Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. One reviewer wrote there are two types of books: those you read before reading Ishmael, and those you read after.
Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
191–200 of 599 posts
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#192A lot of friends that I respect and people on HN recommended "Master and margarita". I have only got back into reading ~4 years ago, so I haven't gone through all the great literature, but this felt different right after its midway point (starting with Satan's ball). My advice is to look for a translation with plenty of footnotes, because historical context plays a big part. It's different to anything I've ever read,…
it's a fantastic book, philosophical and silly, beautiful and funny and sad, & arguably made more moving by the fact that bulgakov left it in a drawer when he died, broke and obscure. it's one of my all time favorite books and perfect for rn. sidenote, here's a pretty (non-spoiler-y) animation that someone made about it:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BrA-XHXZ07E
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#193see my nick, but in addition to stephenson, the books i come back to over and over again for comfort and wisdom include: - Lord of the Rings: The other bible. Not even the very wise can see all ends; be of good cheer. - A Wrinkle In Time: 9 year old me, there is such a thing as a tesseract, and there is also Mrs. Beast. - The Master and Margarita: apocalyptic reading from someone who knew, and a cat who always pays h…
Lucky Jim is wonderful: "the strangely neglected topic"
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ready Player One? Why?
In a word, Nostalgia.
Sure. But my question had less to do with why it was popular generally, and more with why it's on the USMC commandant's reading list specifically.
That said, the USMC Research Library [1] places it in, among other categories, "Regression (Civilization)", which may cast a glimmer of light on why it's where it is.
[1] https://usmc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?d...
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#195Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, aka Three Body Problem. Explored existential topics in a way I've never encountered anywhere else. I truly believe that decades from now this series will be viewed as the LOTR of our time. I've recently been reading the Foundation series, and have found the concept of The Mule character to be incredibly eye opening. I can't say directly it's had a positive impact on my life but it…
I bounced pretty hard off that trilogy. I couldn't get past the weird motivations and interactions between characters, and usually I don't mind books by authors who focus more on the situation than the people in it. I thought the novels had a dreamlike quality to them, with people behaving in ways that don't make entirely sense, but approximate a semblence of normality that can be accepted if you don't look too closely.
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#196Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. Especially great if you enjoy seeing mathematical concepts kind of bent into the background texture of rigorous yet fancicful stories.
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#197Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, aka Three Body Problem. Explored existential topics in a way I've never encountered anywhere else. I truly believe that decades from now this series will be viewed as the LOTR of our time. I've recently been reading the Foundation series, and have found the concept of The Mule character to be incredibly eye opening. I can't say directly it's had a positive impact on my life but it…
It makes me sad that I can't read these books for the first time again. I reread them often. Surprisingly enough, my favorite book of the series was The Redemption of Time, a fourth book written by a fan with the blessing of Liu Cixin. If you haven't read it yet and you enjoyed TBP then you're one lucky sumbitch.
Cool. The ending to Cixin's trilogy was a little disappointing, compared to the rest of the story. (I thought the best book was the second one.)
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#198I don't really see why book recommendations can't just be "books you enjoy". But if you're specifically looking for "books that affect your outlook on life", you might try reading through Peanuts. It's a comic strip, but there's a lot going on in there.
Your comment changed my life!
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#199Some Heinlein book mentioned a minor medical procedure that helped me resolve a very painful minor medical issue when medical staff sort of shrugged and moved on. I'm sure there's lots more, but that's particularly memorable.
If you don't mind sharing, what was the procedure?
Nothing of any relevance to the mostly male audience here, but, sure, I'll bite.
I was breastfeeding my newborn and one breast was hurting like a bitch. A nurse checked me, which involved looking at my breast, announced I didn't have an infection and shrugged and walked off.
I was in my twenties and had a lot of baggage from being molested as a child. I felt humiliated showing her my tits and then got zero help.
But Heinlein had written something about blocked milk ducts and opening them with a needle. The book description sounds pretty dreadful, but that's not what I did. I sterilized a needle and used it to gently brush dead skin from my nipple, clearing away the blockage from the milk duct.
Problem solved. In like five minutes.
My sister also had some breastfeeding challenges. I don't think I was actually helpful in terms of telling her how to fix it, but I told her my story and encouraged her to keep looking for a solution because the medical establishment not knowing fuck all about supporting breastfeeding moms isn't evidence that it can't be solved. She did find solutions and successfully breastfed instead of throwing in the towel and bottle feeding.
The US completely sucks at supporting breastfeeding. It's awful.
Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?
#200It's interesting seeing how many of my touchstone books turn up in other people's lists. Here are some I didn't see yet: Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness. My favorite Le Guin (the Dispossessed is pretty good too). Shockingly original when it was published in 1969; the portrait of the society and culture on Gethen still feels unique. A slow burn at the beginning, but builds to a dramatic conclusion. Patric…
Happy to find a fellow Aubreyite (and also agree on the LeGuin). Just wanted to put in a mention for the superlative reading of Patrick Tull of the Aubrey series for the audiobooks). He is head and shoulders above most other narrators.