This is such a beautifully crafted book! The Tao Te Ching is notoriously difficult to translate, and I appreciated the thoughtful notes that bracket the main text, which give context for what went into the textual as well as visual translations. The artistic direction is not only powerful but coherent across the whole book, with consistency of form and style on every page. I originally picked up a digital copy through Netgalley, but I ended up purchasing a copy for a friend of mine who loves both graphic novels and nuanced takes on Taoism. She in turn loved it so much that she ended up ordering several other of Sean Michael Wilson's graphic novel translations.

Although I could see the potential in this text, I was not able to sustain my attention and finish the narrative.

A beautifully drawn graphic gloss on the ancient text of the Tao Te Ching. The illustrations are used to accentuate, explain or give an example of the preceding verse. This text has had many interpretations over the years and this version does not give any new or definitive answers to it's meaning (because there is no definite in the philosophy of the work). The biggest downside I found was that when a passage went past one page there often was not an illustration to go with it. As good as any version of the Tao Te Ching that I have read, I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in Daoism, eastern thought or a new way of understanding.

The original book is confusing, and this one was a bit difficult to follow as well, although that is of no fault of the translator. The illustrations were well done and helpful with interpreting the text.

I have read the Tao Te Ching more than once, and find it very difficult to understand. Nevertheless, I keep trying to understand this book, as I am interested in the thinking behind movements that have affected the world and its cultures. I was optimistic that Sean Michael Wilson's added illustrations might help me take in the words more easily. You may consider it user error, but it didn't work. While some of the illustrations were helpful, others seemed to have nothing to do with the pages surrounding them.

Tao Te Ching is just as much a mystery to me now as it was before I read this version. Perhaps, for me, it is meant to remain so.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Shambhalla Publications for giving me another opportunity to learn these lessons. All opinions expressed are strictly my own.