The ReviewMarch 13, 2005 5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Whether you are on a quest for truth, or just looking for the occasional non-chemical mind-expanding trip, there is no better place to start than by reading the work of Alan Watts. And there is no better place to start doing that than The Book. Watts' brilliance is in bringing seemingly esoteric ideas into the light of everyday life, beginning with the concept that the universe and everything it encompasses, including me and you, are part of an unbroken whole just doing its thing--like the tree that "apples", so the universe "peoples". Drawing not on his own inventions but on an encyclopedic grasp of human religions and philosophies, Watts cuts through the mumbo jumbo and BS that usually dominates such subjects with an inimitable hipness that ensures the passionate spirit of inner discovery, exploration, and experimentation that defined the sixties will never die. So cure that alienation and abolish angst from your life--we're all in it together, because I'm "it" and you're "it". What are you waiting for? Light up that incense and prepare for enlightenment!
Alan Watts is a tiresome windbagMarch 11, 2005 9 out of 53 found this review helpful
I read THE BOOK when I was 18 and thought it was brilliant. I reread it last year, age 48, and found Watts to be a tiresome windbag. Watts was a phoney. He was a drunk. He put up this big act that he was some kind of zen master who could impart the satori experience to his readers. But mostly you just got his dull words going around in circles. Watts was the classic spiritual dilletante.
(P.S. Hey Real Patriot, you really are a real dunce. I never criticized Alan Watts for being an "alcoholic." I criticized him for being an utter phony who passed himself off as the exact opposite of who he really was. Listen dude, why don't you do me a little favor: Take the time to actually READ what I'm saying before you check in with your dim-witted rebuttal. Speaking of which: Why don't you actually READ my book ("Surviving on the Streets") before you start putting words into my mouth. I say right in print that nobody but ME is responsible for me ending up on the streets. We're all responsible for our own karma. But what's that got to do with my criticisms of Alan Watts' writing? You feel pretty free to criticize MY writing. What a double-talking dunce you are.
(P.P.S. The Eastern Religions coming to the West would have happened irregardless of whether an opportunistic parasite like Alan Watts had attached himself to the bandwagon. The cross-pollination of East and West was mostly just an inevitable bi-product of the Jet Age, and of America having fought 3 wars on Asian soil (Japan, Korea, and Vietnan). But if anyone wants a real laugh, I suggest you check out the book that Alan Watts, age 19, wrote about Zen, where 19-year-old know-it-all explains all about the real, profound, meaning of Zen.
Very, Very Good!December 13, 2004 6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I think if this book was taught at schools, it would dissolve a lot of our problems. Essential reading.
Ego writing about Itself (and other stuff, man)October 20, 2004 22 out of 67 found this review helpful
I would like to re-write this book. It will be two pages.
page 1
def: Interconnectedness: 1 : mutually joined or related <interconnected highways> <interconnected political issues> 2 : having internal connections between the parts or elements - interconnectedness noun
def: Causation: 1 a : the act or process of causing b : the act or agency which produces an effect 2 : CAUSALITY
learn these definitions and apply to everything you experience. they are the two very principles that are beat into your brain by every turn of the page. they are also two concepts of Buddhism which Mr. Watts fails to mention by name, and on upon which he takes as his own and creates 159 pages of redundancy.
page 2
"Now come here baby and give me a kiss"
How does one integrate girls and ladies and how they want to kiss you into a piece of spiritual literature? Answer: Ask Alan Watts. This guy uses the term "I" so many times that it can make one sick.
Mr. Watts is what may be considered a "scholar" or "acedemic", but he lacks true understanding. He says it in so many words and by referencing others (because his ideas are not original, but recycled and stupified for the culture in which he was seeking as an audience) that to deny the ego is to actually identify the ego. And here he is calling his little ranting "The Book". If you want to "enlighten" your self or enrich your life by undertanding and studying Buddhism or Zen, go directly to the monks who live this as a true reality. Don't buy into Hipster Chicanery.
Chicanery
def: 1 : deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : TRICKERY 2 : a piece of sharp practice (as at law) : TRICK
Opens doors to new ways of seeing the worldJuly 29, 2004 15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I'm perhaps one of the younger reviewers to leave an opinion on Watt's The Book, and I think that lands me in his target audience (or, rather, what his target audience was some 40 years ago). This work could be written no more wisely if Watts were still alive today. The limited world view he worried about spoiling Western thinking seems to have only grown more prevalent. The Book teaches a very patient and understanding way to see and respect the world. This is the kind of book that can be read all the way through disagreeing with the author (to his credit, he can be very convincing), and still finish it with a satisfyingly more broad perspective on life.
