Trying Not to Try Review

Trying Not to Try to fall asleep…

From the title and even from the description, I thought this book would be more like an explanation on how you try not to try.  What I read was more of an explanation on four different Chinese philosophies and which one you should or shouldn’t follow all depends on you.

I will admit that I was incredibly bored while reading this book. I felt as if I was sitting in a classroom being taught Chinese philosophy and they all contradict themselves.  I enjoyed the ideas and the thought and research that went into this book, but I can’t say that I enjoyed reading it as much as I could have.  I really liked that Slingerland was able to use examples to describe what he was trying to convey.  I was able to connect those examples to my life and how I do things.  The ending chapter was by far my favorite.

I enjoyed the philosophy of Wu Wei (basically it means to not try or not do) and I enjoyed learning the history behind it.  This book was perfect in length and wasn’t too preachy or one sided like some books can be. If you want to learn how to try not to try, I would recommend this book to you because it gives you several different ways that you can try to follow to achieve your ultimate goal of being at peace.

I received this copy from Blogging for Books for review