Analects of Confucius [Hardcover]

Simon Leys (Author), Confucius (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997

"This is the Confucius translation for our time."—Jonathan Mirsky, The Times [London]

In this terse, brilliant translation, Simon Leys restores the human dimension to Confucius. He emerges a full-blooded character with a passion for politics and a devotion to the ideals of a civilization he saw in decline. Leys's notes draw Confucius into conversation with the great thinkers of the Western tradition. In all, this volume provides new readers the perfect introduction to a classic work.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is the Confucius translation for our time. -- Jonathan Mirsky, The Times [London] --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English, Chinese (translation)
Original Language: Chinese --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Replica Books (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735100276
• ISBN-13: 978-0735100275
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,191,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a Confucius nor a China expert, but ..., August 24, 2000

By 

Charles E. Stevens - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Analects of Confucius (Norton Paperback) (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Granted, I haven't read other translations of the Analects, so my rating is for the book itself more than as a comparison to other translations.

The fact that Confucius lived thousands of years ago is amazing to me ... the things he says apply to people throughout the ages, and they're full of wisdom. Having read the book, I find myself trying to be a bit more of a Confucian gentleman than I did before reading it. Confucius' teachings about humanity and being a gentleman span across the ages.

I'm very glad I read this book. The only reason I didn't give the book 5 stars is because I can't compare it to other translations, and it seems a little improper to rate a translated book without comparing it to other translations. But I personally found Leys' lines to be easily understandable and interesting, even if I have no way of ascertaining their accuracy with the original text.

**7/31/09 UPDATE** I was looking to buy a copy of the Analects for a friend when I came across my own review when trying to decide between versions ... which is a somewhat strange feeling! I'm still not an "expert", but having read several more Chinese classics in the meantime, including a few versions of the Analects, I thought I would update this review. I think the Leys translation is a very good introduction to the Analects for someone who is looking for a starting point in Confucian thought. The translation is a little bit loose but flows well in English, the introduction gives a good amount of context without going overboard, and the notes are nicely situated at the end to prevent clutter. This makes it a good version for the Confucius novice, a comment I mean in earnest and not a backhanded compliment. That said, I have yet to find a translation that surpasses Waley's in its rigor and thoroughness; the copious notes and detailed introduction are excellent as well. However, Waley is likely to be a little more difficult for the newcomer to Confucius and Confucianism ... so he might not be the best starting point. As always, different translations work best for different people. Read the first couple of pages of a few versions and you'll quickly have an idea of what suits you. No matter which version you end up with, the Analects is a wonderful work, worthy of the praise it receives!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An anthology, September 1, 2009

By 

Christopher Tricarick "lancelot andrewes" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Analects of Confucius (Norton Paperback) (Paperback)

This book is delightful, irritating, and utterly sui generis; the personality of its author is on every page. As a translation it is sometimes inspired--Leys has a knack for avoiding the very un-Chinese verbiage with which Lau and, sometimes, the generally superior Dawson clutter their lines. But it cannot be relied upon as a translation. In the first book the words "Rich but loving ritual" become "Rich but considerate." Ritual (li) is one of the great themes of the Analects and it is either dishonest or shockingly clumsy to conceal its key presence in this important passage. At other times we descend from translation to mere paraphrase: "a state of a thousand chariots" becomes "a medium-sized state". I often found myself wishing that Leys had taken to heart Dawson's words: "I do feel that one should get as close to the original as possible....I do not think that it is entirely virtuous to produce a version which reads as if it were written at the end of the twentieth century."

The notes, to the degree that they comment on the text itself or on the translation choices, are illuminating only for someone who has read other translations and has something to compare them to. But what quickly becomes apparent is that, under the guise of a translation with notes, what we have here is something like an anthology. Borges, Pascal, Stendhal, C. S. Lewis, Marcus Aurelius, Nietzsche, even Pancho Villa and many others are given long and full quotes. Sometimes they shed light on the original. Sometimes there is only a tangential relationship; one gets the impression that Leys was simply reminded of something and decided to share it, as in a conversation. They are always very interesting: this is the delight of the book. It is as if a select dinner-party full of eccentrics and geniuses were having the Analects read aloud to them and invited to comment freely. Clearly we cannot recommend this version for someone new to Confucius! If you've never read Confucius before, you want to get into the China of the fifth century B.C. and stay there for a while, not constantly get pulled back into modern Europe. There is some danger that these quotes will shed too much of their own kind of "light" back onto the Analects--which is a very elliptical, minimal, suggestive text--and that the new reader's mind will come permanently to associate some of the ideas of, say, Pascal with those of Confucius. But if you are already familiar with Confucius (preferably through at least two or three other translations) and if you have a healthy interest in and knowledge of Western civilization, this book, taken for what it is, will be a delight.

A couple of reviewers have commented on the anti-gay prejudice which comes up, I believe, twice in the notes. These passages really do vitiate the work. It is not only the prejudice itself; after all a good dish needs some spice and Leys is entitled to his opinion. But the whole issue is so obviously foreign to the Analects, the passages in which it comes up strike so discordant a note, that one wonders what they were doing here. And they are not, even in themselves, good or interesting: the ideas are banal and the tone verges on the mean-spirited. Leys constantly writes as if he were taking a friend into his confidence, and assumes that the intelligent friend will feel the same way he does. He gets away with this because his views are generally intelligent and because usually there is some fig-leaf of connection to the Analects to support it. But in these and a few other passages we are suddenly pulled up short by the realization that it is not wisdom but mere cantankerousness that we have on display. It is bad style, bad taste.

I am giving this three stars because it is being sold as a translation of the Analects and that is what, as a translation, it deserves. As an anthology of quotes suggested by the Analects it might get five stars, with perhaps one taken out for the fault mentioned above.

If you have never read Confucius and are looking for a good introductory translation, I recommend Raymond Dawson's.

21 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An uninspired translation, March 31, 1998

By 

bryan12603 (Poughkeepsie, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Analects of Confucius (Norton Paperback) (Paperback)

For reasons that are hard to fathom, this translation of the Analects of Confucius has gotten a lot of good press. In actuality, it is uninspired and derivative. Furthermore, the translator's notes show a cursory knowledge of the secondary literature, and a fairly banal understanding of the text itself.

And isn't it a little precious to be writing a translation under a pseudonym?

Other (equally good or better) translations of this work include those by D.C. Lau (Penguin Books), Arthur Waley (Vintage Books), and James Legge (Dover Books).