A writer reinterprets the Tao Te Ching in this timely study.

Kazden’s writing is intent on examining the peripheries of illusion and reality. His novel Gita (2018) drew on Eastern and Western philosophies to excavate concepts of truth and time. In his latest work, the author turns his attention to the Chinese spiritual text the Tao Te Ching. Diverging from his customary role as a novelist, Kazden reinterprets the classic using his own agenda. “This ‘interpretation,’ it is not a translation,” he underlines in his preface, it “is focused primarily on the congruence between my conceptions of totIs reality and the Tao Te Ching’s conceptions of the Tao.” TotIs reality is a term found often in the author’s work and can be defined as the one “true” reality that lies beyond the veil of illusion. Kazden’s stimulating interpretation honors the Tao’s original form, presenting 81 short stanzas that signpost a way to navigating life with integrity. But it is immediately discernible that the author’s approach has a contemporary edge, reflecting and informing the spiritual and moral crises of the current age. Kazden’s trademark as a writer is his ability to express complex ideas with clarity and succinctness. This talent proves particularly effective when interpreting the Tao. The author skillfully echoes the poetically laconic writing style found in the original text: “The Tao shows, that the highest renown, / Cares not for renown, / The desire for glory, and riches, / Are not the source of wealth, and happiness.” Kazden maintains the careful balance of resolved contradictions and declarative statements central to the Tao. It is a delight to discover specific anomalies in the author’s reinterpretation. For instance, in Darrell D. Lau’s scholarly translation of the text, the closing lines of stanza 18 read: “When the state is benighted / There are loyal ministers.” Kazden’s take on this evokes recent political affairs: “And when the country is in chaos and confusion / The perfidious patriots will appear.” In such instances, some purists may criticize the author for interpreting the Tao too loosely. Others will find his thoughtful version genuinely refreshing, no more so than when they discover that the sage depicted is now a woman: “Such a sage comes to love the world as she loves herself.”

Ingeniously executed: a Tao for our times.

Kazden’s (TotIs, 2015) novel imagines a conversation between a Greek philosopher and a self-doubting military leader.

In his previous novel, the author brought together great minds from past eras, including Socrates, Albert Einstein, and Leonardo da Vinci, to debate various concepts of truth and time. In this follow-up, he proposes two new definitions of reality: “totIs reality,” which is the one, true “prime reality,” and “antIs reality,” which is the individualistic interpretation of “totIs,” fabricated by our biosensory systems. Socrates returns to counsel a respected, fearless warrior named Gita, who’s the commanding general of an unnamed city that’s preparing for war. The opposing force is led by Gita’s uncle, Prince Fidi, and her cousins, Chatapodi and Kavouras. Gita’s fortitude is challenged by the prospect of spilling family members’ blood, causing her to reach out to Socrates for guidance. Her conversations with the philosopher span the length of the novel, drawing on wisdom from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita (after which Gita was named); the Chinese religious and philosophical text, the Tao Te Ching; and modern physics. The novel charts Gita’s journey toward a revelatory understanding of “totIs” and, in turn, a deeper conception of the world around her. Once again, Kazden demonstrates a rare ability to describe complex concepts with clarity and precision. He uses the character of Socrates to gently impart these ideas to readers: “Hot and cold are experiences of reality that are sensory driven, as are red and blue, happy and sad, near and far, before and after. All of our experiences of reality, in absolute terms, are sensory driven.” Kazden further embellishes the unique depiction of reality from his first novel with a specific emphasis on how “antIs” is a form of bondage, keeping people from the “freedom” and “truth” of “totIs.” The result is a thought-provoking intellectual journey that will encourage readers to reassess their own places in the universe.

Imaginative and thoroughly stimulating.

Kazden offers a mind-expanding debut novel about a symposium examining the core concepts of the universe.

Imagine if great minds from across the ages could congregate in one room to discuss their understandings of time and reality. In this ambitious work, Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, among others, come together to do just that. To befit the nature of the symposium as a great Hellenic institution, the author gives each of the characters Greek names. Einstein is called “Miapetra,” meaning “one stone,” Hawking is referred to as “Geraki” or “hawk,” whereas Isaac Newton is “Neatono” or “new ton.” The men meet at Neatono’s house, where they begin a discussion about relativity theory, specifically how the past, present, and future are relative. The author’s use of Socratic questioning proves to be a gentle introduction to complex ideas, particularly for the uninitiated. Yet readers may still benefit from prior knowledge of quantum mechanics to truly grasp this discussion. The explorations of how perceptions of reality vary among individuals are particularly fascinating: “So two individuals of the same species with sensory equipment of unequal quality will experience differently the same reality, to all intents and purposes, would you agree?” The book introduces two new definitions: antIs, “the human observer’s experience of reality and the universe,” and totIs, “which defines a total reality of the universe unavailable to [a] human observer’s created antIs reality.” The arguments are dazzlingly convincing, although there’s a certain arrogance in reanimating the world’s greatest thinkers simply to have them concur with one’s main thesis. However, the book is not without a wry humor—Max Planck talks of switching to a gluten-free diet and Newton speaks of getting his cataracts removed. Purists may contest the probability of each word the author drops into the mouths of these great men, but this controversy is part and parcel of this brilliantly daring piece of work.

A learned, bold journey to the limits of human perception and beyond.