The Art of War

[Wictorian]

What are your thoughta on The Art of War?

[Rugg]

I will run - they will hunt me in vain
I will hide - they'll be searching
I'll regroup - feign retreat they'll pursue
Coup de grâce I will win but never fight [mercy killing]
That's the Art of War!

[PlayStation 2]

Is it true that he perfected it so that no one could best him in the ring of honor?

[Mutoh]

What are your thoughta on it OP and what are you looking to get by invoking it?

[williamcll]

Problem is that later chapters are not useful at all because it involves medieval tactics that are useless in modern warfare.

[Wictorian]

7 hours ago, Mutoh said:

What are your thoughta on it OP and what are you looking to get by invoking it?

Lol, spelling mistakes are just too funny imo.

 

As @williamcll stated, I didn't find as much value as I heard about it.

[spartaman64]

I prefer On War by Clausewitz

[Zodiark1593]

Not in the book, but quite apt. 
 

“Never Interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Definitely saved me once or twice in RL. 

[Spindel]

Read it more because if its historical implications. 

 

The only story I remember in (somewhat) detail is the one with the general, known for his cunning, that when defending a city against an superior army opened the gates and sat on top of the wall playing his flute. When the generals of the invading armies saw this they found it to be suspicious and they decided to retreat and not sack the city.

 

A plus is that its a book that is not as tiring to read as the Prince

 

I have Miyamoto Musashis Book of Five Rings in my book shelf, someday I will read that too

[LordVetinari]

4 minutes ago, Spindel said:

Read it more because if its historical implications. 

 

The only story I remember in (somewhat) detail is the one with the general, known for his cunning, that when defending a city against an superior army opened the gates and sat on top of the wall playing his flute. When the generals of the invading armies saw this they found it to be suspicious and they decided to retreat and not sack the city.

 

A plus is that its a book that is not as tiring to read as the Prince

 

I have Miyamoto Musashis Book of Five Rings in my book shelf, someday I will read that too

Try the 'Discourses on Livy'....if you want a tiring read

 

The Prince however is worth the trudge IMO.

 

OP - depends on what you want out of these texts and also the translation you read (particularly the Art of War). They are most useful if you go in with a specific purpose.

[Wictorian]

25 minutes ago, LordVetinari said:

Try the 'Discourses on Livy'....if you want a tiring read

 

The Prince however is worth the trudge IMO.

 

OP - depends on what you want out of these texts and also the translation you read (particularly the Art of War). They are most useful if you go in with a specific purpose.

Yeah I read it in my language, it was like 50 pages idk if its normally like that and there was no stories. But I have the ebook in English maybe I should read that too

[LordVetinari]

11 minutes ago, Wictorian said:

Yeah I read it in my language, it was like 50 pages idk if its normally like that and there was no stories. But I have the ebook in English maybe I should read that too

When I say translation I mean more the intent and focus of the translator rather than the actual languages used. Good translation is a tricky business and you are reliant on the translator to convey the intent and sentiment of the original text rather than just transliterating words. This is particularly important when translating from eastern to western languages and in classical texts where the language used maybe quite archaic even to a native speaker. For an extreme example of this describing someone as 'nice' in the 1300's in English meant the person was an idiot, not the current meaning of 'pleasant'.  Someone translating such a text from say English to Chinese would have to aware of the differences in order to translate it accurately! (Again - that is a very extreme example, you would probably expect less deviation in a language like Chinese)

 

For example someone translating 'The Art of War' to be read by a business audience may translate the original text utilising more 'business' language and statements framed so that they would be easily grasped by that audience. Likewise, a translator from a military background would probably defer to more militaristic terms in their translations. These changes may be quite subtle, but can very much change the 'feel' of the original text, particularly to the general reader.    

[Spindel]

1 hour ago, LordVetinari said:

Try the 'Discourses on Livy'....if you want a tiring read

 

The Prince however is worth the trudge IMO.

 

OP - depends on what you want out of these texts and also the translation you read (particularly the Art of War). They are most useful if you go in with a specific purpose.

Both The Prince and Art of War are interesting reads. But even for its "chineseiness" I felt that Art of War was easier to read, partly because it is a really short text and also because Machiavelli being, I don't know, Italian (?) there are so much superfluous writing for describing things. I mean just get to the point old dead dude!

[LordVetinari]

6 hours ago, Spindel said:

Both The Prince and Art of War are interesting reads. But even for its "chineseiness" I felt that Art of War was easier to read, partly because it is a really short text and also because Machiavelli being, I don't know, Italian (?) there are so much superfluous writing for describing things. I mean just get to the point old dead dude!

Oh it's definitely an easier read and IMO the way it's written lends itself to be easily applied to different aspects of life. The Prince and other works need a little more thought to apply. 

 

In its time 'the prince' was considered brutally to the point. (That's before you even consider the amorality of the text - something that was quite shocking for the time)