3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two great texts in one slim volume, Mar 5 2010
This review is from: The Book of Five Rings (Mass Market Paperback)
This volumes contains very readable translations of The Books of Five Rings by arch Samurai Miyamoto Musashi and The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori.
At 192 pages it is a slim book, but it should not be read in one, or even several sittings. This is a book to digest slowly - read a page or two then leave it for a couple of days.
The lessons of the samurai are nothing new - be more determined than your enemy; be better prepared than your enemy; and so on - but there is little new in most management texts and, as with comedy, it is the way you tell it that makes the difference.
The Books of Five Rings has a simple homespun wisdom and talks gently but carries powerful messages. A Buddhist simplicity the focuses the power of the inner self.
It is, by the nature of its author, about confrontation. Not to be used on your kids, but more for competitive business, or sports, or our own personal battles, against weight gain for instance.
Musashi tells us that to be a successful warrior means adopting the correct state of mind, and this book, with its simple rough-hewn lessons, shows us that there can be a victorious warrior within everyone.
This is not a life-changing book, but it is one that will sharpen your edge, and one that you will keep and re-read for a couple of decades, rather than read once and pass on to friends.
Highly recommended. Five stars.
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