Review by Choice Review
From the dedication of this volume to Burton Watson, we see that Hamill and Seaton (Univ. of North Carolina) acknowledge the unsurpassed translation of the Chuang Tzu (CH, Dec'65) Watson made in the 1960s for Columbia University. Balancing the rigorous translation from Chinese with lyrical prose, Watson set a benchmark for all translation. Like countless translations in the intervening years, this one seeks to achieve that high standard. Watson's mark still holds. The "boldness" of this new translation contains its flaws: "It aims at readability even to the extent of ignoring formal fidelity in translation." Then who does the reader encounter: the classic Chinese philosophical and religious work or the modern collaboration of a poet and scholar on the themes of that classic? The seven inner chapters of the Chuang Tzu are rendered in this volume. Watson's titles for these chapters are used. This book would be an addition to a comprehensive collection of all editions of the classic text but should not serve as a reader's introduction or for study of the material. L. L. Lam-Easton; California State University, Northridge
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Like a treasure chest of precious stones, the writings of Chuang Tzu shine with uncommon wisdom and insight. This new translation, which expertly preserves the humor and bite of these ancient teachings, will entice a whole new audience to readand re-readChuang Tzu's writings. In their informative introduction, Hamill and Seaton discuss the vast influence Chuang Tzu, a disciple of Lao Tzu, has had on writers as diverse as Walt Whitman and T.S. Eliot. Chuang Tzu's moral and spiritual instructions teach distaste for technology, love of nature and suspicion of social convention. This revered Taoist teacher also longs in his writings for a golden age when everyone lived a better life. Although written in the third century B.C., Chuang Tzu's teachings are astonishingly contemporary. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This adept abridged translation of the most important writing of the Taoist tradition after the Tao Te Ching attempts to translate key terms consistently, using the same English word even when context might call for a multiplicity of terms; it also relies extensively on an etymological use of Chinese characters and does not shy away from contemporary colloquialisms. Though some readers may end up longing for alternatives to "All-under-heaven" for the Chinese "t'ien hsia" and other such terms, and colloquialisms such as "road kill" appear unexpectedly and perhaps incongruously, Hamill (a poet and founder of Copper Canyon Press) and Seaton (Chinese, Univ. of North Carolina) have selected well and capture the wit, paradox, and profundity of Chuang-tzu's concept of the Tao. The glossary of names and themes will be helpful to nonspecialists. Recommended for all public libraries.D.E. Perushek, Northwestern Univ. Lib., Evanston, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
