The Te of Piglet

"The Te of Piglet" by Benjamin Hoff may not have same whimsy as its predecessor "The Tao of Pooh" but I believe that the confidence in its message and the deeper explanation of themes and idea glanced over the previous volume make it a book worth reading.

The same set-up is here: the author has conversations with characters from Winnie the Pooh and uses them to explicate Taoist teachings. Through the example of Piglet, Hoff can talk about the central Taoist virtue of "being small." One does not quite realize how central it is from "The Tao of Pooh" but after reading "The Te of Piglet," it makes the former seem less substantial.

In this volume, Hoff is more willing to bring in more Taoism and let many of the Taoist masters, especially Chuang-Tse speak. This fact made me like the book more, even if it made the reading experience a little less enjoyable. Hoff is more direct in "The Te of Piglet" - he calls out the ills of the world less gently and passionately argues for what positive lessons Taoism could have for the world. In fact, I feel that we see more of Hoff's voice in this volume, which is both a good and a bad thing.

Overall, while I found the "The Tao of Pooh" an enjoyable book, I find "The Te of Piglet" a necessary book. They really do fit together as two volumes of the same work and I would recommend reading them together. "Pooh" will make you feel nice but "Piglet" might just spur you to action.

At the beginning of this book, the author mentions how he hadn't intended to write a sequel to his original "The Tao of Pooh," but since that book had been such a Remarkable Success, he eventually just had to. After reading this book, it seems to me that it would have been better if he hadn't. Perhaps he was short of ideas, or hurting for money, or trying to recapture earlier success, but whatever the reason it seems he produced something that didn't really even captivate himself.

Honestly, it's been a while since I've read "The Tao of Pooh," and it's possible there was just as much political posturing as is found in this book, but I don't recall it that way. My memory says "The Tao of Pooh" was a well constructed, reasonably presented book with a coherent message. My memory says "The Tao of Pooh" achieved its goal in illustrating Taoist principles using excerpts and examples from Pooh stories.

Unfortunately, "The Te of Piglet" doesn't live up to its pedigree. It's a disjointed diatribe hiding behind an alluring premise. There's quite a bit of railing against modern society and its evils, and quite a bit about how the Eeyores, Rabbits, and Owls of the world are causing so much disharmony and destruction. There's even a bit about how Piglet is a Very Small Animal with a Very Big Heart, which seemingly is the purpose of the book, but which gets bulldozed over by the author's pre-occupation with pushing his own political agenda. And I'm saying this as someone who generally agrees with the author's political agenda.

Ultimately, I didn't buy this book to get assaulted by politics, I read it to get a unique perspective on an Eastern philosophy that I admire. And that, sadly, seems to have only been the secondary or tertiary purpose of this book for the author.

If you liked "The Tao of Pooh," do yourself a favor and don't pick this up. In some ways, I feel this book has ruined my perception of the earlier book, and of the author himself, which is a shame.