A Book of Five Rings

The Strategy of Musashi

De: Miyamoto Musashi

Narrado por: Alec Sand

Legendary 17th century swordsman Miyamoto Musashi’s exposition of sword fighting, strategy and Zen philosophy. Required reading for any martial artist, business person or student of strategy. Includes the one hour Zen inspired soundtrack The Mysterious Sound of Wind in the Bamboo. Performed on authentic Japanese instruments.

©2009 trout lake media (P)2009 Trout Lake Media

some concepts still apply today

other concepts have little or no meaning, it is a short good listen packed with culture

IDK

The reader or the narrative sounded tired, didn't seem too excited to read the book. I was looking foward to hear a good story but left with yawn 🥱... could have been done better. And many times had to raise the volume to hear it clearly.

A masterpiece

Exactly how a masterpiece should be written. No wasted words, straight to the facts.

Good Book, Poor Audio

The narrator sounds tired and his words are cut off from time to time. Disappointing, but for the price, still acceptable, I suppose.

The book itself is worthwhile.

Lame Reviews, Great Book!

A lot of people reviewing this book seem to have no ability to reinterpret the material which, while obviously most applicable during the time this book was written, is invaluable and timeless. Yes, you can apply these teachings to your 9-5 office job if you work your mind a bit.

Whether you are a tradesman, a writer, or someone who has any sort of aspirations, you will surely extract something valuable from this book. Great teachings in a short and sweet package which can endlessly be interpreted. Bought myself a physical copy to actively read after listening.

Narrator is a bit dull at worst, inoffensive at best. Flute interludes between sections are great.

What I expected

If you could sum up A Book of Five Rings in three words, what would they be?

Duty- Honor- Loyalty

What did you like best about this story?

I have read this before so knew what to expect. Listen/read with an open mind.

What about Alec Sand’s performance did you like?

He has the a good voice for narration

Deep Truths

This is one to keep coming back to. It’s so rich in truth and value that one or two passes will yield little. A undeniable classic.

Zen and Swordmanship

Though expressed in terms of war, this is a deep guide to right mind in all things

A'ight

Really nothing insightful. You can in a way apply everything he talked about in one way or another but just too specific to swordsmanship. Even then he would admit that he can't really explain it properly in the book and that it had to be researched further then practiced. I think it would be something insightful if you were truly attempting to become a great swordsman. I guess I was hoping for something in how he became a great swordsman, was he taught these ideas or did he learn them on his own? I would have liked to hear his examples for what he talked about. For example, he talked about how a longsword has limited reach and that if you get close it is disadvantageous, but then moves on. An example of he would react in a real world scenario would have been insightful. Also, when telling the reader that we must further research an idea he touched upon would benefit greatly by telling us how to do so, how would he do so? How did he acquire that knowledge that he can't explain to us? I have no doubt this man was a great swordsman, but this was not an insightful book. Overall, I would not recommend this book.

A strategists must read, just not this narrator

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Owning this book, buying it to listen to was a spur of the moment decision. Make sure to listen to the sample and listen to the poor narration before purchase.

Any additional comments?

Don't misunderstand me, this a great book by the greatest Samurai of all time. Worth the read or listen, just not this one.