Complete Idiot's Guide to Eastern Philosophy

Rating:
Summary: good starting point
Review: excellent place for a beginner to understand the sometimes very confusing world of Eastern thought. A first step that will take you on your personal path of enlightenment.

Rating:
Summary: good starting point
Review: excellent place for a beginner to understand the sometimes very confusing world of Eastern thought. A first step that will take you on your personal path of enlightenment.

Rating:
Summary: Overall Good
Review: I enjoyed this book, and it was definitely informative, but I thought it could have been more well-balanced in what information it chose to include on each philosophym,, rather than its focus on some aspects and its exclusion of others. Additionally, the book does not eally provide much information on the actual basic teachings of many of the philosophies. Nevertheless, I still think it is worth reading and very informative.

Rating:
Summary: good info, but big on "cute"
Review: This book covers a great amount of material in a an easy-to-read fashion (even when the concepts are contradictory). The problem is that every topic has to have titles and headings that are puns. The use of "cute" and "clever" are so extreme that I was unable to finsh reading. It became too much. The above average content was ruined by ameteurish titles.

If you don't mind two (or more) puns per page, this book covers the topic well.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkably usefull
Review: Yes, you may feel like an "idiot" toting this book around (somehow 'idiot's guide' and 'eastern philosophy don't jibe.) But this book is an amazingly thought provoking umbrella symposium on Eastern philosophies and religions. Since many Eastern texts require a guide to read along with, this book is extremely useful even for more serious readers. Where esle can you get the subtle differences between Taoist factions outined in half a page--udnerstandably? It's a fascinating book, and could (in fact, should) be used as a textbook at Universities around the country.