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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Well, I never thought I’d read a book written by a Chinese military strategist in 5th century BC but I’m impulsive like that.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
medium-paced
great if you’re in business or the military lol. i’ve seen so many people say to read this, regardless of profession, and I get why, but it wasn’t anything to write home about.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
What a great edition of a classic this is! In addition to the original text in a clear, easily understood translation, this book includes commentary from various scholars from long after Sun Tzu's death. It added a great deal to the reading experience as it helped me understand not only the text itself, but how it was perceived by Chinese authors, in their own words.
If you have any edition of The Art of War to read, I strongly encourage you pick this one.
If you have any edition of The Art of War to read, I strongly encourage you pick this one.
informative
fast-paced
Was not very impressed with this at all. It was the successor to "Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius" as my iPod/subway book, but not as enjoyable. First of all, nearly half of the edition I had was editorial notes interspersed with the text. I guess the text itself isn't really long enough to justify a whole book on its own. And second, I feel like it didn't really offer me any new insights. It reminded me somewhat of "The Wealth of Nations" in having some interesting wisdom mixed in with long boring parts. But Sun Tzu is considerably less organized than Adam Smith, and what's more, I feel like the main interesting insights of this book have been so sublimated into American cultural awareness that they didn't feel fresh to me: win the battle by fighting on your own terms, know your enemy as well as you know yourself, etc. I feel like I had a much better experience of learning about military strategic and tactical thinking by reading, for instance, Shogun, and probably the same would be true of Lawrence of Arabia (though I haven't read that). I much prefer reading a narrative of Toranaga/Tokugawa's military coup to having its key insights boiled down (and all the motivation boiled away).
Next iPod/subway book: Epictetus.
Next iPod/subway book: Epictetus.
slow-paced
Insightful and uniquely significant for history, very slow read
a quick read, has some wisdom but most chapters are not applicable to modern and day-to-day life.