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Ask HN: What are you reading right now?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?

#225

Post by lylejohnson »

ladyada wrote: post #189
jbrennan wrote: post #103

Just 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…

I don't think it's necessary to read "all his other essays and short stories" to appreciate Infinite Jest, but you certainly might want to read at least a couple to get used to his writing style (e.g. the unending sentences; heavy use of footnotes and abbreviations). A fun one to read (for me) was "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," about his experience on a week-long pleasure cruise.

Don't skip the footnotes when reading IJ. There's some important stuff in there.

Don't get frustrated when you get to the end of the book and aren't sure what just happened. That's why ladyada correctly says that you'll need to read it again when you get done.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading right now?

#226

Post by [deleted] »

notaddicted wrote: post #184

I probably have bookmarks in 20+ books but these are at the top of the pile: The Art Of Probability , Richard Hamming. I find prob/stat frustratingly hard to master. This book is clearing up my confusion chapter by chapter. As an engineer this book appears to be written for someone with exactly my level of knowledge which helps a lot. Conspiracy of Fools , Kurt Eichenwald. Very entertaining ... shining examples of wh…

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