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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I do highly recommend you read this with a pen and paper close as there are a lot of things you can apply in day to day life that The Art Of War speaks about.
This is a very simple book to read, everything to clearly presented in points linked to each other. I do recommend you pay as much attention as possible to this, because although the language is simple and easy to follow, you can easily get lost and misinterpret the small details.
This is a very simple book to read, everything to clearly presented in points linked to each other. I do recommend you pay as much attention as possible to this, because although the language is simple and easy to follow, you can easily get lost and misinterpret the small details.
informative
informative
reflective
fast-paced
There is reason this stayed relevant for over 2000 years. Not my usual cup of tea, though...
informative
reflective
medium-paced
My takes are probably dumb, but so is war, so I'll call it a wash.
Art of War (兵法）is perhaps the greatest book ever on military strategy. SunZi writes very well. Unfortcunately, most translations take liberties. It's partly because classical Chinese is pithy. I don't think it's because of racism: basically the leading public domain translations filter SunZi through Clausewitz and/or Mahan. I think we can safely ignore the metaphysical aspects, which basically reflect Chinese elemental theory. If you don't worry about trying to figure out his geomancy and read it with skepticism you can definitely get the ideas he is trying to convey. The translations aren't faithless, just that there is a lot one can interpret in -- and they do! Example: 兵法 would be better translated as "Law of Soldiery" or "Laws of Arms" which better reflects SunZis broad perspective which considered not merely war, but also training and discipline of troops and of course state-to-state relations and geography. "Know yourself and know your enemy and you will win all your battles" is memorable; but SunZi's writing like all classical Chinese is terse. What he really wrote was: "Know yourself, know your counterpart; 100 battles, 100 victories." The usual translation is a fair interpolation but definitely reads in some things and reads out others: To regard the opponent as a counterpart, not an enemy, is very much part of SunZi's thinking. Despite the fact most translations are inaccurate you MUST read this book if state power & international relations are your object of study. Bad SunZi is better than no SunZi! AMAZING BOOK. READ AND LEARN.
孙子兵法 is generally badly translated. Even so because Sunzi is brilliant even a bad translation is worth reading. His esoteric/philosophic/geomantic views are likely incomprehensible and basically irrelevant but most translators can't make head or tails of them so they don't detract from the rest which is brilliant.
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Not my cup of tea but evidently useful and insightful.
informative
reflective
medium-paced