المفروض أن كتاب عبده الصيني هذا من أقدم الكتب في مجال الحروب.

كما أنه في قائمة أهم خمسين كتابا في التاريخ.

يفترض أن هذا الكتاب ألهم الكثير من المحاربين؟ من تشي جيفارا إلى مقاتلي القاعدة.

يُقال أن أفكار (فن الحرب) حفزت العديد من الساسة، المدراء التنفذيين وأخصائيي التسويق، وربما ربات البيوت أيضا.

بناء على كل هذا الافتراضات، بدأت قراءة الكتاب بسقف توقعات عال.

ولكن،،،

تفاجئت أولا بأن الكتاب ليس نثرا عاديا بل على هيئة مقاطع أظنها شعرية. لذا فالنص ليس بالعمق والتفصيل الكافييّن.

استغربت أيضا أن أغلب الأفكار الواردة فطرية ومنطقية ولا تدل على ذكاء معين، مثلا: لا تقاتل من هو أكثر منك عددا وعتادا ويمتلك من الموارد ما ليس عندك.... هل أحتاج لقراءة كتاب كي أعرف هذه النقطة؟
لا يتعرض الكتاب للمواقف الصعبة أو غير الاعتيادية بل -غالبا- يخط قواعد عامة للقتال.
لا نبخس الكتاب حقه فقد تعرض لمواضيع جيدة مثل طبيعة الأرض وتحفيز المقاتلين وادخار الموارد.

ربما تكمن قيمة الكتاب في أقدميته ولو أنني أعلم بأن هناك كتابا آخر -صينيا أيضا- صدر في نفس الزمن.

لم يبهرني لكنه ليس سيئا. كما أنه صغير الحجم. جرب على مسؤوليتك.

The Art of War is often referenced in other books and movies as being a great source of information on how to strategize in business as well as war. I believe Donald Trump has raved about it more than once as something that has helped him build his, um, "empire".

The first section is the Lionel Giles' translation of Sun Tzu's masterpiece; the second section is also Lionel Giles' translation of Sun Tzu's masterpiece, with his own interpretations interspersed throughout the reading. Essentially one gets to read The Art of War twice, the second time taking longer because of the notes after every couple of statements.

While interesting to read in a historical sense, reading it today for anything other than its historical context smells a little fishy to me. As usual a classic piece of literature has been taken, re-worked, re-interpreted and totally blinged out to pigeonhole it so it is somehow pertinent to society now. In this case it was adopted by business moguls as a way to learn how to become ruthless men and women. Granted there are a couple of "leadership" discussions that could be useful in an office setting, but ultimately they are generally common sense sorts of issues: If the leader is weak, the soldiers will be insubordinate.

Really?

Other things, such as not fighting in the brush or in water, are so painfully obvious that it's hard for my crusted-up third eye to open. People comment on the genius of Sun Tzu's words, which may have packed more of a punch 2500 years ago than it does today, but people also comment on Yogi Berra's genius as well. When asked about the things Yogi Berra would say that were considered to be deep and profound, he would often remark that he had no idea he was being clever. He was just commenting on obvious facts, that's how his brain works.

Reading The Art of War now reminded me a lot of that. Maybe Sun Tzu was just an early Yogi Berra.

Spies are the most important element of WAR ...

Quick Demo: On Ruining a Classic Text

Kaufman (author more than translator, I feel) boasts: In this work you will learn how people are to be treated and dealt with. The work was written for men in command and leaders of states. It is for the ambitious and strong spirited; do not seek morality lessons here.

Sun Tzu has been translated and interpreted countless times by people with little knowledge of true combat reality on either the physical or mental level.

Most of the available translations and interpretations maintain a poetic approach that really doesn’t pertain to the times we are living in. There is a tendency to maintain a “mystique” regarding ancient knowledge. This is quaint, relative to today’s aggressive personality. We are living in a global network and must think in decisive terms if we are to succeed.

He also chooses to leave out the valuable commentaries, which are supposed to be as much a part of the work as the original.

He says: In reality, who cares what Ch’en Fu thinks about Sun Tzu’s hidden meaning about the jade stalk in the midst of the enemy’s goldfish pond? We are grown-up and intelligent enough to develop our own understanding without the need for quaint allegories. There is nothing sacred here. I find that approach unnecessary, limiting, and a waste of time to the educated reader.

And here is a fun fact:

As an acknowledged and world-recognized martial arts master, a Hanshi (which is the highest rank attainable), I am thoroughly aware of my responsibility for the interpretation of this doctrine, and I have made it incumbent upon myself to explain Sun Tzu’s tenets as I perceive them in a definitive manner. 

— Must have recently taken a crash course on how to prepare a CV!

Well, the book is a bore and a complete failure. It does no justice to Sun Tzu’s masterpiece and is worse than the regular self-help fare because it has only pretentiousness (of being tough, goal-oriented, warlord-like, if you please) and no real intention of even trying to 'help' any non-delusional executive.

