Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.60 You Save: $5.39 (49%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $5.00 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Tao Te Ching
Book Review: translation?
Summary: 2 Stars
a poet like mitchell certainly has the right to write whatever he likes if he does not refer to his text as a "translation" of tao te ching. i understand that in our age translations can be free, and ancient texts are required to be brought up to date. one is tempted to view this as a peculiarly american phenomenon, but whatever it means, mitchell's translation, it seems to me, conveys little of the original. translation is of course a tricky matter, and i don't intend to discuss it in any detail here. all i can say is that it wouldn't hurt anyone if mitchell takes some time off tolearn the chinese language first, and to seriously study some chinese philosophy. this is not easy to do, i admit, especially in the west--and certainly not as easy as a free and poetic rendering of the tao te ching w/o understanding chinese. even pound, let us remember, knew a little bit of ancient chinese, and however intuitive his understanding was, he was a real poet w/ considerable resources, translating mainly poetry, not philosophy. i don't think mitchell is much of anything, but sir, please learn a little more about another culture before preceding to translate it for our time. the last thing we want is some sort of ultra-hip californian interpretation of lao tze. a free translation is exceedingly difficult, demanding utmost care and genuine acquaintance w/ the original language and culture. for someone as lacking in learning as mitchell is, the best way is to be as literal as possible, which means 2-3 yrs of class time in chinese first. and one last note--his translation of rilke is good, but not as good as most say it is. even there his rather free rendering often ignores the spirit of the original, probably due to his uncertain grasp of german.Book Review: wow
Summary: 5 Stars
This book changed my life. If you read it it will change your's too.