Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching

A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: Ursula K. Le Guin

Length: 1 hr and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this landmark modern-day rendition of the ancient Taoist classic, Ursula K. Le Guin presents Lao Tzu’s time-honored and astonishingly powerful philosophy like never before. Drawing on a lifetime of contemplation, she offers an unparalleled window into the text’s awe-inspiring, immediately relatable teachings and their inestimable value for our troubled world.

©1997 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2009 Shambhala Publications

Critic Reviews

“Each day I open this book at random and receive a contemplative gift. These words are akin to water in the desert. (Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge)

“The type of work which the great Polish poet and Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska meant when she spoke of ‘that rare miracle when a translation stops being a translation and becomes...a second original.’...The whole of Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching is well worth savoring - as much for the ancient substance as for Le Guin’s stylistic splendor.” (Maria Popova, Brain Pickings) 

“A student of the Tao for several decades, Le Guin has created an English text that will speak to modern readers in a fresh and lively way, while conveying the humor, insight, and beauty of the original.” (Lion’s Roar magazine) 

“Among the many translations of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin’s new version is a special treasure - a delight. There is something startlingly fresh and creatively alive here, brought forth by Ms. Le Guin’s intuitive and personal ingenuity.” (Chuangliang Al Huang, founder of the Living Tao Foundation and coauthor (with Alan Watts) of Tao: The Watercourse Way) 

I wanted to love this

but the "musical accompaniment" is so distracting, and sometimes louder than her voice. It should have been mixed better, and scaled WAY back.

Best English Translation

This translation straddles the line between literal translation and spirit of the text wonderfully. Le Guin pulled from a number of French and German translations to compile this little gem; and her performance of the work good. A lot of folks find the musical accompaniment distracting, so I guess it’s not for everyone, but I find it charming. It sort of pulls me back in when my mind wanders.

So grateful this finally made it to audible, YouTube took it down a couple months ago and I thought I’d lost my bedtime book.

I’d recommend sampling it to see if the music bugs you, but if you’re looking for an excellent translation or are just a fan of Le Guin it’s worth picking up.

Better than meditation, words to live by

Ursula does not disappoint and gives a thoughtful reading and interpretation of the Tao Te Ching that encourages reflection, thought an (in)action.

Great version, not so great production.

I love Ursula LeGuin’s version of the Tao Te Ching. I was excited to hear her read it. I found the music distracting and even jarring at times. Is worth the $5.00 I spent on it.

Not Zen enough to understand

This content gave me some great things to think about, alot flew over my head

Breathe in, breathe out.

If you’re having trouble calming down before bed, this is an especially well produced version to listen to of this specific translation.

Great words, overwrought music

This book, in print, ebook, and audio is very dear to me. How much I looked forward to hearing the author read! How disappointing to hear flute and percussion compete with the words! The words are beautiful, so too the music. Each deserves its own space. Whoever did the final mix was listening more to what the music was saying and could not hear what the words were saying. Not the Way.

I highly recommend this book. I highly recommend the audio publisher release a version without any background music or noise.

I’ll listen to this again, and again

I was originally put off by the background music of this recording. I even returned it. But I really like the Tao Te Ching from other translations and I re-purchased it because I wanted to hear LeGuin’s version.

I’m glad I did. It is a strong book that makes the ideas relevant and alive in their presentation. Once I gave it another chance I forgot about the background music.

I highly recommend this book. I suggest giving it a complete first listening even if you don’t like the music. It might grow on you.

The payoff is you get a beautiful and thought provoking work by Ursula K. LeGuin, the famous science fiction and fantasy writer.

Misguided production

This is unlistenable. For unclear reasons this text is presented with a musical accompaniment. This accompaniment consists of someone hitting chimes, plucking strings, and some pipe at random intervals, before, during and after speech. In my opinion, the instruments were introduced to suggest an atmosphere of mystique. The reading is also done in such a way. Both achieve the opposite and detract any actual mystique from the text.

I think these were misguided production decisions. I would advise a revision of the audio recording.

Music ruins this reading

Very disappointing. It is impossible to concentrate on the words being read because the music is too loud and too forceful.

intense and repeatable

This is short audiobook, but it takes so much concentration to follow that it seems much longer. It is an extended meditation on how to live 'The Way'. I don't know if I live the way but I will return to this spoken text time and again in meditation to find out.