#5 in Religion & spirituality
The Way of Zen
- 245
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Way of Zen” is a lucid, readable introduction that traces Zen to its roots in Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist thought. Alan Watts explains the ideas as well as their history. Some readers who come for the history rather than the practice find the last chapters hard going. First published in 1957, it remains a compact starting point for Western readers curious about Eastern philosophy.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Way of Zen is a 1957 non-fiction book on Zen Buddhism and Eastern philosophy by philosopher and religious scholar Alan Watts. It was a bestseller and played a major role in introducing Buddhism to a mostly young, Western audience.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.2 across 60 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 29% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Religion & spirituality average of 8.1. That is how 8.1 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.2 | 9 | 15% |
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 51 | 85% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Way of Zen?
It has 245 pages — longer than 75% of the ranked books in Religion & spirituality.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Religion & spirituality — with scores between 8.0 and 8.3, closest to this book.
