Requesting comments on Kato's "Attack and Kill"

[Drew]

While it has been recommended several times on these boards, I cannot find any substantive comments on the content of this book. Nor have I been able to find any good reviews online. I would be grateful if someone could share some impressions about this book as I am interested in purchasing it.

[RobertJasiek]

The book is non-essential. To exaggerate, "attack with the keima" summarises its contents. Nevertheless, it can be one of 500 books from which you learn a bit, and all together help you by sheer number. Light reading without much substance, but if you need to choose, spend your time more efficiently.

[CnP]

It's been a while since I looked at it but you can read the first chapter as a (legit) free sample from Kiseido,

http://www.kiseidodigital.com/kdb.html

after that I think it's 'just' game reviews

[sorin]

It is an excellent book, I warmly recommend you to read it.
I felt I learned a lot by reading it years ago, and it was very enjoyable too.

Kato was very successful as an aggressive player when he was young, very famous for his attacks - there is a lot to learn from this.

[Uberdude]

I recommend this book, simply because of the funny looks you will get reading it on a train.

[longshanks]

I recommend this book, simply because of the funny looks you will get reading it on a train.

Uhm, yes. But in this day and age you might just get thrown off the train if an ignorant passenger were to misunderstand/get scared and report you.

Something similar happened to a plane passenger a couple of weeks ago.

[John Fairbairn]

Uhm, yes. But in this day and age you might just get thrown off the train if an ignorant passenger were to misunderstand/get scared and report you.

Something similar happened to a plane passenger a couple of weeks ago.

Not just "this day and age". I translated that book a few decades ago. Shortly after it was published, publisher Richard Bozulich told me he had to deal with an irate go player - i.e. someone who must have know about life & death - who objected to the title. It was an American and it was, I think, the time when the political correctness wave began in th USA.

Richard also had to field a very intense complaint from a go player who objected to a piece I wrote for Go Almanac on Japanese go boards. It was a seen as a slight on China (simply because China wasn't mentioned).

There have been many similar incidents, involving also other people. Shielding writers like me from this sort of stuff is one way publishers earn their percentage.

What always astounded me was not the objection per se - after all there is usually room for subjective opinions - but the level of vituperation used by the complainants. The trash-talk on the internet in "this day and age" is likewise nothing new, unfortunately.

[jeromie]

The trash-talk on the internet in "this day and age" is likewise nothing new, unfortunately.

I have found it true of many fields that the study of history is both depressing (people have always done terrible things) and encouraging (this generation is often less exceptional in its failings than one might believe).

[djhbrown]

I cannot find any substantive comments on the content of this book.

Quite so, the comments you received only reveal the personalities of the commentators. Which is a pity, as Kato wrote one of the best books on Go ever written: a clear exposition of the basic principles of seeing the big picture, with a range of depth of illustrations making it highly readable and instructive. It's one of few books i wish i hadn't given away, but i remember the pleasure i felt 35 years ago learning about "roundabout attacks", a topic which other writers barely touch, but one that opened my eyes to the potential beauty of the game. Hopefully some future scholar will highlight roundabout attacks in Alphago's play, which would be very enlightening.