I'm not sure that an audiobook version is the best way to "read" the Tao Te Ching for my first time - it didn't really give me the time I feel I needed to think about things before we were already off to the next one. This version also had a lot of the author's own opinions on things included, which while interesting, I'm not sure were very helpful to someone trying to simply absorb this work for the first time. I look forward to actually reading some other translations.

Granted, it was a number of years ago now, but my undergraduate minor was East Asian Studies. At the time I got hooked on the Tao Te Ching, and consulted it daily (sometimes multiple times a day). It's totally addictive! And it's a wonderful way to aid in decision making.

I haven't used it in years, but when the opportunity came up to review the audio version of Benjamin Hoff's The Eternal Tao Te Ching, I couldn't resist.

The book begins with an introduction where Benjamin Hoff explains how he became interested in the Tao Te Ching. He explores his reasonings behind his translations, and describes how mistakes have changed the meanins behind some of the original scriptures.

I enjoyed the book a lot more once Mr. Hoff moved on to his translations. This book would be a good resource for folks consulting the Tao Te Ching.

High praise to the narrator, George Newbern. He has a very pleasant voice, and does a nice job reading this book.

1 star.

If I had a copy of the print copy with all of the pretty pictures, I may have given it 2 stars.
If the final section with Hoff's notes on chapter-by-chapter translation/interpretation/exclusion decisions had been included in the audio, my opinion might have been different (I am not sure as I was not given access, nor was it available on the Tantor Audio website as instructed in the audiobook).

I really struggled with this audiobook, in many ways.

For context, I will let you know a little about me. I have loosely read a few a few translations of the Tao Te Ching some time ago ago, and have never studied it fully. I am not a dedicated scholar of the Tao in any way. My only experience lays in lifelong meditation and studying Qi Gong with an elder Master for about 4-5 years. He himself is a fifth generation Gifted healer from Burma, raised Buddhist and Taoist, a twice-certified Chinese Medicine doctor, Canadian medical doctor, long-time acupuncture prof, and calligraphy Master, among much more. His Gifts are unmistakably otherworldly. In addition to studying Qi Gong, I also studied rudimentary calligraphy under him. After these years, I transitioned to a specific lineage of yoga instead (for very good reasons) and have continued to study under the same Teacher for several years. My meditation practice has been ongoing for decades. [This is probably enough to get where I am coming from as I write this review.]

Hoff explains in the first section that he underwent to produce this translation/interpretations of the Tao Te Ching, including reverting to the oldest ancient text available, correcting mistakes made by scribes over time, mistakes further exacerbated by new writing technology and perceived mistakes made in other translations due to their own choices and processes. The process is well thought-out and largely common sense, however seemingly from a somewhat arrogant perspective. This has me wondering how many decisions were made intending to mirror the Author’s original intentions, but from a perspective that isn’t actually able to SEE nearly as far? How many mistakes are made by this author by assuming a certain character of the original author of the Tao? While the Tao is endless and all-encompassing, the culture that has brought up a modern, affluent, white, male author of extreme privilege is nothing like the experience of the original author when the Tao was actually written. Certainly this entire book contains an element of striving, of needing to prove oneself and of being the first to take an approach that Hoff seems to think is much better than all those that have come before - which I found really irritating.

Hoff also says that he spent only 6.5 years studying this ancient text, in contrast to others who spent decades before publishing their own translations/interpretations. He states that this is because he is a fast reader. Ha!! I am certain that he did a thorough *academic* study of the Tao, but Hoff’s writing doesn’t express to me that he has fully LIVED the teachings. There is a particular quality about Gifted Teachers and Masters that emanates from both them, and everything that they put into the world. This book/audiobook lacks all such magic and such humility. It is stiff and literal to the extreme - making statements of deep humility without grace or modesty. I am wondering if Hoff sat with and meditated on these teachings for several more years, if he would have been able to elucidate their meanings more truthfully and with all of the grace that this text lacks.

Given my huge reservations with the decisions that the author made with regards to translations and interpretations and exclusions in this version of the Tao Te Ching, I am uncertain what to think of the compendium of the fundamental chapters of the Tao. I am also concerned that 5 sections have been removed. Perhaps there were very good reasons, but without being able to access the accompanying PDF, I have no idea. I can definitely say that the narrator did not add any depth whatsoever.

I tried to find the "supplementary PDF" on the Tantor Audio website, as the audiobook suggested. I really struggle with physical reading in paragraph form, but I sought it out anyway. There was nowhere to enter the secret code to obtain this PDF on the audiobook's page. That said, traditionally the author's notes on translation/interpretation decisions they made in each chapter of the Tao Te Ching is part of any publication. Choosing to NOT include this in the audio section itself is absolutely a detriment to any disabled person wanting to listen to this book - and thus *ABLEIST* (never mind a real pain). Bonus PDF's should be reserved for the diagrams and/or photos included in any audiobook, not the whole last section. I should not have to download a whole extra PDF and have a text-to-voice software read that part of the book for me. And, as it was unavailable on the Tantor website at the time I made this review, I have thus missed the entire third section of the book.

I am sure that the beautiful photography that I have heard is in the printed volume adds to the feeling of Spirit, serenity, eternal now and wisdom of the verses. Having only listened to the audiobook, I cannot comment on that.

The audiobook was well read, but I’m not sure that the best narrator was chosen (or that they were instructed to use the most complimentary tone).

I really looked forward to listening to this audiobook. I am sorry that it was such a disappointment, to me. I would also really like to highlight to the publisher, Tantor Audio, that deciding not to include Hoff's chapter-by-chapter notes in the actual audio itself created a barrier to me as a disabled, neurodivergent person to actually complete the whole book. PDFs accompanying audiobooks should be reserved for diagrams and photographs.

I would like to deeply thank the original author of The Tao Te Ching, author Benjamin Hoff, the publisher Tantor Audio and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for a (probably way too) honest review.

I was compelled to research a bit about Tao Te Ching after reading this book. I liked the way the author actually sets the introduction in depth. Even a novice will now be able to understand the reason behind varied translations of the actual scriptures.

Another interesting part that I observed was the mention of one power. It reminded me of the fantasy series 'Wheel of Time' where I saw this concept being used as THE ONE POWER! maybe it was borrowed from the Chinese scriptures too.

Overall I found this book good as a beginner & I am very curious to find the other branches of this text too!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of The Eternal Tao Te Ching by Benjamin Hoff in exchange for an honest review. I remember reading The Tao Te Ching in high school and college and getting different things from it with each read, depending on what was happening in my life at the time. Listening to a more nuanced version and what the author felt was more accurate, gave me a whole new perspective on the writings. I've always been fascinated by Taoism and the intangibility and flexibility of it.

I received an arc for the audiobook from NetGalley

I've been really interested in Taoism, so when I saw this book, I was super excited. I was ready to learn all about it, since I knew literally nothing.

This book isn't really good for beginners. It's a translation of an important Taoist text (the most important one, I think? But I'm not sure).

Before the translation we get a really long introduction. Like, really long. In which the author gives some context, but mostly talks about his approach when translating.
There were a lot of East vs West comparisons that felt a bit Orientalist to me, and I want a fan of that.
The author calls his translation both unique, because he looked at the historical meaning of the words and claims to have fixed mistakes of transcribers.

Firstly, I find it hard to believe that every single person looked at a 2000+ year old text and decided to ignore the historical meanings. The author also mentions that the original author uses a lot of words in a unique way and has a different way of writing compared to contemporaries. So either Hoff is a genius who knows exactly what and how everything was meant or certain things and text have been lost over the ages. Maybe it wasn't all that different but we just don't have similar texts because it's really old and not everything survives?
Then there is the claim that Hoff fixed the <i>perceived </i> mistakes. While some mistakes can be found by comparing sources and looking at the oldest available ones, Hoff claims to be able to tell just from the text itself. He scraps while verses because he feels they're added later but there's no actual proof given. This makes me wary about the translation as a whole, but because it's my first Taoist text I can't tell what's right and what's wrong, and it makes the whole thing feel like an unreliable source.

The actual verses were fine. Some were hard to follow and could use an explanation, others were obvious. They were very repetitive in their message. While I do actually really agree with the message most of the time, hearing it over and over is just redundant.

The audiobook was fine. It wasn't anything special, but I guess that's to be expected from a non fiction book.

All in all, I do still want to learn about Taoism but this wasn't the book to start with.