--- Elizabeth Chase <
lizzirrd@...> wrote:
> I am wondering: of all the translations of Miyamoto
> Musashi's book 'The Book of 5 Spheres (or Rings)....
> which one is the most
> accurate?
I'm sure someone here can help. I've got one
translation, but being as I haven't finished reading
it, and certainly haven't compared it, I can't help
you.
> Secondly, I am wondering if anyone has read Thomas
> Cleary's 'The Art of Japanese War' (1992), and would
> like to hear your thoughts
> on it.
Not surprisingly, I've got strong feelings about
Cleary. I haven't read his "Art of Japanese War",
because his "translation" of Sun Zi Ping Fa (THE Art
of War) is hideous. He's a philosophy nut, and if
you're looking for goofy easternish mystic
gobbledygook, then he's your man. Unfortunately, I
tend to think when an ancient Chinese strategist is
writing about war, when he writes about how to defeat
an enemy, that's what he's talking about. Cleary takes
it all as metaphor, expressing Taoist essence, blah
blah blah. When the man talks about killing people,
Tom, he's talking about killing people--not moon
viewing.
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