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Andrew · 05-16-2005, 12:36 AM

It would be a stretch to call it the worst... but I had an extremely hard time completing "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu (translated by Ralph D. Sawyer)

My teacher recommended me the book after i quoted the line "Keep your friend close, keep your enemies closer" (i was writing an essay and didn't know who said it). I delved into the book expecting tactical information on warfare that could be translated universally to everyday conflicts... unfortunately, i didn't get much out of the book...

For one, it was way too expositional. Throughout the 150+ page intro, you're fed page after page of "is it really THAT neccesary to put that into here?"-type of information. It is meant to give you a "brief" history lesson on China... but the lesson quickly becomes dull and mundane, only sprouting a few interesting focal points midway between the midpoint and the end; when they talk about the Warring States

Then, after I read through the excruciating introductory stuff... I find out that the art of war is just a simplistically-structured-disappointment. To me, the actual art of war depicts itself to be "organized common sense". Numerous times, when reading, i thought of sarcastic phrases like "duh" & "reaaaaaallllly?". Then on top of that... you slowly realize that most of the tactics rely a lot on "chance" and "circumstance"...

Maybe I didn't interpret the book like i should have... but to me, it remains to be an overhyped book...

05-16-2005, 12:36 AM	#136 (permalink)
Andrew Hollywood Star Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,285	It would be a stretch to call it the worst... but I had an extremely hard time completing "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu (translated by Ralph D. Sawyer) My teacher recommended me the book after i quoted the line "Keep your friend close, keep your enemies closer" (i was writing an essay and didn't know who said it). I delved into the book expecting tactical information on warfare that could be translated universally to everyday conflicts... unfortunately, i didn't get much out of the book... For one, it was way too expositional. Throughout the 150+ page intro, you're fed page after page of "is it really THAT neccesary to put that into here?"-type of information. It is meant to give you a "brief" history lesson on China... but the lesson quickly becomes dull and mundane, only sprouting a few interesting focal points midway between the midpoint and the end; when they talk about the Warring States Then, after I read through the excruciating introductory stuff... I find out that the art of war is just a simplistically-structured-disappointment. To me, the actual art of war depicts itself to be "organized common sense". Numerous times, when reading, i thought of sarcastic phrases like "duh" & "reaaaaaallllly?". Then on top of that... you slowly realize that most of the tactics rely a lot on "chance" and "circumstance"... Maybe I didn't interpret the book like i should have... but to me, it remains to be an overhyped book... __________________ Gone.