The Analects
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3 Months Free
The Analects
Buy Now for $15.20
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Narrated by:
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Bruno Roubicek
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By:
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Confucius
One of the undisputed giants in the history of human thought, and the founder of one of the world's longest-lasting cultural traditions, Confucius (known as Kong Fuzi in his native China) is arguably the most enduring of all the world's great thinkers.
The Analects, the slender volume thought to have been compiled by his followers, has the strongest claim to represent Confucius' actual words. Sometimes pithy, sometimes conversational, occasionally enigmatic, often profoundly searching, the book contains memorable sayings about the moral health of the individual, the family and the body politic, and continues to be a source of inexhaustible wisdom after more than two and a half millennia.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Public Domain (P)2019 Naxos AudiobooksThe main issue is that no translator is clearly credited, which is a serious red flag for a text like this. With the Analects, small differences in wording completely change the meaning. Without knowing the translator, it’s impossible to assess the reliability of the text.
In practice, the result is extremely problematic. While the sentences may look superficially similar to reputable translations, the small shifts in wording and sentence structure make a huge difference. The audiobook ends up sounding:
* confusing
* disjointed
* and at times almost nonsensical
Confucius is often portrayed as difficult or obscure, but that’s misleading. When read in a high-quality translation (such as D.C. Lau or Edward Slingerland), the Analects are actually precise, clear, and deeply practical. This audiobook unfortunately gives the opposite impression.
The problem seems to come from:
* reliance on an outdated or uncredited translation
* lack of precision in key philosophical terms
* phrasing that doesn’t translate well into spoken English
In an audio format, these issues are amplified — what might be tolerable in print becomes very hard to follow when listened to.
For anyone serious about understanding Confucius, I would recommend:
* reading a reliable modern translation (e.g. D.C. Lau or Edward Slingerland)
* and avoiding this version entirely
With the Analects, precision of language is everything — and this version fails to deliver it.
Unreliable Translation Renders This Version of The Analects Unintelligible and Misleading — Avoid
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