Customer Reviews

The Te of Piglet

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I thoughrouly enjoyed and learned from the Toa of Pooh. The Te of Piglet seemed like little more than Mr Hoff's attempt to rub the success of the first book in the face of his critics.

The theoretical intention of the book was to explain the concept of Te and applying it to piglet for the western audiance. You could probably sum up everything he had to say about it on one page. Or one quote from the New Testament: "Blessed are the meek." He didn't really say much more than that on the subject.

What the book really seemed to be about was Eeyore. How Eeyore was against him, how Eeyore was wrong, how Eeyore never does anything, how Eeyore started all the wars... I often forgot the book was even supposed to be about piglet.

He devotes a lot of time, especially near the end to various political issues, such as the destruction of the redwood forest. A worthy cause, and some of his other's may also be worthy, but he doesn't make it clear at all what any of it has to do with Piglet. He probably should have written a different book entirely.

This book was less about Taoism and personal growth than it was a lesson in learning to ignore people who don't agree with you. And if you didn't know Benjamin Hoff Personally, and never told him the idea of the Toa of Pooh was stupid, then the core message wasn't meant for you. To those who is was meant for, allow me to paraphrase: I told you so.

Definetly not as good as the first. I really couldn't get over the condecending tone towards the whole loveable cast of my childhood heros. The chapter criticising feminism outraged me highly...It showed the authors obvious lack of understanding of what feminism is, even at its core, much less the understanding that there are an unlimited number of "breeds" of feminism...

The whole book is hypocritical...the author spends all his time complaining about how in the wrong people who complain all the time are...

Don't bother with this one.

If you're like me, you've never really understood the mystical and murky meanings of
Eastern philosophies. I had that humanities class and all, but it never really sunk in while I
was sitting in the lecture hall behind some giggling freshman. These amazingly simple
books have taught me the secrets of life and happiness. Well, not really, but they do
teach you the way to get through life without life getting to you. Better than the Stress
Ball and less expensive than a trip to a swanky health spa, it has been helpful to me. Hoff
explains Taoism through beloved characters from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories by A.A.
Milne. Yes, that's right, Pooh. I know it sounds weird, but it really works. These books
are very charming, funny, and witty. I now understand Taoist philosophy (I think), Pooh,
and Piglet better. I'm sure some Eastern philosophers are annoyed (or rolling over in their
graves) at these books, but, hey, it's the only way Americans are every gonna understand
it at all!
http://pilot.msu.edu/user/trescami/newage.html

While some of the history regarding Confucianism and Taoism was moderately interesting the book quickly decended into the author's own political agendas. I'm only a third of the way into the book and I'm already considering selling it back to the nearest used bookstore. Such a disappointment. The Tao of Pooh was a much more interesting read.

Hoff climbs on his soapbox and starts to rant; and I had read enough after sixty pages.

This is the kind of book that appeals to deep thinkers. You know the sort, the folks who think that "innuendo" is a brand of Italian suppositories.

If you loved Hoff's anti-scientific ravings which you read under electrically powered lights in an air-conditioned room, then used your computer to post your sycophantic droolings to the internet and do *not* see the stunning inconsistency in your worldview/lifestyle, you will similarly fail to understand the following:

Hoff explains on p.191 how his MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR was ambushed by armed thugs and the MARTIAL ARTIST came out ahead *merely because he is small*. His training had nothing to do with it. We are meant to believe Mike Tyson doesn't fight Bantam-weights for *his* *own* *protection*.

The Neo-luddite rant gets old, especially when coupled with Hoff's inability to reason. Yes, I know "reason" is a bourgeois concept but it figures so prominently in the real world. The only contributions of the West worth mentioning are velcro and telescopes. The latter he uses to gaze longingly at a fictionally romanticized China. The former he uses to replace shoelaces. D@amnably pesky, oppressive, and over-complicated shoelaces!

If Hoff is an intellectually stimulating read for you, you need to seriously evaluate your reading list.

I read the Tao of Pooh and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was hoping I would find the same amount of enjoyment in the Te of Piglet if not more however I was destined for disappointment.

This book speaks very little about Taoism and more about his own personal social and political beliefs. I was also offended by his complete disdain of the American Military. I consider myself a Taoist and I am also a Soldier in the U.S. Army.

Everyone sees the Tao in differant ways and reading through it I see conflict a natural part of the Way. Dog fight dog, cat fights cat, apes murder one another. Conflict is just as natural as a tree growing in a forest.

This sequel of the masterpiece "Tao of Pooh" beats the original in terms of density of ideas and clarity of presentation. It is nearly double the size of "The Tao of Pooh", hence gave me double the pleasure of reading it. Having read A.A. Milne's Pooh classics, and having thoroughly enjoyed the "Tao of Pooh", it was only natural that I buy this book and have more fun learning about Taoism through the enjoyable adventures of Pooh and Piglet.

This volume focuses on the various Piglet stories, showing us how smallness can be a virtue (Te). It recounts Piglet's myriad adventures: the Heffalump, Owl's house episode, and encounters with Tigger and Eeyore to teach us about philosophical truths: things can look different that what they are, one needs to find their place and live in harmony with nature, etc. Actually, in almost an imperceptible way the author gets us to think about fundamental issues that are at the core of our relationship with the modern world. For example, how the West borrowed early scientific knowledge from the East but did not borrow the philosophical basis behind that knowledge. Since I pursue a science career, this particular issue triggers an important bell for me. One can almost sense an anti-science substratum in the book, yet as a scientist I cannot help agree with the author in many cases. Science today is like a vehicle running amok without a driver. Is this really good for us? Why aren't we even asking ourselves these questions? At least Benjamin Hoff does, and he deserves an open ear.

Of course, not all the ideas are developed into an indisputable treatise. This book is classified as "humor" after all. This is perhaps appropriate since the Taoist attitude to life also depends on humor to some extent. Pooh and Piglet, the humorous characters who do not take themselves seriously are in a way the perfect vehicle to illustrate ancient Taoist principles. This is a highly recommended book!

I first read the Tao of Pooh in college and many of the ideas had a direct and lasting impact in my life. Finally, I picked up the Te of Piglet, only to find that as insightful as it tried to be the author has some serious hang ups. There were some very serious misinterpretations in this book that I consider dangerous. Mr. Hoff confuses lesbianism and feminism with man-hating, something many lesbians and feminist do not subscribe to. If you can ignore some of the sweeping mis-statements, there is something of value to be found in these pages.

This is a fun little book to read on a hot summer day when your inside and have nothing else to do.