Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Tao : The Watercourse Way by Alan W. Watts ISBN: 0-394-73311-8 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 12 January, 1977 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.58 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Enjoyable reading by a genius.
Comment: Alan Watts is obviously an extremely intelligent and well-read man who has a wonderful way of writing. He is British and sharp as a razor, and his use of analogy is entertaining and clarifying. He knows a lot about Chinese caligraphy and about Taoism in general, so his interpretations of many well-known and already-translated verses adds a fresh new perspective, and I think a valuable one.
One thing Alan does that many writers do not is apply the insights to life. He tries to show how your own life can be more enjoyable by using these Taoist perspectives, and he does this effectively. I'm the author of Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I am an expert on self-help. The ways of perceiving the world Alan presents in this book are effective in making life more enjoyable. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Alan Watts is at his best in this book
Comment: Watts' scholarship is impressive, yet even more impressive is his ability to communicate what he knows. The Tao Te Ching is not the easiest book to read, but you wouldn't know that from Watts' Watercourse book. Everything is very clearly presented. Lacking are the word-games Watts sometimes likes to play in his other books. His rather lengthy discussion of "li" would have been worth the price of the book all by itself, but there was just so much more. Far and away, this is one of the best books on Taoism I have on my shelf. I have been reading a lot of Watts lately, recently introduced to him by an acquaintance, and it has been one of the best adventures of my life. Among all his books, this is one of my favorites.
Rating: 4
Summary: It would have been a great book
Comment: I'm a great fan of Alan Watts, and this would certainly have been a five stars book had he lived to finish it.
This was originally intended to be a two parts book. The first part would introduce the basic concepts of taoism to the reader. The second one, according to Watts himself, would be "full of surprises", and I believe it would consist in a set of amusing and paradigm-shaking stories and illustrations of the taoist way.
Unfortunately, Watts passed away before initiating the second part, and the book was published as being composed only by the first one, "stuffed" with volume-increasing editorial tricks such as large size fonts and spacing, and with many pages consisting of taoist texts written in chinese.
As it is, the volume is a wonderful introduction to taoism. Nonetheless, I think the intended second part would have been the real treasure of this book, since the concepts presented in the introductory chapters, though brilliantly explained, had already been exposed, in similar ways, in many of Watts previous books.
 |
Title: The Way of Zen by Alan W. Watts ISBN: 0375705104 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 26 January, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
 |
Title: The Book : On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts ISBN: 0679723005 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 28 August, 1989 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
 |
Title: Become What You Are : Expanded Edition by Alan W. Watts ISBN: 1570629404 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 11 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: Nature, Man and Woman by Alan W. Watts ISBN: 0679732330 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 27 February, 1991 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
 |
Title: The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan W. Watts ISBN: 0394704681 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 September, 1968 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
