Gregory wrote:
> >There was also the immensely popular book of the
> >'70s Tao and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanance, which was taken with some
> >seriousness by even high-brow types.
>
> But that was _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_, no?
 
I remember reading _Zen..._, which I found incredibly
tiresome; as the endless Hakiu generated by poets here
in the States show, there's a very fine line between
conveying Taoist or Zen Buddhist thought and boring the
reader silly. If I knew Chinese or Japanese, I might
be able to say that it's a barrier of the language, but
as things go, it seems that the "dilutions" made for
Western consumption always twist things enough towards
the outwardly comprehensible that they become show pieces.
 
What was it that Stravinsky said about his _Firebird_?
"I felt as if it had stamped on the side, _Russian: For
Export Only_". I wonder if anyone on the list can talk
about their experiences translating Taoist texts such
as the Tao Te Ching.
 
-- Simon
 
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~sdedeo/localpapers.html
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