Pooh Principles

When writing a novel, authors encounter many obstacles; proving a point to the reader, keeping the reader intrigued, and showing the reader both sides of a conflict. Although the majority of authors are able to convey their important messages, using techniques that keep the reader interested, Benjamin Hoff, unfortunately, was unsuccessful to do so. In my opinion, Hoff was able to display the principles of Taoism in The Tao of Pooh thoroughly by using multiple examples of the ideas he is trying to prove; however, the way he introduces and explains topics throughout the novel is not concise and does not flow, thus creating a disconnect between the reader and the text. Hoff successfully explains Taoist principles and ideas in his novel in three

For starters, in the novel Hoff often would over explain simple aspects of the novel. For example, in the novel a conversation between Hoff and Pooh takes place where they discuss the meaning of P’u and the Uncarved Block. Hoff states, “P’u by the way, is pronounced sort of like Pooh, but without so much oo- like the sound you make when blowing a bug off your arm on a hot summer day” (10). These useless conversations take place throughout the entire novel and distract the reader from the important meanings of the principles and Taoism as a whole. In fact, the majority of the novel is incoherent ramblings of the same idea in different words, which is incredibly boring for the reader. For instance Hoff states, “And of course what Pooh liked doing best was going to Christopher Robin’s house and eating, but since we’ve already quoted that, we don’t think we need to quote it again. Here, Hoff again demonstrates his inability to be concise because he not only is repeating himself, but he is writing more than is necessary for the reader to understand the overarching ideas of Taoism. This, ultimately, is a major downfall for the novel and creates a disconnect between the reader and Taoist