![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet
Author: Benjamin Hoff
Rating: 2/DNF
Summary: Tree pruner and amateur Taoist explains Taoism to a modern audience using Winnie-the-Pooh as an example.
Review: I read The Tao of Pooh because it was short and on my shelf and because it is an artifact of the introduction of an Eastern religion to an American audience. I have learned a little about Taoism already--not much, but I did read the Tao Te Ching. And this book? It is not so much Taoism.
The problem starts with this: "This and other selections from classical oriental texts are my own translations and adaptations." The Bible is the most translated book in the world. The Tao Te Ching is the second most translated. It is mystery literature. Any translation into another language, and there have been hundreds into English, inevitably bears the imprint of the translator's interpretation. Now the fact that Hoff added "and adaptations" to his note? He's essentially saying that he's not presenting an honest representation of the texts at all, he's just warping them to fit his own ideas.
The second problem is Pooh. The Tao of Pooh is a very short book, and yet about half of it is quotes from A.A. Milne. These quotes just made me want to read A.A. Milne. I understand his attempt to use a familiar story to explain an unfamiliar idea, but he repeatedly uses the Pooh stories as proof that Taoism is correct. See how silly Rabbit is? That just shows how Taoism is right about the pursuit of knowledge.
The problem with this? Pooh is fiction. And it's not a Taoist allegory. While it is interesting to search out Taoist ideas in Western literature, there needs to be a fundamental acknowledgment that Milne was not secretly Taoist. Pooh Bear is not the hero of these stories because the stories are making a point about stupidity being the best way to live, Pooh is the hero because he is childlike and these stories are children's fantasy.
Which brings me to my third point, and why I gave up on The Te of Piglet after 60 pages. I don't think these books give a fair portrayal of Taoism. What they do is talk about how awful the West is, and how we need to fix it by embracing its opposite, which must be an Eastern religion. For example, The Tao of Pooh talks about how much better things are in China because they have tea houses where people sit down and enjoy each other's company while here we have hamburger stands where people rush about and eat standing. As if there are no street food stalls in China. As if there are no bars in America.
Here is where I gave up on The Te of Piglet:
Two things. One - Hoff has fundamentally misunderstood what critics do. Two - WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TAOISM.
Seriously, The Te of Piglet is barely even pretending it's about Taoism. The quotes are either from Milne or from Thoreau WHO WASN'T A FUCKING TAOIST he was a Transcendentalist, which is kind of a different thing. Also, half the fun of Thoreau is his obliviousness to the irony of most of what he's saying, so unironically quoting him tends to make me think you're oblivious, too.
The Tao of Pooh was an attempt to explain Taoism, in an Orientalizing, facile, trite way (so of course it was not only a bestseller but is used as required reading in college-level comparative religion classes I shit you not). The Te of Piglet is an even more Orientalist excuse to whine about everything wrong with Western Culture and pretend that by complaining about the news and critics and science and day planners he has somehow made a convincing argument for Taoism, completely missing the fact that he is appropriating Taoism as a sort of empty vacuum into which he pours his points about how MYSTICAL and IN TOUCH WITH NATURE and TOTALLY SEPARATE FROM THE WEST the East is.
So I think I'm done with this author. Now if anyone says they learned a lot from these books, I can smack them with full knowledge that I am justified in doing so.
Author: Benjamin Hoff
Rating: 2/DNF
Summary: Tree pruner and amateur Taoist explains Taoism to a modern audience using Winnie-the-Pooh as an example.
Review: I read The Tao of Pooh because it was short and on my shelf and because it is an artifact of the introduction of an Eastern religion to an American audience. I have learned a little about Taoism already--not much, but I did read the Tao Te Ching. And this book? It is not so much Taoism.
The problem starts with this: "This and other selections from classical oriental texts are my own translations and adaptations." The Bible is the most translated book in the world. The Tao Te Ching is the second most translated. It is mystery literature. Any translation into another language, and there have been hundreds into English, inevitably bears the imprint of the translator's interpretation. Now the fact that Hoff added "and adaptations" to his note? He's essentially saying that he's not presenting an honest representation of the texts at all, he's just warping them to fit his own ideas.
The second problem is Pooh. The Tao of Pooh is a very short book, and yet about half of it is quotes from A.A. Milne. These quotes just made me want to read A.A. Milne. I understand his attempt to use a familiar story to explain an unfamiliar idea, but he repeatedly uses the Pooh stories as proof that Taoism is correct. See how silly Rabbit is? That just shows how Taoism is right about the pursuit of knowledge.
The problem with this? Pooh is fiction. And it's not a Taoist allegory. While it is interesting to search out Taoist ideas in Western literature, there needs to be a fundamental acknowledgment that Milne was not secretly Taoist. Pooh Bear is not the hero of these stories because the stories are making a point about stupidity being the best way to live, Pooh is the hero because he is childlike and these stories are children's fantasy.
Which brings me to my third point, and why I gave up on The Te of Piglet after 60 pages. I don't think these books give a fair portrayal of Taoism. What they do is talk about how awful the West is, and how we need to fix it by embracing its opposite, which must be an Eastern religion. For example, The Tao of Pooh talks about how much better things are in China because they have tea houses where people sit down and enjoy each other's company while here we have hamburger stands where people rush about and eat standing. As if there are no street food stalls in China. As if there are no bars in America.
Here is where I gave up on The Te of Piglet:
All this about newspapers, gossip, and such brings us to those classic Eeyore killjoys and spoilsports known as The Critics. You know what they are, whether they be professional Reputation Smashers or the Old Grump next door. If you sing, they can sing better (even though they can't sing). If you dance, they can dance better (even though they can't dance). If you direct a theater production, they can direct better (even though they can't direct). Whatever you do, they can do it better, even though they can't do it as well as you can. And since they can't do it as well as you, it shouldn't be particularly surprising if they don't accurately judge it.
Two things. One - Hoff has fundamentally misunderstood what critics do. Two - WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TAOISM.
Seriously, The Te of Piglet is barely even pretending it's about Taoism. The quotes are either from Milne or from Thoreau WHO WASN'T A FUCKING TAOIST he was a Transcendentalist, which is kind of a different thing. Also, half the fun of Thoreau is his obliviousness to the irony of most of what he's saying, so unironically quoting him tends to make me think you're oblivious, too.
The Tao of Pooh was an attempt to explain Taoism, in an Orientalizing, facile, trite way (so of course it was not only a bestseller but is used as required reading in college-level comparative religion classes I shit you not). The Te of Piglet is an even more Orientalist excuse to whine about everything wrong with Western Culture and pretend that by complaining about the news and critics and science and day planners he has somehow made a convincing argument for Taoism, completely missing the fact that he is appropriating Taoism as a sort of empty vacuum into which he pours his points about how MYSTICAL and IN TOUCH WITH NATURE and TOTALLY SEPARATE FROM THE WEST the East is.
So I think I'm done with this author. Now if anyone says they learned a lot from these books, I can smack them with full knowledge that I am justified in doing so.