Tha Art of War - Sun Tzu

Editorinchief

I know someone who holds a business degree and I'm always told to read this book because it's like one of the best business book there is to read.

It may be.

Business is like war if looked at from a certain perspective. I find it illustrates so many points if this is true.

Has anybody read this book? Any comments? Would this be a good take on this book? If so, I'd love to read it.

alexjbarrett

joxang

The 'Art Of War' is a great way of stimulating imagination, as opposed to a step by step guide to what to do.

It was used by great generals to give really broad outlines of possibible ways of discovering and exploiting weaknesses in the enemy, leaving the general to think up more solid plans himself.

This vagueness means it's very well applied to other areas, such as politics or business. It'll definitely be a very good read, and read it with a nice cup of earl grey to get your brain cells working...

yaashop

i have read the news that The Military school in china they put this book to teach their soldier as a subject to improve they strategy and mind. sound cool though. maybe our government should do the same XD

rdrs

Hello there,

The Art of War can be downloaded legally and for free at the Gutenberg project. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17405

This is the translation from Lionel Giles, the same one which I read. I make this remark since the book is rather ancient, and was written in verse. To extract meaning from its characters you need a lifetime of experience in the chinese dialect it was written in.

The book is in the reading list of many military schools - the portuguese for one. Don't be misled by that - you'd be suprised if you knew some books they read. Perhaps more importantly, the book is usually to be found in the philosophy section of the bookshop. Some people put it next to Machiavelli's Prince, or the von Clausewitz's Of War. I put it next to Gracian's The Art of Wordly Wisdom.

What's more, the book is indeed about waging war. But, as most ancient books, it transmits a philosophy with it, perhaps even certain political ideas. I read it mostly out of interest, after finding some quotes which applied quite nicely to everyday life. 'War', as a concept, can be applied even to baking a cake, and that was the frame of mind I had while reading a book.

Anyway, do keep in mind you'll be quite bored unless you take the book lightly, just like joxang wrote - to stimulate your imagination. You'll be disappointed if you're expecting a how-to guide.

Regards,

Renato

palavra

jwellsy

I read Sun Tzu was a Sissy.
The Real Art of War.
http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Tzu-Was-Sissy-Enemies/dp/0060734779

I was not very impressed with it.

Anticollie

Hmm. Well, I have read this book, and it's a beautiful read, and I definatly agree that the Art of War can be adapted to many life aspects. my friend went to Westpoint, and it is required reading there, he enjoyed it, and told me to pick it up. I also have a masters in business psychology, so, thesekind of thinfs are interesting. A lot of things can help you understand how to run a business, it's just a matter of interpreting life's events.

Anticollie.