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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
medium-paced
nit really that controversial; just interesting in the sense that it’s the beginning of “real politik”.
In Il Principe, it seems Machiavelli often falls prey to the vices he counsels against: self-contradiction, hypocrisy, a lack of organisation. He relies too often on flawed or hypothetical examples, and his formatting sometimes highlights contradictions between chapters. That said, his thesis does draw on both ancient and modern examples and is very coherent, mostly rational, and certainly less naive than that of his contemporaries' advice. In my opinion, he is too often mischaracterised as 'evil'. He maintains that if the world were always good, so too the prince could always be. In this world, though, sometimes ruthlessness is prudent. Certainly it is realistic.
It’s an interesting read, but I didn’t really pull much out of it worth filing away in the frontal lobes.
"The crux of Machiavelli's thinking that many people fail to acknowledge upon reading the book is that he is readily describing the very essence and nature of powerful people."
I found the translation to be quite difficult, especially in sequences that weren't really interesting. Bit of a slog to get through. However, in the interesting parts that's where this book really shines, a pencil and ruler were constantly by my side.
I've decided to, from now on, only read philosophical/political pieces in my native language.
Not sure what to rate this.
I found the translation to be quite difficult, especially in sequences that weren't really interesting. Bit of a slog to get through. However, in the interesting parts that's where this book really shines, a pencil and ruler were constantly by my side.
I've decided to, from now on, only read philosophical/political pieces in my native language.
Not sure what to rate this.
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I definitely enjoyed The Prince more than I thought I was going to considering the timeframe in which it was written and the fact that I HAD to read it for school. Don't know if I would read again but I don't regret having to read it