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Summary: Wonderful account of the life of the Buddha
Review: I agree with the other reviewers who have stated that one should not be intimidated by the sheer length of this book; it really does move by quickly. I was amazed by Thich Nhat Hanh's ability to compile and translate stories of the Buddha's life in a way that is so simple and eloquent. I also was impressed that Nhat Hanh used mainly texts from the Hinayana (sp?) vehicle-- especially since the majority of modern Buddhist texts are based in a Mahayana paradigm. This will definitely be regarded as a religious classic and a must-read for anyone who is interested in Buddhism!
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Summary: A great book for the casual dabbler and Buddhist alike
Review: I may be biased, I have read many books on the Buddha and the Dharma in my life and I find Thich Nhat Hanh's writing style and poetic flow to be the greatest in all of Buddhism. I recommend all of his books, they all are most excellent. In Old Path White Clouds we find a simple masterpiece, much like practicing the Dharma itself. This book is the history of the Buddha's life and the begining of the practice he started. It is excellent in both its approchablity and powerful message. This book is worth every penny, buy it and improve your life.
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Summary: Two years later, and it still moves me
Review: I picked this book up at a library over 2 years ago and read it through, re-reading sections that I found particularly insightful along the way. It helped me find peace at a time when my life was anything but peaceful. Not only did it help me through a hard time, but it taught me many ideas that I still hold to today, although I am NOT a Buddist, in fact, I am a Satanist. The flow of the story is great, it's very entertaining and reads more like a fiction novel than a biography, and in fact, I didn't know that was what it actually was until well into the book. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone needing to take a step back in their life and restructure their priorities, or anyone who is feeling stressed and needing to learn to cope with those feelings. After reading this book, I no longer felt anger nor sadness in regards to my living conditions. This book turned a bad time in my life into a self-awareness lesson I am now glad I had a chance to experience. LOVE the book! A+++
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Summary: Amazing, Beautiful Book on the Buddha!!!
Review: I picked up this book about 1 week ago. It is a very easy read and moves quickly. The reader should not be intimidated by its 500+ pages because it moves very quickly. Being a Mahayana Buddhist, I was a little disappointed that it spoke very little of the Mahayana traditions, but it does give a wonderful overview of all schools of Buddhism. In short, I would reccomend the beautifully written book for anyone starting their Buddhist training. It provides from what I have been told a very accurate history of the Buddha and his teachings. The novel idea of having the story told from a follower who tends water buffalo's makes the book feel like a novel. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK!!!
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Summary: Thich Nhat Hanh's masterpiece!
Review: If you read only one book on Buddhism, let it be this one. Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the world's great teachers, and this life of Shakyamuni Buddha is his masterpiece. Every chapter is a perfect gem, every idea put forth bears witness not only to the noblest spiritual tradition, but to the purity of heart of its author. I have read this book many times over; it has never failed to move me, never ceased to nourish within me immense avenues of hope and understanding. I think it is an extraordinary literary accomplishment, however efficacious its spiritual impact. Conversely, it is clear that it derives at least some of its literary merit from the profundity of the ideals which it transmits. It is a clear, often surprising, reverent and humane book, a classic of religious literature in the finest tradition of a universal humanist aesthetic. The breadth of Nhat Hanh's gifts is apparent from the outset; the chapters on young Gautama's princely early life, his marriage, the nascent inward understanding that is his even before taking up the search for life's hidden meaning, are so exquisitely composed that one finds oneself already in possession of the truth to come, already one knows intimately the thirst that takes the Buddha from the life he has known and loved, against the wishes of his father's heart, against his love for and committment toward his own wife and child. This is literature of an everlasting kind. The art of narrative found here really has no equal in all of contemporary religious literature. Beautifully delicate line drawings accompany every chapter like a faint temple bell, the language is as constant and profound as a child's, able to encompass the sophisticated searching of the most ardent doubter and the simple heart of the believer alike. It is a truly great book. Art of this kind is surely what Gutenburg's invention was intended for. A perfect treasure. Read it, and live.
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Summary: Brilliant (and Biased)
Review: My appreciation of this books comes after having read "The Middle Length Sayings" and "The Long Length SAyings". Hanh's book covers the same stretch of The Buddha's life, but he brilliantly organizes the chronology in a way that adds meaning to the story. Having read a number of Hanh's other books (all technically 'Brilliant' in my estimation), I must add that his rendition of Buddha biography is liberally seasoned with his own views and foibles about practice and life style (in particular, 'vegetarianism' and 'crime and punishment'). A number of unseemly episodes about the Sangha and individual monks or nuns are simply omitted. All of this is against a background of uncertainty about the authenticity of the various Pali and Chinese texts, anyway, so there's plenty of excuse to tell the story the way that he likes it. I marked up my reading of this book, as it also serves as a valuable and centralized technical reference for meditators. The health of western Buddhism will be a lot healthier with your reading of this book. Go for it.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: My deepest gratitude to Thich Nhat Hanh and all those who have helped him to bring this book to light.
Rating: 
Summary: Much more than I wanted to know about the Buddha's life...
Review: Old Path White Clouds
Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Drawings by Nguyen Thi Hop This beautiful book is perhaps the best biography of the Buddha available in English. Comparisons with Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha are probably inevitable because both books employ a lyrical, literary style, but actually this book is quite different. Hesse's novel is an exploration of Siddhartha's motivations and the search that led to his enlightenment; Thich Nhat Hanh's book is a biography covering all eighty years of the Buddha's life based on Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources, which are assiduously notated in the book's appendix. The story throughout is told very simply and in a tone that may be described as devotional. Chapters are short and usually illustrate a particular concept or event, and the text throughout is illustrated with many beautiful drawings. It is not a short book but its structure and style maintain the reader's interest over the course of story, and one may be tempted to say that it reads like a novel. The length of the book is due to the fact that beyond being a history of the life of the Buddha, it is an exposition of his teachings, which are presented clearly and with increasing depth as the story of the foundation of the Sangha unfolds. Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike will benefit from this summation of the many concepts inherent in the Buddhist tradition, presented as they were to Buddha's first disciples. One of the most interesting aspects of the story for this reader was to see clearly how the teachings of the Buddha were encapsulated from the very beginning as a monastic tradition. For Western Buddhists, who for the most part are lay practitioners, this monastic foundation is something to be clearly understood as one one tries to formulate one's own practice which is inevitably a compromise with the way of life originally presented by the Buddha. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Buddha's Life
Review: The life of Buddha and his teachings are intervowen splendidly in this wonderful book. The author manages to convey much using a very plain and simple style of writing. One also gets a sense of the subtle social and institutional changes that Buddhism underwent during Buddha's life time. Highly recommended for anyone seeking to learn about Buddha and Buddhism.
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Summary: Makes you feel like you're walking alongside Lord Buddha.
Review: Thich Nhat Hanh is arguably the best author of Buddhist literature. In Old Path, White Clouds he tells the life story of Lord Buddha. Old Path, White Clouds doesn't distract readers with a lot of the mythology or mysticism. Instead Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the life and teachings of Lord Buddha. What makes this work is Thich Nhat Han's writing style. He really draws you into the story and makes you feel like you were actually there. Although the book is almost 600 pages long, it is a very easy read and it may leave you wishing for more. I know that was the case for me. If you are only going to get one book on Buddhism, this is the one to get.
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