seller: BRILANTI BOOKS
Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 260267
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Har/Com
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.4 x 5.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1590307445
Dewey Decimal Number: 299.51482
EAN: 9781590307441
ASIN: 1590307445
Publication Date: October 13, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Like Stephen Mitchell, acclaimed author and poet Ursula K. Le Guin has attempted a nonliteral, poetic rendition of the Tao Te Ching. She brings to it a punctuated grace that can only have been hammered out during long trials of wordsmithing. The wisdom that she finds in the Tao Te Ching is primal, and her spare, undulating phrases speak volumes. By making the text her own, Le Guin avoids such questions as "Is it accurate?" By making it her own, she has made it for us--a new, uncarved block from which we are free to sculpt our own meaning.
Product Description
Ursula K. Le Guin, a student of the Tao Te Ching for more than fifty years, offers her own thoughtful rendering of the Taoist scripture. She has consulted the literal translations and worked with the scholar J. P. Seaton to develop a version that lets the ancient text speak in a fresh way to modern people, while remaining faithful to the original Chinese. This rendition reveals the Tao Te Ching’s immediate relevance and power, its depth and refreshing humor, illustrating better than ever before why it has been so loved for more than 2,500 years. Included are Le Guin’s own personal commentary and notes along with two audio CDs of the text read by the author, with original music composed and performed by Todd Barton.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 29
 Captures the spirit of the Tao August 20, 2010
Casca (Australia)
This is the most rewarding version of the Tao Te Ching I have come across.It brings the book to life, and makes it more understandable. For example, some lines in the first chapter read as follows:
So the unwanting soul
sees what's hidden,
and the ever-wanting soul
sees only what it wants.
These lines are rendered incomprehensible to me in other translations.Le Guin allows us to get more out of Taoism.A must read for anyone interested in Taoism.
The power of the Tao February 6, 2010
Erik C. Pihl (Sacramento, Ca.)
This book represents, not another translation of what must be one of the most translated books in existence, but rather the careful reworking of it, by one of America's excellent writers. Ursula Le Guin is well known for her literary achievements. With this small volume she takes the first steps on the road that, if it can be walked on, is not the true (or real) road. She does a marvellous job with the verses and makes poignent -and sometimes pungent - notes. Hearing her read the text, which is contained on two CD's which come with the book, is a wonderful opportunity for the reader to experience a whole new dimension of this material. I would recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest
in it, even if they are very familiar with other versions of it.
 There are better versions April 22, 2009
L. Power (San Francisco)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I bought this book because I read verse 1, and it had an interesting take on that verse.
Reading the other verses later, it unfortunately in my view overall did not reach the same level of quality as other renditions or translations of this classic work.
So, you may be wondering, if not this book, which version?
My personal favorite is the Stephen Mitchell, the first one I purchased.
It's use of language is simply brilliant, and inspiring, and opened my mind up to new levels of understanding, new ways of looking, and after I read it several times I had new and better perceptions. I have given this book as a present to several people.
Of the other popular versions I own, the Star version is a translation directly from Chinese. If you buy this book it has Chinese symbols at back with multiple possible meanings and words for each symbol. This broadens your potential understanding, and would enable you to write your own version of the Tao. I like his version a lot.
The Jane English version is also very popular and of a similar standard to the above two. Wayne Dyer has also done a creditable version.
If you are a Dyer fan, he has also recently put out a book Change your thoughts, Change your Life. This is the Tao with several pages of explanation on each verse. I have bought this gift for my sister who is a Dyer fan. If you are new to the Tao, I recommend a version without essays, and gain your own understanding from your own discernment before looking at other people's opinions. Dyer has an earlier version also without essays.
If you have not read other versions of this book, you might actually like Le Guin's version.
I hope this was helpful.
Excellent! August 26, 2008
Mr. Dunkles
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One great way for non-Chinese speakers to appreciate the nature of this book is to compare many different translations and see how different they can be. I've read any number of translations of the Dao De Jing, and this is by far my favorite. Most of them tend to be pretty academic, which certainly has it's value, but Ms. Le Guin demonstrates an genuine affection for this work that comes through on every page. She gives each verse a warm, personal feel without sacrificing any of the paradox or mysticism.
Also, since she is more of a poet than an academic, her translation is a joy to read, while still being insightfully elucidated by her comments. I'd still recommend reading other versions, but if you're only going to get one, make it this one.
A translation that maintains the heart and soul of the Master June 4, 2008
Kathryn Richardson (Leawood, KS USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ursula le Guin captured the essence and poetry of the original without losing the focus and foresight of the original. Long one of my favorite fiction writers, le Guin drew on her ability to envision different worlds and exotic cultures to bring the words of an ancient Chinese philosopher into the 21st Century.
Many translations of the Tao Te Ching are on the market, few worth the paper wasted printing them. I've read most of them and found them severely lacking; they either mistranslate or distort the Chinese to maintain an artificial poetic meter or lose both poetry and meter with a literal translation. Le Guin's version maintains both intact with sublime success. I recommend it highly. Tao Te Ching aficionados, students of Chinese philosophy, poetry lovers, and curious readers will all take pleasure in this skilled translation.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 29
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