There is a reason why The Art of War is always presented poetically — it is so that the metaphors can be interpreted by the reader and applied as they want, so that they can understand the spirit of planned and prepared combat/conduct and apply that in life. That is why Art of war is an enduring and much loved classic.

The author obviously has no clue about all this. He thinks it is a good idea to just present the text as-is, without ornamentation, without poetry, without any hints at broader applications beyond the battleground — Because the global corporation IS a battleground! Hello!

Not realizing that once you strip away the poetry, you also strip the power of metaphor and what you have left is a dated txt that talks of war and claims to be for managers. It makes no sense to be told in plain prose to poison your enemy and insult his wife. Idiotic, without even being entertaining. Takes all the fun out of reading a bad book.

I listened to this as I cooked and cleaned. I would have never thought about it, but just about everything in that book seems like common sense.
I highly recommend this book. I am not into military stuff, but I did enjoy this.

I’ve found this valuable piece of literature applicable to life. The premise of the piece: “All warfare is based in deception.” I believe we all face warfare every day, in varying degrees. I don’t believe we should look for a fight, or use this wisdom to deceive and attack people. However, this is good wisdom to keep in mind when you must face many types of battles, in most situations, of the mind. This can apply to working up in a company and potential opposition that could bring, or being bullied psychologically, or manipulators attacking you. It can be used in games, especially those requiring mental schemes, such as games males and females play to get one another, or against one another of same sex to gain a desired goal of the opposite sex. For this reason, and with that in view, I highly recommend this book.

I want to say I don’t want to give away all my secrets, but they aren’t mine. They are the authors. I’ve learned the following in application to my own life:
If you have an enemy, in any capacity, remember to be deceptive with the intent of protecting yourself, and not bringing harm on anyone. If you’re weak, act strong. If you’re strong, act weak. When you do this, you will confuse the enemy in their plan of attack. My personal favorite: act weak, so your enemy may become arrogant and underestimate you. Then when you strike with your chosen weapon (psychological, circumstantial, intellectual weapons guided by legal parameters) they will be unprepared and it will knock them out of balance.

Don’t overwhelm your enemy to see no way out, or they will become desperate and use all their might. Leave a small way out to prevent this. Change up your attacks. Do whatever you can to confuse them. I try to bring it all up here, but remember as I face circumstances. If you’re not strong enough, run. If you’re stronger, attack swiftly. It’s best to win as quickly as possible, or you may lose strength.

This isn’t something I focus on, and I’m not in any battles, but sometimes I bring this out for circumstantial needs. This book, to be concise, gives street-wise common sense, and I appreciate that, because it doesn’t come natural to me. That’s why I’m grateful for a book to teach me, and to prepare me for those I may meet with a battle mentality. And many await us who love peace.

Nothing life-changing, but a fun, quick read. Sure, from a historical perspective this text is interesting, there are cool sounding quotes, but I honestly think this is overquoted in fiction nowadays and anytime I read about a male main character having a copy of this book, because the author thinks it will make him seem tough or something I have to admit I roll my eyes.

'The Most Influential Book of Strategy' of all time, Sun Tzu's Art of War might have been intended for the Military, but it is applicable for all types of business ventures. Despite the fact that the book was written over two thousand years ago, the 13 strategies explained starting from 'Laying Plans' to 'The Use of Spies,' are adoptable for present day management requirements. This little book will open your eyes to very important but quite simple strategies applicable to being a leader.

Glad to have read this. Becoming more disciplined in what I do. Because I can utilise the ideas anywhere I need to.

This book is really short and actually easy to read.
But I would say take your time to read it. Far better is to annotate or take notes of what you get from it.

✨What it is about:
☑️war strategy and planning but the actual scenarios will not be exactly applicable everywhere for everyone

✨How we can apply this book in our lives today:
☑️teaches us to think about the unknown but possible scenarios we would face when we are planning for a big change/process

☑️plan out different practical tactics with the resources that would be available to us despite unknown circumstances

☑️keeping a sharp eye on what would hinder/stop/oppose our progress

I find this book quite useful. However, as the exact words and scenarios described in the contents are of historical/geographical/war strategies, I had to read the book slowly and seek out what would be applicable for me.

Worth the hype? Yes.
Is this book for everyone? Yes but it depends on what you are seeking from this book.

Not for me. Boring unless you are planning go to war.

I read this book several years ago, at a time when I was in the midst of of a "power struggle" at work. You do not have to be at war to benefit from the teachings of Sun Tzu. I followed the strategies and counsel in this book very carefully.



This man truly knew how to win in every type of battle, because your focus is on understanding and controlling your enemy/foe. This is an amazing and indispensable guide for those of you who still have the enthusiasm and energy to battle life in a cut throat world. You can use many of Sun Tzu's tactics to gain many an advantage in your personal life, and it truly is a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

This was written hundreds of years after the death of it’s author around 25 hundred years ago, and then translated into English recently. It is obviously an important piece of writing, but it is more important to know about than it is interesting to read. If I was to start over, I would have just read the quotes from The Art of War that are listed on goodreads and stopped reading when I got bored somewhere around the middle of the first page.