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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I'll be honest, I bought this book because I thought this edition looks cool. However, I also want to expand my reading horizons. For a book written in 500 BC, it is surprisingly still applicable. It is an unfortunate consequence of the human condition that a book written over 2500 still has relevance to the world today. Though it was primarily written as a book on military strategy, it can certainly be applied to modern day corporate environments, along with in sports and maybe even in the classroom.
It is split into 13 chapters, covering everything from preparation for war, to how to use terrain to your advantage. Although these cover a variety of topics, I feel a lot comes back to deception, and how long campaign is not conducive to a successful enterprise. These key concepts run through most of the chapters, and are constantly revisited.
Most of the problem I have with this is that most of it feels quite intuitive. It may be that Sun Tzu was just the first to write this down, or that the book has influenced the structure of our culture (I'd be more inclined to the former). This doesn't necessarily mean it's not useful to be contained in a single volume, or that the information is irrelevant. On the contrary, some of what is said might seem obvious when thought about, but it may not be at the forefront of your mind if you were to consider starting a war.
Some people get a lot from this book, whereas others don't. I found the excerpts at the beginning and end of my edition to be more interesting than the original contents of [b:The Art of War|10534|The Art of War|Sun Tzu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630683326l/10534._SY75_.jpg|3200649] itself. However, I know people who use some of its philosophies in their general life, and it helps them a lot. In this regard it's more like finding meaning applicable to your day to day life.
Most surprising was the fact that [a:Sun Tzu|1771|Sun Tzu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1185211202p2/1771.jpg] seems to believe that war itself is pointless, it's the preparations you make beforehand that win the battle. The combat itself he doesn't have much instruction for, but using what you have to your advantage is key to victory. Although this seems obvious, I wasn't expecting that to be as much of the focus.
Overall, it's a somewhat interesting book. It's quite short and surprisingly digestible, so even if you don't like it then it won't take you long to read. And you might even take something small from it without realising it! It's worth a read, even if it's just for history or to say you've read it.
It is split into 13 chapters, covering everything from preparation for war, to how to use terrain to your advantage. Although these cover a variety of topics, I feel a lot comes back to deception, and how long campaign is not conducive to a successful enterprise. These key concepts run through most of the chapters, and are constantly revisited.
Most of the problem I have with this is that most of it feels quite intuitive. It may be that Sun Tzu was just the first to write this down, or that the book has influenced the structure of our culture (I'd be more inclined to the former). This doesn't necessarily mean it's not useful to be contained in a single volume, or that the information is irrelevant. On the contrary, some of what is said might seem obvious when thought about, but it may not be at the forefront of your mind if you were to consider starting a war.
Some people get a lot from this book, whereas others don't. I found the excerpts at the beginning and end of my edition to be more interesting than the original contents of [b:The Art of War|10534|The Art of War|Sun Tzu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630683326l/10534._SY75_.jpg|3200649] itself. However, I know people who use some of its philosophies in their general life, and it helps them a lot. In this regard it's more like finding meaning applicable to your day to day life.
Most surprising was the fact that [a:Sun Tzu|1771|Sun Tzu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1185211202p2/1771.jpg] seems to believe that war itself is pointless, it's the preparations you make beforehand that win the battle. The combat itself he doesn't have much instruction for, but using what you have to your advantage is key to victory. Although this seems obvious, I wasn't expecting that to be as much of the focus.
Overall, it's a somewhat interesting book. It's quite short and surprisingly digestible, so even if you don't like it then it won't take you long to read. And you might even take something small from it without realising it! It's worth a read, even if it's just for history or to say you've read it.
informative
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced
some solid advice if I ever decide to lead an army.
informative
reflective
Ok, so I didn't finish this.
It's a Chinese book about war. Not the kind I wanted to read.
Just started it and read enough of it for school.
It's a Chinese book about war. Not the kind I wanted to read.
Just started it and read enough of it for school.
informative
fast-paced
A must read for everyone in the 21th , especially for those into politics and the military.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
worth my time although it's a shame that parts of the dialogue were not recovered so the writing doesn't flow as well in the second part.
really interesting to see how different the world and how it was viewed in the time all this was written down.
really interesting to see how different the world and how it was viewed in the time all this was written down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War