Epistle to the Romans.
Helped me wrestle and come to rest with many conflicting thoughts and ideas that were ultimately attributed to my lack of knowledge in those. I highly recommend reading in a modern translation like ESV.
Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
201–210 of 341 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#202The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing who you are, by Alan Watts.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#203Surely you're joking, mr Feynman
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#204The alchemist
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#205In what way? I'm a human being full of intertwined contradictions and personal mythologies. I have many ways in which to be influenced.
I've read so many books and they've all left their impression on me one way or another; even the most boring drivel!
If by influenced you mean to imply, as a programmer, then I would say perhaps Programming in the 1990s if that counts as "non-technology." It's a book about maths and using logical proofs as a tool for creating specifications of computer systems. Prior to reading that book I had treated "software specifications," with the same reverence as a sketch on the back of a napkin. As far as I was concerned the only specification that mattered was the source code and the tests that exercise it. I feel as though that book has greatly changed the way I approach problems and how I think when I'm thinking about software.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#206The Once and Future King by T H White is likely my favorite fictional book. A modern (1940s) retelling of Arthurian legend, it really struck me in how it was able to captivate my imagination and my emotions. In that story I found White was masterfully able to discern when to be serious and when to be playful - by which he reanimated, for me, the legend of Arthur - parts of which I started to find stale, or outright d…
I would add that he also does a wonderful job capturing and describing human nature. He is writing right after WWII, and the Arthurian legend is just a vehicle for his observations about humanity (and the war).
Wonderful book - I just finished reading the first section (the Sword in the Stone) out loud to my daughter, and I hope as she gets older, she will read the rest on her own.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
The same here. I so wish that Sir Terry could be here now, helping us to make sense of what is happening with some silly little stories.
I can see it now: Lort Vetinari (temporarily) ousted by Hairy Don Trumpet, former magnate of the Spinward Swamps who muscled in on the sausage-on-a-stick business and promised to "Make Ankh-Morpork Great Again". Having built his electoral platform (literally) atop basalt trolls, he spends his weekends golfing on the Unseen University grounds, to the marked dislike of the Librarian...
Ook!
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#208American Psycho , Bret Easton Ellis. I learnt everything I know about fashion and business cards from this important book.
Amazing book that seems more relevant as time passes. It's absurdly hilarious and profound. The movie captures the former, but not the latter.
I like the film a lot too. I'm not certain whether the impossible-to-film gore of the book would've changed the message of the film had they somehow been able to include it (for those who haven't read it, the book has passages which are far nastier I think than any film that's ever been made), but I think the film still has a strong message, and is undeniably beautifully shot and well-acted.
Anyway, I have to return some videotapes.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#209Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami This just may be my imagined takeaway. But.. There's a theme around creativity existing on, let's call it a plane, and this plane is accessible to anyone. I've yet to think much on if this plane (or, perhaps way of thinking) is the same for everyone or actually shared in some way. This idea massively shaped my understanding, or feelings towards, the brain, and the immense ability…
Haruki Murakami is the only living author who, if he writes a book, I will read it. The only other author for me in this category is C.S. Lewis (except that he's not still living in this world).
Also, I would have answered the question with "Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World", except that, by the time I read it, I was already so much on the same page in my thinking, that it didn't have a huge impact on me... but if I hadn't already been thinking as I do, I'm sure it would have been immensely impactful.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
The same here. I so wish that Sir Terry could be here now, helping us to make sense of what is happening with some silly little stories.
I can see it now: Lort Vetinari (temporarily) ousted by Hairy Don Trumpet, former magnate of the Spinward Swamps who muscled in on the sausage-on-a-stick business and promised to "Make Ankh-Morpork Great Again". Having built his electoral platform (literally) atop basalt trolls, he spends his weekends golfing on the Unseen University grounds, to the marked dislike of the Librarian...
Meanwhile there is Berixit: Berilia decides to leave the other 3 elephants.