Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#101

Post by libraryatnight » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 4:47 PM UTC

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

“A child free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition will grow up with the will to do what needs doing and the capacity for joy in doing it. It is useless work that darkens the heart. The delight of the nursing mother, of the scholar, of the successful hunter, of the good cook, of the skilful maker, of anyone doing needed work and doing it well, - this durable joy is perhaps the deepest source of human affection and of sociality as a whole.”

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#102

Post by vmilner » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 4:48 PM UTC

hueving wrote: post #44

SyneRyder wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Audible version of this is excellent, one of my favorite Audible purchases. The narration reminds me of British comedies and sets the right tone for the book.

I must be blind, do you have a link to the audible version? I can't seem to find it in the audible store search.

It'll be some US/UK rights nonsense.

In the UK: http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Business/How-to-Get-Rich-Audiobo...

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#103

Post by cvoss » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 4:52 PM UTC

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Tom Stoppard. This is a hilariously clever play so packed with verbal and physical humor that you almost have to read it aloud to yourself and move about your own living room to fully digest it. It explores the sensation that supposedly random events are somehow orchestrated into a purposeful coherence by an unseen force (Stoppard? Shakespeare?) More than one character has an existential crisis involving, though not explicitly invoking, the fourth wall. And the commentary on death is quite thoughtful and thought-provoking.

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#104

Post by eli_gottlieb » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 4:54 PM UTC

merryandrew wrote: post #74

1984, followed directly by Brave New World. Our world resembles a lot from each of these books. Much like in 1984, we have devices and companies constantly monitoring us (iOS, Android, Facebook, etc.), we have “news programs” and websites seemingly modeled after the “two minutes hate”, and we clearly have some Ministry of Truth-like misinformation getting spread around while accurate information gets lost or ignored.…

>Much like in Brave New World, we have soma-like drugs, distractions and trivialities occupying people while they accept the world as it is and even shy away from wanting to change things.

Now hold on. There are millions of people in the streets demonstrating on a regular basis these days. How many have to be trying to change things before we stop labeling them all distracted, sleeping, over-amused sheeple?

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#105

Post by eli_gottlieb » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 4:55 PM UTC

iNate2000 wrote: post #48

The Diamond Age Even more than Star Trek, this novel caused me to think about a post-scarcity world. If we could have anything and everything, what should we do with it? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age

>If we could have anything and everything, what should we do with it?

Really? I always thought of The Diamond Age as being about class conflict and social hierarchy in a partially post-scarcity world.

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#106

Post by hoodwink » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 5:05 PM UTC

libraryatnight wrote: post #101

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin “A child free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition will grow up with the will to do what needs doing and the capacity for joy in doing it. It is useless work that darkens the heart. The delight of the nursing mother, of the scholar, of the successful hunter, of the good cook, of the skilful maker, of anyone doing needed work and doing it well, - this…

That's a wonderful quote echoing some of my thoughts regarding the post-work economy. Does one need to read the entire "Hainish series" to enjoy this book? Or can I just jump right in?

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#107

Post by pdog » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 5:06 PM UTC

merryandrew wrote: post #74

1984, followed directly by Brave New World. Our world resembles a lot from each of these books. Much like in 1984, we have devices and companies constantly monitoring us (iOS, Android, Facebook, etc.), we have “news programs” and websites seemingly modeled after the “two minutes hate”, and we clearly have some Ministry of Truth-like misinformation getting spread around while accurate information gets lost or ignored.…

> Our world resembles a lot from each of these books. Much like in 1984, we have devices and companies constantly monitoring us (iOS, Android, Facebook, etc.), we have “news programs” and websites seemingly modeled after the “two minutes hate”, and we clearly have some Ministry of Truth-like misinformation getting spread around while accurate information gets lost or ignored.

Is this a joke? Having recently reread Orwell's 1984, you can't seriously believe our society resembles Oceania in the slightest. The world may have some problems today, but the world in 1984 is war-torn, totaliarian hellscape from which no one can escape.

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#108

Post by komaromy » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 5:08 PM UTC

Use of Weapons - Iain M. Banks

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#109

Post by more_original » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

I'm currently reading Neuromancer again. Still doesn't feel dated.

Re: Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?

#110

Post by maxerickson » Sat, Feb 04, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

Cyph0n wrote: post #97

neotek wrote: post #14

Small Gods. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34484.Small_Gods It's the 13th book of Terry Pratchett's superb Discworld series, but it's the perfect entry point for anyone who hasn't read any of them because it doesn't require any exterior context, and it's pure Pratchett in his prime. I honestly can't recommend it, and the rest of the series, highly enough. If you haven't experienced Pratchett's work then I implore…

Say I read this entry in the series. If I end up liking it, would you recommend that I then go back and start from the beginning?

There are suggested reading order guides.

I think it doesn't matter a great deal, the plot of each individual book is usually pretty freestanding, so it's a question of whether you want to watch the characters develop chronologically or not.