Tao Te Ching - SFBA Book Club

No cover — Lao Tzu, Ursula K. Le Guin: Tao Te Ching (2019, Shambhala)

paperback, 136 pages

Published May 13, 2019 by Shambhala.

(2 reviews)

No other English translation of this greatest of the Chinese classics can match Ursula Le Guin's striking new version. Le Guin, best known for thought-provoking science fiction novels that have helped to transform the genre, has studied the Tao Te Ching for more than forty years. She has consulted the literal translations and worked with Chinese scholars to develop a version that lets the ancient text speak in a fresh way to modern people, while remaining faithful to the poetic beauty of the work. Avoiding scholarly interpretations and esoteric Taoist insights, she has revealed the Tao Te Ching 's immediate relevance and power, its depth and refreshing humor, in a way that shows better than ever before why it has been so much loved for more than 2,500 years. Included are Le Guin's own personal commentary and notes on the text. This new version is sure to be welcomed by …

No other English translation of this greatest of the Chinese classics can match Ursula Le Guin's striking new version. Le Guin, best known for thought-provoking science fiction novels that have helped to transform the genre, has studied the Tao Te Ching for more than forty years. She has consulted the literal translations and worked with Chinese scholars to develop a version that lets the ancient text speak in a fresh way to modern people, while remaining faithful to the poetic beauty of the work. Avoiding scholarly interpretations and esoteric Taoist insights, she has revealed the Tao Te Ching 's immediate relevance and power, its depth and refreshing humor, in a way that shows better than ever before why it has been so much loved for more than 2,500 years. Included are Le Guin's own personal commentary and notes on the text. This new version is sure to be welcomed by the many readers of the Tao Te Ching as well as those coming to the text for the first time

2 editions

Miguel Ocaña reviewed Tao Te Ching by Ursula K. Le Guin

El Camino según Úrsula K le guin

5 stars

Partamos de que no se le puede dar un número de estrellas a un libro del siglo VI a.c., ya sólo con llegar a nuestros días y que se siga leyendo lo dice todo.

La sensación al leer esta interpretación de Úrsula K le guin es la de un texto que sigue sonando actual, corto en extensión pero con palabras seleccionadas llenas de belleza y significado.

Me encanta cómo te hace mirar el ying y el yang, cada cosa con su no-cosa, y la importancia del espacio vacío o el espacio negativo.

Me pasó igual con las Meditaciones de Marco Aurelio, al estar divididas en pequeños capítulos o meditaciones, es un libro al que volver y volver. Donde puedes leer unas líneas y darle vueltas todo un día porque resuenan contigo.

He hecho una primera lectura sin mucha profundidad, pero como con Las Meditaciones, volveré de vez en cuando a …

Partamos de que no se le puede dar un número de estrellas a un libro del siglo VI a.c., ya sólo con llegar a nuestros días y que se siga leyendo lo dice todo.

La sensación al leer esta interpretación de Úrsula K le guin es la de un texto que sigue sonando actual, corto en extensión pero con palabras seleccionadas llenas de belleza y significado.

Me encanta cómo te hace mirar el ying y el yang, cada cosa con su no-cosa, y la importancia del espacio vacío o el espacio negativo.

Me pasó igual con las Meditaciones de Marco Aurelio, al estar divididas en pequeños capítulos o meditaciones, es un libro al que volver y volver. Donde puedes leer unas líneas y darle vueltas todo un día porque resuenan contigo.

He hecho una primera lectura sin mucha profundidad, pero como con Las Meditaciones, volveré de vez en cuando a ver qué nuevas cosas encuentro.

phildini, while reading reviewed Tao Te Ching by Ursula K. Le Guin

This is the way

5 stars

It's rare to read a book and know, from nearly the first page, that you are beginning a lifelong relationship. I know that I will re-read, and re-read, and re-read this book. I know that I will give this book to friends, family, and my own children. I may end up re-reading this book once a year for the rest of my life.

I was not very familiar with the Tao Te Ching before reading this rendition, and I'm exceptionally glad this was my starting point. I have long been a fan of Le Guin, and her prose, and to read the wisdom from previous generations of humanity rendered through her unique lens is a gift.

This book took me so long to read because my brain recognized I needed to process as much as was possible in this first reading. Time will tell if future readings are faster or …

It's rare to read a book and know, from nearly the first page, that you are beginning a lifelong relationship. I know that I will re-read, and re-read, and re-read this book. I know that I will give this book to friends, family, and my own children. I may end up re-reading this book once a year for the rest of my life.

I was not very familiar with the Tao Te Ching before reading this rendition, and I'm exceptionally glad this was my starting point. I have long been a fan of Le Guin, and her prose, and to read the wisdom from previous generations of humanity rendered through her unique lens is a gift.

This book took me so long to read because my brain recognized I needed to process as much as was possible in this first reading. Time will tell if future readings are faster or slower.