Customer Reviews

The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters

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I guess that other reviewer didn't bother to read the title of the book before he bought it. So you buy a book that says it's about what Chinese writers have to say about poetry and are disappointed that it's not a manual on how to write poetry in English? There are plenty of those out there. This book is unusual and fascinating, a luminous collection of Chinese wisdom about the art of the poem. In fact, I think it would be very helpfult to someone who writes poetry and wants to know what the great Chinese poets value in literature and esthetics. It's funny, witty, charming, and like nothing else out there. A fantastic book.

Would I use this book in a poetry workshop to guide people on how to learn to write a list poem, for instance? NO! I would use it as an example to show as to what the Chinese masters thought of writing and how they approached the writing process.
Was the first reviewer on crack when he wrote the review?

I used this book to write my dissertation on why people feel uncomfortable thinking of themselves as writers. Western writers can access this book most easily because we are used to terminology used in the poems here, which refer to writer's block, revision, inspiration, and other subjects. In other words, rather than be told what to think, each of the inspirational poems illustrate the principle of the idea, a Taoist approach to writing. You are being guided, rather than pushed, in other words. Unfortunately for the earliest reviewer, upon whom this lovely book was wasted, apparently, this requires critical thinking skills and an understanding of subtlety. To understand how to write, or how to write a poem, for that matter, you are being shown poems. Then you sit with them, meditate upon them, and find that, instead of being taught in the style you're accustomed to, which is based on agonistic beliefs of how writing 'ought' to be taught, instead you discover your writing. Also, it has to be said, it's not hard to find a "how-to guide" in this book; the section called "The Twenty Four Styles of Poetry" is very clear: it shows you 24 poems. You read them. You think about them. You realise that each poem illustrates itself ("The Classical and Elegant Style" uses the line "like a chrysanthemum I desire nothing," a classical expression indicating elegance in Asian poetry). This is the essence of poetry, isn't it? To reify itself within the lines of the poem? Think of Chinese poetry almost like a calligram, and I think you'll start to realise why this slim volume is so effective. The section on "Jade Splinters" is truly where the new paradigm about thinking about writing began for me, because the Chinese compared to writing as creating "jade splinters," which meant that their writings were attempts, only "splinters" left as they carved a gem. Don't you like that metaphor for writing, that writing is a process of carving a gemstone, than that writing is a struggle (the metaphor we've learned from the Greeks)? I know I do.

For more information about writing, please take a look at [...], wherein I pontificate further about the subject of writing. :-)

How can I review a book that I have not received as yet, or recomend a supplier that has let me down so badly. It is now several weeks since I received the other two books, but not the one that instigated the original order.

If you're looking for instruction on writing poetry I suggest that you stop looking and start writing. The only instruction I've had on writing poetry was while taking an introductory writing course in college. I left that class with many questions, the main one being: "What is poetry?" I wasn't necessarily looking for a direct answer, but nonetheless wanted something concrete to go with. I have since taken an occasional stab at it and have come to realize how futile it is to try and answer such a question. When I have been lucky enough to write a successful poem there is no way of explaining how I did it, I just knew that it was right. This book attempts to give some guidance on the art of writing (mainly poetry), when really it should be titled, "Writer's reflections on writing" as most of the so-called teachings are just recounts of the process itself or a product thereof. Some people may argue that this may be of value, however they are wrong. If you've never tasted salt and you want to know what it tastes like, don't ask somebody what it tastes like- taste it yourself!