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Title: The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, Ernest H. Shepard ISBN: 0-14-006747-7 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: July, 1983 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (147 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Do as I say, not as I do
Comment: Hoff's general premise is that Winnie-the-Pooh is a wonderful embodiment of some of the fundamental principles of taoism. If he limited himself to that discussion, the book would have been a much better read - he really does do a nice job of developing that theme.
Unfortunately, Mr. Hoff's un-tsaoist ego attempts to get in the way, especially, when he attempts to give direct "life lessons" to his readers (as opposed to allowing his readers to draw them from the anecdotes he desribes). Mr. Hoff at that point begins to evince a "more buddhist, and thus cooler, than thou" attitude in these portions of the book, and in the process reveals a lot of judgmentalism and close-mindedness. A minor example that I happen to recall: at some length, he belittles people who are devoted to exercise as being driven by some sort of vanity-driven compulsion. That may be true in some cases, but Hoff illustrates no ability to comprehend that some people may enjoy the act of running, or walking, or biking, or whatever, simply for itself (something the tao favors). If we all were truly at peace with ourselves, I guess we'd be attempting to package our personal spirituality for material gain like Hoff.
Rating: 1
Summary: Call me an Eeyore if you want but...
Comment: Hurrah for Western Civilization, the predominant culture-set on the planet!
Benjamin Hoff allows his Neo-Luddite hate speech to infiltrate his otherwise half-witted diatribe against academia, work, and progress. (How is it that most "progressives" I've met feel a need to romanticize about a *past* that never existed?) While saying that conservatives, scholars, and people who *do* rather than pontificate, are WRONG, this joker talks about the gentle Chinese and all their contributions to society.
How can one, logically, bemoan the fate of Tibet while praising the Chinese for their cultural sensitivity? How can one, logically, complain about the ecology in the US in contrast to China (Maybe Chinese industrial waste is just culturally superior to ours?). We have protesters here in the US. We just don't run them over with military hardware. Those culturally sensitive Chinese are just GREAT!
This is not to say that the Chinese are bad. How can a civilization that brought us Kung Pao Chicken be all *that* bad? Let us, however, be fair. Eastern Civilizations have been every bit as cruel as Western ones. Hoff would do well to learn that, worldwide, people have been miserable t@rds to each other for ages. He complains about a culture that allows dissent; I suspect that this disdain stays with him all the way to the bank. If he were to be critical *of* China *in* China, he may well find that his royalty checks would be found under "Contraband Property" and that *he* would be found under a tank.
If you want to find out about Taoism read a book on Taoism. If you want to read frantic rants about Western culture, Hoff's books may be for you.
Rating: 3
Summary: Half and Half
Comment: One could really take this book as a mixed bag of lessons. In a way, Hoff completely accidentally sets himself up as the ideal example of the opposite of a Taoist viewpoint. His portrayals of Winnie the Pooh as a simple, loving, accepting and calm creature are fairly on the mark. Though a tad simplistic, Pooh is accurately depicted as following several key Taoist virtues that are quite fundemental to such philosophy. At the same time, however, Hoff seems to scream for attention to his "higher learning" and aesceticism. Seeming to view himself a some type of guru on the subject, he makes a few jabs at Western learning in a painfully typical knee-jerk counterculturism manner. Many authors and artists in the past have attempted to seem profound simply by lashing out at anything conventional. After all, counterintuitive means profound, right? Unfortunately, no. In his rather selfrighteous, condemning, and finger-pointing manner, Hoff inadvertently deepens the lessons of the book. In his pretension, he deepens the contrast of the tranquil and nonjudgemental Pooh, setting him up as all the more admirable and showing just what sort of "more enlightened and at peace than thou" thinking this peaceful way of life stands against.
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Title: The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff ISBN: 0140230165 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 1993 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Pooh and the Philosophers : In Which It Is Shown That All of Western Philosophy Is Merely a Preamble to Winnie-The-Pooh by John Tyerman Williams, Ernest H. Shepard ISBN: 0525455205 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: August, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: Tao Te Ching : 25th-Anniversary Edition by Lao Tsu, Gia-Fu Feng, Jane English ISBN: 0679776192 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 04 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell ISBN: 0060812451 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 07 October, 1992 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Pooh and the Psychologists: In Which It Is Proven That Pooh Bear Is a Brilliant Psychotherapist by John Tyerman Williams, Ernest H. Shepard, Stephanie Owens Lurie ISBN: 0525465421 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 19 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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