The Essential Confucius

I've tried reading "The Analects," without a shred of success a couple of different ways. Then again, they weren't compiled by Thomas Cleary.

"The Essential Confucius" is a bit strange to look through at first, but you get the hang of it and can get something out of it. The arrangement of text, with descriptions in back regarding the players for each portion is far preferable to other versions of Confucian compilations I'd tried to get through. It's a thin work, but the arrangement makes it a keeper. It's a bit repetitive, but that's Confucius, from what I understand...it's a good resource to help promote more study in Eastern philosophy and Confucian thought. When looking for religious/philosophical texts that you want to get to the basis of, Thomas Cleary is a hard translator to beat. Worth a look.