Ask HN: What are some good books? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#11

Post by brudgers » Sat, May 11, 2013, 7:25 PM UTC

youngbenny wrote: post #8

brudgers wrote: post #6

Blood Meridian , Cormac McCarthy. Philosphical Investigations , Ludwig Witgenstein. The Analects . Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs , Ableson and Sussman. The Hamet and The Town and The Mansion , William Faulkner.

Wittgenstein is tough reading. Amazing that he conceived of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in the trenches of WW1 (literally).

He wrote a significant portion while a POW.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#12

Post by cju » Sat, May 11, 2013, 7:28 PM UTC

If you liked DFW and Borges, you may like Matt Ruff (especialy "Set this House in Order", "The Mirage" and "Fool on the Hill"). It's not as complex but the style is similar and really enjoyable.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#13

Post by eli_gottlieb » Sat, May 11, 2013, 7:34 PM UTC

Nobody has listed "Anything by Terry Pratchett" yet?

Of course, it very much depends what you like. Your list contains a lot more nonfiction than I usually read in book form, for instance.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#14

Post by youngbenny » Sat, May 11, 2013, 7:42 PM UTC

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #13

Nobody has listed "Anything by Terry Pratchett" yet? Of course, it very much depends what you like. Your list contains a lot more nonfiction than I usually read in book form, for instance.

Yeah, I read a lot more non-fiction than fiction. I'm trying to discover good fiction to read. Open to suggestions on anything.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#15

Post by IanChiles » Sat, May 11, 2013, 8:01 PM UTC

brudgers wrote: post #6

Blood Meridian , Cormac McCarthy. Philosphical Investigations , Ludwig Witgenstein. The Analects . Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs , Ableson and Sussman. The Hamet and The Town and The Mansion , William Faulkner.

I'd also add Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury - it's excellent, despite being a bit tough to understand

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#16

Post by steve_g » Sat, May 11, 2013, 8:29 PM UTC

Silverlock by John Myers Myers - a fantasy novel written in 1949 with hundreds (maybe thousands) of allusions to mythology, history, and classic literature. It's a lot of fun.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#17

Post by JackGibbs » Sat, May 11, 2013, 8:57 PM UTC

Some authors and a rec or two for each.

DFW - Infinite Jest

Pynchon - Really anything, but in particular Against the Day, V, and Gravity's Rainbow.

Rushdie - Shame and Satanic Verses, a lot of good other ones.

Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon

Gaddis - JR, hence my name.

Heller - Catch-22

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#18

Post by bloodorange » Sat, May 11, 2013, 9:32 PM UTC

bloodorange wrote: post #2

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - Lewis Carroll "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" - Lewis Carroll "Dracula" - Bram Stoker "Frankenstein" - Mary Shelly "On Education" - Bertrand Russell "The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy" - Douglas Adams "Animal Farm" - George Orwell "1984" - George Orwell "Lord of The Flies" - William Golding "Brave New World" - Aldous Huxley "Gulliver's Travels" - Jonathan…

Adding more:

Siddhartha - Hermen Hesse

Narcissus and Goldmund - Herman Hesse

The Glass Bead Game - Herman Hesse

The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain de Botton

A Brief History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

Politics and The English Lanaguage (essay) - George Orwell

A Modest Proposal (essay) - Jonathan Swift

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#19

Post by japhyr » Sat, May 11, 2013, 11:45 PM UTC

The Abstract Wild, Jack Turner

Honest and challenging, without being sentimental.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good books?

#20

Post by maxerickson » Sun, May 12, 2013, 12:41 AM UTC

Nobody has suggested Umberto Eco yet.I would try The Island of the Day Before or Baudolino before Foucault's Pendulum.

Alistair Reynolds is space opera done nicely (if you want to look in that direction). Chasm City stands on its own, but there are some similar works there.

Twain fits in with some of your other comments.