The te of Piglet

by Benjamin Hoff

Hardcover, 1992

Publication

Imprint: New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Dutton an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Books, c1992. Responsibility: Benjamin Hoff. OCLC Number: 25413491. Physical: Text : 1 volume : 257 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm.

Call number

Humor / Hoff

Barcode

BK-08002

ISBN

0525934960 / 9780525934967

Original publication date

1992

CSS Library Notes

Description: The author and the characters from the Pooh books engage in dialogue elucidating the Taoist principle of Te, the Way of the Small.

Table of Contents: What? Another one? --
Interjection --
The--what was that again?--of Piglet --
Very small animal --
The Eeyore effect --
The Tigger tendency --
Things as they might be --
Things as they are --
The upright heart --
The day of Piglet --
Farewell.

FY2018 /

Physical description

257 p.; 20 cm

Description

The author and the characters from the Pooh books engage in dialogue elucidating the Taoist principle of Te, the Way of the Small.

Language

Original language

English

Lexile

810L

User reviews

LibraryThing member dannywon
Not great. I read the Tao of Pooh years ago, and enjoyed it. I thought it would be interesting to see how Hoff bridges the gap between the meaning of "te" and Piglet. He makes vague comparisons throughout, and uses the rest of the book to go off on diatribes on how messed up the world is due to
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(alludes to it) republicans. This may be fine and good, and may be true, but it doesn't have anything to do with what I thought the book was supposed to be about. The best parts are probably the quotes from Chang Tse, Lao Tse, and Thoreau.
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LibraryThing member jmattas
This continues on the lines of Tao of Pooh, introducing Taoist concepts and citing some Tao-te-ching. Perhaps it's more like something you'd read in a "letters to the editor" section in a newspaper or in someone's blog, but nevertheless this book makes you think "What's this world going to?"

The
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tone in The Tao of Pooh was more optimistic, "if we learn from Pooh, we'll be happy". Now it's more like "if we don't learn from Pooh, we'll all die". Perhaps Hoff was still young in 1982 -- by 1992 he'd become preachy.

The matters discussed are relevant, it points out many ways in which I personally could change, and Hoff's writing is easy to read. There's just a bit too much technophobia and contempt for the west.
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LibraryThing member gbill
Hoff continues tying the world of A.A. Milne to Lao Tzu in this sequel, pointing out that Taoism defended the underdog in Chinese society, and this along with the component of virtue embodied in the middle character “Te” in “Tao Te Ching” align most closely to Pooh’s frightened little
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buddy Piglet.

Not only is the analogy less applicable, but Hoff pontificates quite a bit in the book, making it a much less enjoyable read. Examples abound. In “The Eeyore Effect” chapter, he calls out the news media, critics, public education, and feminists in what goes from examples of pessimism to an opinionated rant, which is counter to the philosophy he so adores. He continues this in “Things as They Might Be”, complaining about technology, materialism, and the state of politics, e.g. “For nearly thirty years now, the nation that was once the Light of the Free World has been electing to the highest office in the land a succession of Nightmare Clowns who lead us deeper and deeper into darkness…”. Ugh. And it continues from there. Do you see any of this kind of thing in Lao-Tzu or Chuang-Tzu’s teachings? No.

Just a couple of quotes:
On pessimism:
“Eeyores are afraid – afraid to risk positive emotional expression, positive action, positive involvement in anything beyond Ego. … Unfortunately for those around them, complaining is the one thing that Eeyores are not afraid to do. They grudgingly carry their thimbles to the Fountain of Life, then mumble and grumble that they weren’t given enough.”

On Taoism:
“Its key principles are Natural Simplicity, Effortless Action, Spontaneity, and Compassion. The most easily noticed difference between Confucianism and Taoism is emotional, a difference in feeling: Confucianism is stern, regimented, patriarchal, often severe; Taoism is happy, gentle, childlike, and serene – like its favorite symbol, that of flowing water.”
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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Yes, it really is that bad. No Te, no Piglet to speak of, diatribes galore, inaccuracies, strawman and other fallacies of logic, no charm - and poor writing too. What a mess.
LibraryThing member Andrew_C
Again I find myself reviewing a book I didn't like because for some reason I find it easier to say why I didn't like something, than what I enjoy about a book.

As other reviewers have said don't bother with this book, read the Tao of Pooh. And avoid it like the plague if you have read the Tao of
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Pooh as it will retrospectively dim your enjoyment of that book.

As to why this book is so bad. For one thing it feels heavy, world weary & cynical to me, more like the Te of Eeyore than the Te of Piglet. I don't know if this was a contractual obligation book, but that is what it feels like to me. I can almost feel the author's resentment at having to write it curl off the pages.

And then there are the rather random rants against the many and varied targets of the authors ire, which are rather out of place, diminish my opinion of the author and again enhance my feeling that this is a contractual obligation book.

In short do your Karma (and dogma (and catma)) a favour and stick to the Tao of Pooh.
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LibraryThing member rampaginglibrarian
great, simple Budhist ideas
LibraryThing member DK_Atkinson
Intriguing book, somewhat like [book: The Tao of Pooh]. And like that book, it will require reflection to understand.
LibraryThing member 6boysandme
Summary: Using the characters from Winnie the Pooh (whom I love) the author reveals Taoist wisdom. This book is filled with well written truths that coincide with what I know to be true principles and it is presented in a truly unique way. I must say that I disagree with the author on religion and
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government issues, but how I would love to sit down and have a good talk with this fascinating author.
Quote: Speaking of Gandhi (who I love) "He ...changed human beings by regarding them not as what they thought they were but as though they were what they wished to be, and as though the good in them was all of them."
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LibraryThing member Jane-Phillips
In the Te of Piglet the author explains more principles of the Tao Te Ching through the characters in the Winnie-the-Pooh books and how the character of Piglet himself is an example of someone who embodies the Taoist principle of the Virtue of the Small. Hoff also uses the characters of Eeyore and
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Tigger to discuss destructive aspects of the character of humankind and western society as it was at the time of writing in the early 1990s - which is still relevant today, more than 20 years on unfortunately. I think these books are a great start for someone wanting to learn more about the Tao and Eastern thought.
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LibraryThing member ritaer
Taoist philosophy illustrated by Piglet in Pooh books, gets a bit preachy at times
LibraryThing member bobbybslax
Hoff's ability to recreate the voices of Pooh and his friends has worsened in this companion novel, but the core content of philosophy remains about as good as the other one. There are one or two rants about politically charged things that may or may not hold up, and it's not inappropriate given
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the context, but it might dissuade some readers.
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LibraryThing member mmoj
I really enjoyed the Tao of Pooh. It was warm and funny but this did not live up to that book. It wasn't a bad book, rather like Pooh and Piglet - Pooh has always been the star and Piglet has been a secondary character.
LibraryThing member mmparker
Had to bail after he spent a chapter complaining about people who complain too much... with an emphasis on feminists. ಠ_ಠ

Rating

(489 ratings; 3.4)
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