The Art of War

By: Sun Tzu

Narrated by: Jennifer Elkin

Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

The timeless original text; required listening for anyone interested in strategy. This is a work of subtlety and paradox that shows the way to a clean and aesthetic triumph. Sun Tzu insisted that a skilled warrior observes, calculates, outwits, and outmaneuvers an adversary, and in doing so averts the destruction of battle.

Includes a soundtrack entitled "The Mysterious Sound of Wind in the Bamboo", a 43-minute 14-track collection of Zen-inspired Japanese music by the Matsu Take Ensemble. 

Public Domain (P)2012 Trout Lake Media

Musical Interlude

The music that they used to pad out the run time was good, but unexpected. The actual book ended at around chapter 13 or 14.

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Stop the Music

it was a really great book until it broke into music for the last 7 chapters.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

Get the shorter version of the Art of War

I thought 2 hours would be a more comprehensive look at the art of war, but no it's not that. The other half is an hour/longer zen soundtrack with most of the tracks sounding alike eventually.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Interesting things to meditate

The actual book part is only about an hour in length and is quite concise and pointed. Easy to listen to and comprehend. Yet hard to master in all areas at once. The strategies within are also fairly simple to translate into everyday living. The second half of the audio is music to enjoy as you begin to ponder what you've just heard. A nice little treat.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Half of the audiobook is Asian flutes

The audible version of The Art of War contains widely applicable wisdom of strategies for gaining success over any opponent followed by several 'chapters' of utterly useless music.

Numotus Numotus Numotus

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Half the book is music?

An excellent reading of an excellent book, but half of the "book" was music. Confusing.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

ok for price, would do without the pipes

while I love the accent of the narrator I can't help but to be baffled buy the 10 chapters of Music at the end

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Truly a masterpiece

A definite book for any age. It's not difficult to draw parallel with real life. Highly recommended

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Going to just replay it

The content and reading are amazing. Then the music at the end made me enter into deeper thought about the whole book. What a perfect pair!

Bravo

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

It was good until the last 10 chapters

I was enjoying it till they filled the last 10 chapters with just music and no story.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

There’s no need for 30 minutes of flute music

I do recommend to get the paper book. At least it’ll be much quicker to read. The 30 minutes of flute music was unnecessary.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Classic strategy book

This book is ok, but why are there 12 chapters of pan piped at the end of the book?

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Art of War

The Art of War by Sun Tzu:

Iconic war text
Half of run time music fill
False advertising

Brilliant for the First 13 Chapters...

... But for the remaining 12 chapters, all you listen to is traditional Chinese music! IMO, there was really no need to include it.

Don’t waste an audible credit on this

Interesting book if you’re into war strategy but complete con as an audiobook as the last 40+ minutes are all panpipe music so you really don’t get a lot of book for your audible credit.

Very instructional

It was quite frank and without much allegory or metaphor. A nice listen and insightful but I could of done without nearly an hour of music at the end, it felt like shameless padding to the length to make it seem more worth a buy. The narrator was good but the language is very short and precise, I don’t know what I imagined, perhaps more eastern wisdom but it was more focused on the basics of winning a war or battle

Half the book is music

Whilst the music is nice, I didn't expect almost an hour of it. Aside from that, the content is rather "list based" as many early writings are, but the narrator does a good job.

What were they thinking?

Would you consider the audio edition of The Art of War to be better than the print version?

In as much as it's an easy way of getting through it, yes. Although it's a very short book, I was getting bogged down in the details in the translation that I read; now that I've been through the whole text once, I will find it very easy to study properly.

If you’ve listened to books by Sun Tzu before, how does this one compare?

Er, Sun Tzu isn't known for being a prolific author. He *literally* wrote the book on war; he didn't need to do a follow up to establish himself.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jennifer Elkin?

I wouldn't be put off, but I wouldn't seek her out either.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Surprisingly yes. It's a very short book.

Any additional comments?

This was a difficult book to grade. It's an undisputed classic - and no way would I give three stars to such a historically important work. It would be like giving a C+ to Newton's laws of motion or Darwin's Origin of Species.However, I am critical of the way it is presented. I chose this edition because it is much longer than most of the other versions of Sun Tzu, and so I thought there might be some commentary. Instead, roughly half the "book" is taken up with Chinese music. Now it may well be the case that the music has a direct relevance to Sun Tzu and his times, but as there is no spoken explanation for its presence, and frankly it isn't very appealing to the ear of a Westerner who just wants to learn a bit of history, it has no obvious reason for being there.So three stars for "story" as that only takes up half of the time I paid for, and a star knocked off the overall because I didn't get the commentary I hoped for.I might buy another edition and compare it with this.

this isn't an audio book it's a pamphlet

What disappointed you about The Art of War?

the wind pipes, this story is about an hour long, the rest is pipe music.

What could Sun Tzu have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

its no reflection on Sun Tzu,

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

About as useful as a fortune cookie

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who enjoy abstractions, pretend war play and have some time to kill. This is as serious answer as I can bring myself to provide, flower power images come to mind.

Would you ever listen to anything by Sun Tzu again?

No

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Narrator was OK

What character would you cut from The Art of War?

There are no characters in this book (is this a metaphysical question?)

Any additional comments?

Don't buy this book - it requires serious help for comprehension. Rather purchase a commented version or one that ventures interpretations such as The Art of War for Women.

1 of 6 people found this review helpful