Customer Reviews

A Child's Machiavelli : A Primer on Power

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Brillint, utterly brilliant. If only some thoughtful relative had given me this instead of Pat the Bunny for my fourth birthday, I might not have been subject to the despotic reign of my neighbor, Keenan McCoy for so many years. (Along with other things that are too horribly embarassing to mention, she used to pull down my mint green with white polka-dot polyester shorts and spank me bare-butted in full public view. Talk about a kid who knew about ruling by fear. Sheesh.) Anyways, for all you high school sophmores who were planning on weaseling out of reading The Prince and scanning the cliff notes an hour before class, this little number is a way better bet. It meets the required standard of hitting all the relevant points, but in about a twentieth of the time. Also, it is funny and has nifty Dick and Jane-esque illustrations resplendant in pink, yellow, and the same exact mint green of my aforementioned polyester shorts. All in all, it's a great little book that I am still kicking myself for not buying two years ago when I stumbled across it in a bookshop in Park Slope. Alas.

You wouldn't think it was possible. This book has all the subtlety, insight, and importance of the original, and goes it two better: 1) The ideas are that much more powerful (their impact strikes like lightning) since the presentation is so brief. 2) the examples, taken from everyday childhood existence, are better (clearer, more illuminating, more obviously to the point) than many of those offered in the original. And with apparent innocence, this approach offhandedly exposes the childish immaturity of Machiavelli's (and his modern adherents') ruthless approach to human relations. A truly inspired work of genius. This book could be the basis of a very profound disucssion of schoolyard relations with five-year-olds, of international relations with graduate students, or anywhere in between.

I am a fan of South Park and Beavis and Butthead, and this little bonbon follows in that tradition. It's not for kids but for the 'child within', and my child at least, has horns. Its a great guide book for everyone engaged in business, and I found it to be incredibly insightful!

Want to have a good talk with your pre-teen about ethics, bullies, and getting ahead? This is wonderful book for that purpose. You will not ever forget reading this little gem. One could almost laugh at the ruthlessness of it, except if you read it again when you approach 50, you realize - very sadly - that some people you've worked with (perhaps someone who tried to destroy your career) actually live by these rules. A great book on the introduction to power (as - of course - was the book from which it was drawn).

This book distills Machiavelli's cut-throat advice into the the simple language and context that a child can understand. It contains such gems as:

"When you take over some place, kill off everyone who's against you, pronto, then act really nice to everyone else."

The beauty of this book is that cute illustrations aside, it is hardly for children at all. Claudia Hart has cleverly transformed Machiavelli's formal discourse into the playground phrases of a primary school student. For example:

"If you want to take over some place, don't forget to kill not just the boss, but also all his kids!"

This book will appeal to anyone with a sense of irony and a love of history. Even fans of the master of real politik himself are bound to appreciate it.

This is a very cruel book. It turns Machiavelli's words into childrens' words, and what he said is insightful and ruthless. As you might know, Niccolo Machiavelli, known as the father of political science, lived in Florence, Italy between 1469 and 1527. This book was based on another book by him, The Prince, which was in adult language and converted to little people talk in this book. This book was full of cruel proverbs such as, "If you just took over someplace, have a bunch of friends from your old neighborhood go live there too. People won't even notice that these old friends of yours are actually your spies." Even though it was cruel, this book was extremely funny in the sense that this is in child's language (such as "'cos or 'specially") and it is so wrong. It really made me laugh, and it would probably do the same thing to you. I especially liked where it said something about people being scared of you but not hating you. Nathaniel Hillard, age 11

Interesting book to hand a teenager

When I first read about this book I was very excited, but reality fell far short of my expectations. The text is in an awkward script font and the attempt to convey Machiavelli's concepts to an audience of "children" is stilted and insluting. The illustrations are garish, ugly reproductions from classic children's books (such as Alice in Wonderland) and rarely corrolate to the maxim they are meant to depict. Don't waste your time or money on this book.