The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet

The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet

1992 • 380 pages

Ratings12

Average rating3.4

15

Nineties attitudes are alive and well and appropriating my childhood! I would not recommend this to anyone, for any reason. If you were looking for a quick, coherent guide into the tenets of Taoism, this ain't it. If you were looking for a pop psychology/self help type book cogently examining the philosophical or spiritual traits of dear Piglet, this ain't it. 
The author has opinions about everything that's wrong with society today, but they're presented as (uncited) facts and generalizations. If this was a choice to bulk up the book by matching Taoist thinking to all the ways it can fix what's wrong in the world, it's a clumsy effort. Likewise what is objectively an important environmental message gets buried under a lot of other tidbits and is left feeling out of place with the tone of the book. 
Considering the amount that other people are quoted, the author may have been better off producing a book of quotations. 
Don't get me started on the steaming pile that is the Eeyore Effect chapter. Definitely some toxic positivity added to the mix.
I could expound further on all the ways I found this book patronizing or offensive but I really don't want to spend any more time thinking about it.
 I'll have to track down some of the actual Winnie the Pooh books to give my brain a good rinse.

April 9, 2024