Maybe this can help another "newbie"-found a cool site

[kwan_yin]

I'm pretty new to this, doing it less than a year, but some interpretations can be quite confusing. I found a site where there are some plain english interpretations-maybe it's old news to everyone, but just in case it could be useful to someone else as unfamiliar as me--great interpretations here--http://www.dreamhawk.com/introchi.htm

But I'm always looking for things, too! Nothing I have to download-computer space is super limited-so if anyone knows of more of these ( I already found LiSe's site-it's excellent, too http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_community/clipart/happy.gif)

Any help we new guys can get, makes a huge difference to me, anyway. The language used is sort of hard at first-unlike tarot, however, it is very concise once you understand it, very oddly specific-I'll probably be using this for years to come!! Extra understanding (so long as it's correct) is always good.

[lagunader]

Hi Kwan

If you want simple, plain language, and very helpful, try the interpretation book of Browne Walker.

[dobro]

Walker's not that good. It's not a translation, more a very personal, very loose rendering, mostly based on what he pinched from Carol Anthony.

[fyreflye]

For clear language without simplistic interpretations I recommend Jack Balkin's "The Laws of Change," recently remaindered and so available for around $10.00. Not a translation from the Chinese, either, but basically a commentary drawn on years of study and use of Wilhelm/Baynes. If you find Wilhelm/Baynes sometimes obscure, Balkin makes it clear. Which is not to say that subtleties are not lost; but for beginners to intermediate a valuable resource.

[hilary]

Balkin's been remaindered?? For shame! Lucky for anyone who doesn't have a copy, though.

He writes with great lucidity and leaves nothing ambiguous. It doesn't always add to W/B, but sometimes does - he has drawn on other sources, and is aware of more recent work. I sometimes suggest people get this one to use alongside Total I Ching - perfect complements.

[fyreflye]

Balkin's been remaindered?? For shame! Lucky for anyone who doesn't have a copy, though.

He writes with great lucidity and leaves nothing ambiguous. It doesn't always add to W/B, but sometimes does - he has drawn on other sources, and is aware of more recent work. I sometimes suggest people get this one to use alongside Total I Ching - perfect complements.

And no sign of a paperback edition. I've bought myself an extra copy.

[trilby]

I e-mailed Jack Balkin and asked whether his book has indeed been remaindered. Here's his reply:

"Alas, it's true. Amazon.com has a few copies; I'm not sure where else to obtain them. For the future, the best thing people can do is to send messages to Random House/Pantheon/Schocken demanding a paperback edition. If a press thinks that a book can have a second life, they will sometimes come out with a paperback."

Trilby

[ewald]

For clear language without simplistic interpretations I recommend Jack Balkin's "The Laws of Change," recently remaindered and so available for around $10.00. Not a translation from the Chinese, either, but basically a commentary drawn on years of study and use of Wilhelm/Baynes. Actually Balkin's text is a translation.
I just read Harmen's e-mail interview (http://itcn.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=3) with him. Balkin says:
I used the original Chinese text, supplemented by concordances and dictionaries, and checked my work against a variety of other translations and commentaries. Fortunately, a great deal of work has been done on the problems of translating the I Ching into English in the past thirty years, and this made my task easier than it would have otherwise been. Ewald