I think “The Tao of Pooh” was a great book for mainly one reason which was: the comparison to Winnie the Pooh was terrific because Winnie the Pooh is familiar with Americans that grew up in the Unites States. Hoff’s comparisons and examples he uses for the different topics like “The Cottleston Pie Principle” (38) and “Wu Wei,” which was excellently described by the pickle jar incident with Tigger (75-76) and the Very Small Beetle (78-80), are examples of some of the simple but effective analogies that he used which is what makes this book so great for people that don’t have any previous knowledge about Taoism.
Hoff describes the lifestyle of Bisy Backsons, which are basically people that are constantly active, as always trying to get “around the next corner” or “above the next step” (99). He also mixes some clever wordplay into the book that you wouldn’t catch on to if you didn’t read the rest of Bisy Backson chapter. Hoff starts off the chapter with a quote “GON OUT BACKSON BISY BACKSON” (92) which is just gibberish but then later in the chapter he switches it to “GONE OUT BACK SOON BUSY BACK SOON” (96) and then says the most accurate version is “BACK OUT GONE SOON BUSY GONE SOON” (97). I interpret this whole issue by thinking that the first quote is a result of the lifestyles of Bisy Backsons in the sense that they are so busy and don’t have enough time to even write a correct note. Personally I believe that Americans tend to have this lifestyle and even being a first generation American I can see that trait in myself.
When it comes to the “solution” of the Bisy Backsons “problem” I think that Taoism could be a possible solution for it but to me it seems a little too extreme because some issues in Taoism, like the lack of exercise, are possibly harmful in today’s society. In my opinion something a little less simple would be a better solution to the problem. One solution of this problem in my opinion could easily be fixed by just taking a certain amount of time each day just for yourself and not really doing anything.
I agree with your post 100%. I also thought this book to be good mainly because of the fact that it uses Winnie the Pooh to help explain Taoism. It made it easier for me to read, and kept my interest.
ReplyDeleteI think that Taoism could be a partial "cure" to the American problem of being too busy. Hoff, however, overstates (in my mind) the negative parts of American culture. Something to think about would be to consider what America would be like if we were all Taoists; the lack of innovation, dedication and pure productivity would all affect our competition with the rest of the world (an area we are already falling behind in).
ReplyDeleteI dig the idea you had of taking only part of your day to just kind of do whatever. I think a whole world of Poohs would get old fast, but certainly we could all use a little time to ourselves.
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