Of the two dozen or so translations of the Tao Te Ching that I've read, John Bright-Fey's is the worst. It's so weirdly overwrought and off the point that it seems to lack any meaningful value whatsoever. It purports to clarify, but only obscures with overuse of self-important phrasing and far too much explanation. It calls to mind several phrases, borrowed from my memory of several different translations (but not John Bright-Fey's): He who speaks does not know; he who knows does not speak. The tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao.

It reads like someone who has been steeped in some kind of dogma, and never really understood what the original text meant, but imposed some wishes for what it should mean upon it and assumed correctness. Needless to say, I am not a fan.

This is a bad book, and a bad translation. Avoid it. I couldn't even force myself to finish it. Read Stephen Mitchell's instead. ( )