BOOK REVIEW: The Te of Piglet

For people who...

feel: introverted, a lack of confidence, anxious

love: Winnie the Pooh, Eastern Philosophy, The Environment

are: quiet, small, pink with a curly tail

Review...

Just to give you an overview on what the book is, using excerpts from the beloved Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A.Milne as well as a wealth of other quotes from William Blake, Lao-Tse, Chinese folk tales, Henry David Thoreau and Gandhi, Benjamin Hoff illustrates the teachings of Taoism, specifically the quality of Te. WHICH ROUGHLY means, the Chinese character of Virtue. Hoff is advocating the power of being quiet and small, which as an introvert I was all for reading. 

All through the book Pooh and Piglet interrupt the author and chat to him as though they are sat on his shoulder looking over at the typewriter or computer that the author is using. It's super cute and I would like to imagine when I get distracted at my laptop it is Pooh asking if it is time yet for a little Something To Eat.

The excerpts from the Pooh books are really lovely and keep the book light and not too serious, which is what the Tao philosophy teaches anyway. You would think it would become very preachy, there you are, enjoying a nice bit of Eeyore or Kanga and then BOOM some silly author starts explaining how it relates to eastern philosophy. But in fact the whole book sails along like a pleasant conversation, and just like conversation the other quotes and stories are like little anecdotes. The book really feels like sitting down for a cup of tea with an old childhood friend you haven't met in a long time and who has changed slightly, but is still the same old Silly Old Bear. 

One slightly jarring aspect of the book, towards the end you are suddenly thrust into American political debates of the 1990's and the sense of timelessness that Chinese Philosophy and the world of A Hundred Acre Wood is lost a little. But what is really scary about it, is that I had to check that this book was written in the 90's because the political arguments Hoff makes are just as applicable to today in terms of how politicians deal with war and terrorism and don't deal with the environment. 

For something I just randomly picked up in the library, I really enjoyed this book. It has been actively helpful in my life for changing my own mindset and how I see myself as an introvert and very thought provoking in general.

Easy to read, short and nostalgic, yes, I would very much recommend this blend of fiction and philosophy. 

Thoughts...

I didn't mention this in my review but FEMINISM IS A THING...

I do disagree with Hoff's arguments on Feminism, as he argues that women casting off feminine traits such as sensitivity and becoming more masculine isn't feminism. When in fact women can choose to do whatever they damn well please, women don't have to be feminine and men don't have to be masculine. BUT PLEASE DON'T GET MAD AT HIM YET. Basically he is just lamenting a general, from men AND women, disregard of the strength and negative view of the sensitive and the feminine traits. Recently, with Susan Cain's books on introversion there has been an acknowledgement that quiet and sensitive can be strong and useful too, which is great, and this book argues the same. 
To me this is what the book argues, and I agree, If women are really going to be equal, there needs to be an appreciation of feminine and masculine characteristics, something which will benefit men and women, as no man is all 'masculine' in any definition of the word just as no women is all 'feminine'. 

Hoff talks about how in Tao, "if you want to learn the natural world's principle of success, you'll need to see things not as 'good' or 'bad' but as they are. You must observe. If we see Feminine and Masculine traits not as good or bad, whatever context they are in, we can see them for what they really are and how they are both useful. 



Furthermore, in a Post Truth world, (eurgh how Undergraduate does that sound? But really, it is) when we have to see past how things are being told to us to what they actually are we should bear in mind this quote form Hoff, "Observe, Deduce, Apply.. you're seeing Things As They Are, rather than as someone or other says they are". 

Also...

Characters who reminded me of Piglet in being small AND strong, were Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit and Arya Stark who is one of the smallest and most dangerous characters in A Song Of Ice and Fire/A Game Of Thrones. 

Favourite Quotes...

Speaking about Eeyores

"creates in our imaginations problems that don't yet exist - quite often causing them to come true" 

"it turns meetings into confrontations, expectations into Dread"

Speaking about Tiggers

"Tiggers are never satisfied because they don't know the feelings of accomplishment" 

"the worthwhile things in life, wisdom and happiness in particular - are simply not the sort of things one can Chase after and Grab"

Speaking about Piglets 

"because of their sensitivities, Piglets...have the ability to rise to a challenge and accomplish the most difficult tasks, once interfering illusions have been cleared away"  

"the sensitivity of Piglets make them particularly vulnerable...But it also makes them more than ordinarily capable of positive transformation"

Just some Good Advice

"when a stream comes to some stones in its path, it doesn't struggle to remove them, or fight against them, or fight against them, or think about them, it just goes around them. And as it does it sings"
"if you want to learn the natural world's principle of success, you'll need to see things not as "good" or "bad" but as they are"
"don't make a big deal of anything - just accept things as they come to you"

Further Reading...

If you liked this you might like:

The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff

Quiet - Susan Cain
The Secret
The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkein
A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin