The Art of War- Sun Tzu

This book wasn't really what I expected. Then again, I don't think I really knew what to expect. I joked with my husband that after reading this book, I would instantly become a military genius, or at least fantastically great at chess and RISK.
The Art of War has apparently been around for ages. Parts of the original Chinese have been lost or undecipherable at times. Other parts make Sun Tzu seem a bit kooky. There were about ten commentator who have inserted their comments and personal understandings of Sun Tsu's workthroughout the ages. I couldn't keep track of the Chinese names, but their comments did helo make sense of some of the phrases. My one complaint was the format of the particular edition I read interjected the comments in the middle of the verse. So part of the verse would be there, then a comment, followed by the rest of the phrase. So I would have to read it all through a second time and then read the comment in order to understand the entire gist of the message, and the commentator's interpretation.
Some of Sun Tzu's principals could be applied to life situations. I thought of parenting teenagers, being in charge of a large group of people with a common goal. At the same time, a lot of information seemed a bit worthless, for me. When will I ever require the use of spies? and fire warfare? Probably not... Other concepts were very common sense, which raised an interesting thought. Are they really common sense? Or are they common sense because I've lived through and studied the numerous wars that have occured since Sun Tzu's application of The Art of War? hmm...
Other bits of information need to be given to the U.S. military again. Such as "It has never benefitted a country to be at war for a long time. How long has Iraq been happening? At the same time Sun Tzu made an argument that war was to be used to bring about peace, and to invade an enemy who is knowingly committing evils. To American politics and ideals, terrorism and the problems happening in the Iraq area can be viewed as pretty evil.
The Art of War didn't turn me into a Military genius. there were no reasonable applications for chess or RISK, I'm sure Im just as miserable at strategy games as before. But it did broaden my thoughts, and make me think about lots of new things. I guess that's why its a classic, and that's definetly the point of this insane project.
I did manage to get a copy of The Art of War without any commentators. Maybe when my first child becomes a teenager I'll crack it open and study it extensively and insert my own comments and interpretations. Then I really will be a military genius!