Review: "Friendly" translation
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2012
I have been interested in reading the Tao Te Ching for some time now, but have always been intimidated by the large annotated versions sold as textbooks. I think one of the reasons I appreciate this book is the author's comment in the introduction regarding other copies and translations--they are often tainted by the each translators' interpretation. This author has clearly made great efforts to remain unbiased in his translation and present as literal a translation as possible. This is helpful because you are provided with an unpolluted version of the text and able to make your own assumptions. Sometimes you get to a chapter with text that is difficult to interpret or hard to make a connection with, and I think that is the value of philosophy--to study, think critically, and arrive at your own interpretation in how philosophy and your ethics allow you to perceive a situation. I very much appreciate the simplicity of this book, and I found it to be more rewarding of an experience than had it told me how to think.