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wickedcestus's review against another edition
I don't understand most of the miniature stories contained in this book. That's kind of the point. You're supposed to think about them for a while. Well! I'm still thinking about some of them. I'm probably going to keep reading this book every once in a while (it's short), and see what I get out of it each time.
Most of my favourite stories are from the first chapter. Like this one:
"Someone in Sung had some marvelous hats to sell, so he took them to Yueh. But the Yueh tribes crop their hair short and tattoo their bodies: they had no use for marvelous hats."
That's my kind of tale.
Later, Chuang Tzu chastises his friend, calling him a fool and a buffoon, for eating an oversized gourd, instead of using it as a boat to drift down the river.
Many of the stories go something like this:
A middling sage with a name like Adept Watershed approaches either Chuang Tzu or Confucius and gets told off for not being sage enough.
Or:
Three sages who are friends, let's say Adept Horsehouse, Adept Woodfarm, and Adept Kung behave towards each other in some way that others don't understand, but is actually good, for some reason.
Or something like that. It's funny, but also, in a way that I am not making clear in this review, it makes you think. I'd recommend reading the Tao Te Ching first, so you have context for what kind of lessons are being taught here.
Most of my favourite stories are from the first chapter. Like this one:
"Someone in Sung had some marvelous hats to sell, so he took them to Yueh. But the Yueh tribes crop their hair short and tattoo their bodies: they had no use for marvelous hats."
That's my kind of tale.
Later, Chuang Tzu chastises his friend, calling him a fool and a buffoon, for eating an oversized gourd, instead of using it as a boat to drift down the river.
Many of the stories go something like this:
A middling sage with a name like Adept Watershed approaches either Chuang Tzu or Confucius and gets told off for not being sage enough.
Or:
Three sages who are friends, let's say Adept Horsehouse, Adept Woodfarm, and Adept Kung behave towards each other in some way that others don't understand, but is actually good, for some reason.
Or something like that. It's funny, but also, in a way that I am not making clear in this review, it makes you think. I'd recommend reading the Tao Te Ching first, so you have context for what kind of lessons are being taught here.
funfamilyvideos's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
number9dream's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know how much I understood it but I loved it.
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