"Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all."
--Henry David Thoreau
Just Finished
The Art of War - The Barnes & Noble review
I do not doubt that Sun-Tzu's The Art of War is a classic worth studying, and a great source of wisdom on military tactics and strategy. Just do yourself a favor and skip this translation by Thomas Cleary.
Mr. Cleary seems enamored of himself as a translator. I have no doubt he knows how to translate, but I wanted to read Sun-Tzu, not Thomas Cleary translating Sun-Tzu and hosts of others so I could appreciate how clever Mr. Cleary is.
The book is laid out so:
Sun-Tzu said this.
- Here's a translation of So-and-so who says this about this.
- Someone else I translated says this.
- A few other persons I also translated have this to say.
Sun-Tzu said this, too.
- Here's a translation of what So-and-so says....
- ad infinitum
- ad nauseum
This is truly annoying when one wants to read only what the original author has to say. I tried going through and reading only the Sun-Tzu parts, but that didn't work well at all. This would be a good book for those who really want to get into the whole philosophy and study the various perspectives with which Sun-Tzu's words have been attributed throughout the centuries. This was not my purpose, so this book didn't suit me.
SET - 10/24/2000
Currently Reading
Aristophanes: Lysistrata/The Acharnians/The Clouds - The Barnes & Noble review
Next on The List
Plato - Selected Works
Aristotle - Ethics; Politics; Poetics
Mencius - The Book of MenciusHere is The List that got me started.
SET's Reviews
Work Author Date The Epic of Gilgamesh Anonymous ca. 2000 BC The Iliad Homer ca. 800 BC The Odyssey Homer ca. 800 BC The Analects Confucius 551-479 BC The Oresteia Aeschylus 525-456 BC Three Theban Plays Sophocles 496-406 BC Electra; Alcestis; Medea;
Hippolytus; Bacchae;
Women of TroyEuripides 484-406 BC The Histories Herodotus 484-425 BC The History of the
Peloponnesian WarThucydides 470/460-ca.400 BC The Art of War Sun-Tzu 450-380 BC
Resources
KCWC's Library
The Western Canon
© 1999