Finishing My Experiments with Truth - Mahatma Gandhi
Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
191–200 of 307 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#192Started on A Game of Thrones (G. Martin), in at around 100 pages it hasn't really captured me, and now Towers of Midnight (Jordan & Sanderson) is here so I think I'll postpone GoT. Also started The Land of Lisp as a total Lisp newby and got royally confused at the end of 1st section with cons, car, cdr, cadr… what?
You really should give it a few hundred more pages. I guarantee it will grab you at the end it is kind of a slow burn though.
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#193Just finished reading Carl Sagan's Dragons of Eden , a fascinating tale of evolution and intelligence. Now I'm trying to tackle Infinite Jest on my iPad. I've never been much of a reader but I'm trying my damndest to break that non-habit. I have no idea what's going on in this book but I feel I'd be totally screwed with out the built-in dictionary function of iBooks. I'm certainly expanding my vocabulary if nothing e…
Before trying to read Infinite Jest, try to read all his other essays (and short stories). This is really helpful. Be OK with the fact that you really aren't going to understand what happens the first time though, like at all. The book -must- be read twice, the first time in a bit of a haze, since even basic acronyms aren't expanded till 200 pages after they are first used. Its enjoyable the second time because there…
This is assuring to hear. Any particular essays of his you recommend?
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#194Pro tip: if you read a business book like you would with a novel (when in a busy commuting, before going to sleep and generally when you attention is low) it's still better than not reading it at all
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#195Rereading "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara - a novelization of Battle of Gettysburg. This is the perfect book for people who love American history, character-driven novels, and old maps (every dozen pages or so he includes maps that mark the progress of the Union and Rebel forces as they gain or lose ground in the Battle, which are, simply put, just awesome). Very interesting portrayal of Robert E. Lee - the Old…
Yep, I love that one too. In case you (or others) don't know, the movie Gettysburg is based on The Killer Angels, with the same focus on Lee and Chamberlain. It's very long, but good -- much was filmed on site, and Pickett's Charge is done in real-time. Harrowing stuff. Also, let me plug the battlefield itself -- I just visited a couple of weekends ago for the first time as an adult. If you've read about it or seen t…
Definitely want to see the battlefield after reading this book, so it's good to hear another positive review.
Did you see a re-enactment? If so, worth it? I've never seen one before. I'm torn between wanting to wander around by myself with the book in hand and actually seeing Pickett's Charge recreated by a bunch of nuts like myself.
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#196Also check out Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality too.
Yes, I have been following this too, and it feels like near the end in the last few chapters. Still have trouble reconciling HP's intelligence with him being 11 yrs old. Huge contrast with the "authentic" HP whom apparently had learnt nothing by the time he was 17.
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#197Dracula, and Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.
I've been restricting myself to fiction these days, since I get way too engrossed by non-fiction and want to keep it light and fun for a bit :)
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#198Structure and interpretation of computer programs. We have a kind of a book club at work: we're reading the same book, do the exercises and meet once a week to discuss the progress and share ideas.
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#199Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Blood and bloody ashes.
I'm having trouble getting any work done knowing it's waiting for me in my backpack.
I'm "reading" the audio-book version, with the powerhouse-duo Kramer and Reading doing the reading. Makes the commute very enjoyable, and for some reason, I don't mind washing the dishes as much. =)
Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?
#200I just finished House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. A fictional story told, in part, from the perspective of a tattoo parlor apprentice living in Los Angeles, who stumbles upon a monograph of a documentary film, authored by the late, blind neighbor of a friend, about a family who moves into a house in Virginia that is ≈ ¼" bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leave…
I just finished this, too. Interesting, but a little exhausting. I wonder if it at all inspired paranormal activity.