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A review by futuretreeman
The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff
medium-paced
2.75
Now maybe it's just my lack of understanding of Taoism and some misplaced assumptions about Taoist philosophy, but I have some serious mixed feeling about this book.
Here is what I enjoyed:
- I love the way Hoff brought the Winnie-the-pooh characters into real life. He didn't just talk about them but also to them. Pooh, Piglet, Owl, etc. were all in the room with him while he was writing. It was cute.
- I loved the anecdotes from historical Taoist writers. I particularly enjoyed Lao-tse's writing. But I think my favorite addition was the story of the man who caught cicadas by Chuang-tse.
- I also appreciated the love Hoff showed Piglet.
Here is what I did not:
- He seemed to share a lot of his own political opinions. Obviously, I don't know how much of that was based in Taoism and how much was just his personal interpretation and bias. Still it felt way to personal for a book marketed as an informational about Taoism.
- He talked about Eeyore, Tigger, and real people who exhibit similar behaviors as though negative thoughts and feelings, difficulty concentrating, and hyperactivity are a choice. Just completely disregarding mental health.
- Plus the bit about Piglet having a bodyguard made no sense. What was the point you were trying to get at with that?
Essentially my qualms were about how much of the book felt so negative towards other people.
I also don't think I walked away with much knowledge about Taoism. If you asked me what I learned I would just be pointing to the excerpts from Chuang-tse and Lao-tse because I more from them than I did from the actual author of this book.
The parts of the book that I did not agree with did not turn me away from learning more about Taoist philosophy though. I am curious now to explore more, perhaps read more text from Chuang-tse or Lao-tse.
Here is what I enjoyed:
- I love the way Hoff brought the Winnie-the-pooh characters into real life. He didn't just talk about them but also to them. Pooh, Piglet, Owl, etc. were all in the room with him while he was writing. It was cute.
- I loved the anecdotes from historical Taoist writers. I particularly enjoyed Lao-tse's writing. But I think my favorite addition was the story of the man who caught cicadas by Chuang-tse.
- I also appreciated the love Hoff showed Piglet.
Here is what I did not:
- He seemed to share a lot of his own political opinions. Obviously, I don't know how much of that was based in Taoism and how much was just his personal interpretation and bias. Still it felt way to personal for a book marketed as an informational about Taoism.
- He talked about Eeyore, Tigger, and real people who exhibit similar behaviors as though negative thoughts and feelings, difficulty concentrating, and hyperactivity are a choice. Just completely disregarding mental health.
- Plus the bit about Piglet having a bodyguard made no sense. What was the point you were trying to get at with that?
Essentially my qualms were about how much of the book felt so negative towards other people.
I also don't think I walked away with much knowledge about Taoism. If you asked me what I learned I would just be pointing to the excerpts from Chuang-tse and Lao-tse because I more from them than I did from the actual author of this book.
The parts of the book that I did not agree with did not turn me away from learning more about Taoist philosophy though. I am curious now to explore more, perhaps read more text from Chuang-tse or Lao-tse.