Tao Te Ching

Rating:
Summary: Good Poetry, Bad translation
Review: This "translation" is good poetry and nice to read but as a translation of a book of wisdom it has lost most of its value. It is now a highly interpreted Tao Te Ching. It has lost its authenticity. It is like taking the Bible and highly editing it. Anyway, I have read at least two other translations which I found much better because they leave the interpretation to the reader. These books have footnotes with author's helpful notes, etc.

Rating:
Summary: confused, but looking for a good read
Review: CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT? I wanna read The Starseed Transmissions and this book, I haven't yet, but I would like to know what they're actually about. If it's about making your own religion or some hippie crap like that, I don't wanna read it, but if it's a good read and isn't all poems, then I'd very much like to give it a read. somebody email me at [e-mail] and give me your review and tell me whats up please! thanks a lot.

Rating:
Summary: Clean, clear, beautiful
Review: This is the first time I've felt compelled to write a review... and in large part, it is due to some of the other reviews I'veseen of Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Tao te Ching. As onewho has taught Taoism on the university level for several years, Iconsider Mr. Mitchell's translation to be magnificent.

That said, Iwould not disagree with his critics, who maintain that his literalfidelity to the original script (or our best current guess as to whatis the original script) leaves something to be desired. But to focuson words in assessing anything Taoist, is tragicomedy at its height.Mr. Mitchell captures the heart of Taoism. Who cares about the words?I cannot decide if I am amused or aghast at those who proclaimthemselves Taoists, then proceed to parse words and letters. .... Iam even more amazed to hear these people proclaim their opinions assome sort of unassailable fact. The utter lack of self-awareness--notto mention humility--is astounding. Certainty is to Taoism what a pigis to the deep blue sea--it simply has no place. I'm certain of it,or maybe I'm not.

For anyone considering buying Stephen Mitchell'stranslation of the Tao te Ching, I for one recommend itwholeheartedly. I think it is clear, inspirational and, mostimportant, completely loyal to the spirit of the oldman. ....

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Wisdom
Review: This review is not so much for the translation, but for the original Tao te Ching itself. After the Bible, the Tao te Ching is the most widely translated book in the world. Taking some one and a half hours to read from cover to cover - it should be mandatory reading material for every human being.

The text, although possibly older than the bible, holds a timeless wisdom which could just have well been written yesterday to describe out modern world. Poetic, yet to the point, it is refreshing to read a book that can be finished before tea. This book gives new meaning to the cliche: Quality over Quantity.

Rating:
Summary: mediocre and superficial
Review: I bought this translation after reading the Amazon reviews and I am sorry to report I was fooled. By the "translator"'s admission. this is a paraphrase of other translations, and it shows. He has similarly translated from sanskrit and hebrew. If you can read the original text you know what I mean; if you can't, I suggest that you obtain a philological, annotated translation. I have one written in italian, and it reveals secondary meanings and subtleties that are completely lost in this one. In this booklet you won't find a single annotation. imagine what a chinese could understand of Genesis or Revelation without having a single accompanying note.
Besides that, the language used by the translator is colloquial (not necessarily a bad thing, although the original is not written in a colloquial style), very trite (a bad thing) and politically correct (the deity is inevitably female). If you like Maya Angelou or some New Age guru this may be the version for you. Since I trust your intelligence, I invite you to look elsewhere.

Unfortunately I cannot suggest a better rendition in English. I am looking for one myself, and would appreciate any suggestion from other adventurous readers.

Rating:
Summary: Caveat Emptor!
Review: This version of TTC is NOT a "translation" -- nor does it claim to be -- some other reviewers' comments notwithstanding. Stephen Mitchell couldn't translate a Chinese menu, let alone one of the most profound philosophical works in human history. Beyond the nowadays-obligatory politically correct degenderification of the text, this is just a rehash of several older genuine translations. It tends to be (appropriately) poetic, and some beginning students of this inexhaustile work may find it valuable on that basis alone. For most such readers, I'd suggest either the Kwok/Palmer/Ramsay or the Feng/English volumes. The lush watercolors in the former or the stark, almost surreal, black and white photographs in the latter -- and the beautiful calligraphy in both -- are invaluable aids to contemplation while reading the text. For those who then develop a scholarly as well as spiritual interest, the R.G. Henricks "Ma-Wang-Tui" translation and commentary is the definitive (pace, Houston Smith) version of the entire TTC that we know today. And, for the really serious, Henricks' just-published Guodian "bamboo slip" version of the 31 oldest known "chapters" of the 81 which constitute the "complete" TTC is well worth the intense study it requires.

Rating:
Summary: Clarity and lucidity
Review: This English translation of this venerable text is by far my favorite to read, think about and act on. Other translations have never quite satisfied my curiosity. Although I am well educated, some translations are merely baffling. Stephen Mitchell does a fine job of bringing the Tao Te Ching to a single language westerner such as myself. As a Christian, I find this text to be a compatible and valuable supplement to my spiritual reading.

Rating:
Summary: Best English Translation I've Read So Far
Review: The title of the review speaks for itself, Mitchell's translation of the Tao Te Ching is the most lucid, penetrating, and beautiful english translation of this book I have ever read. I was introduced to this book about five years ago and have read many translations of this one book and Mitchell's comes closest to the beauty which the Tao Te Ching is meant to convey. For the average reader no other translation beats Mitchell's.

Rating:
Summary: Simply (the way to live)
Review: Due to it's translation from ancient chinese, the Tao Te Ching can be a somewhat abstract and cryptic book. Having read several different translations, I believe Stephen Mitchell's version to be one of the best, in that it can be better understood more readily. I think it is best to read the Tao several times, though, as the reader will gradually understand more and more, (or less and less, as the original author Lao Tze would say). Simply put, the Tao is a consise work which teaches how to live our lives simply, allowing us to be more accepting and less judgemental, with diminished fear, and greater understanding. A great work.

Rating:
Summary: A Really Beautiful Translation
Review: This is a really beautifully done translation that is geared towards men *and* women. Out of all the translations, I reccomend this one the highest.