221–230 of 651 posts
The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq - the writing is really beautiful. Like every sentence is poetic and the descriptions often these very original metaphors. I read him for the first time immediately before the pandemic with A Balcony In the Forest, which is also great.
Since the last few years, I have made it a habit to write about the books[1] I read without trying to add my smart-a* comment but more as a way to come back later in life and read the articles. For this year, here are some of the books I liked (quite a few of them are re-reads); - The Story of My Experiments with Truth, the autobiography of Mohandas K. Gandhi (English Version) - Genghis Khan and the Making of the Mod…
I just finished this one so it might just be fresh in my memory, but I really enjoyed Kiril Yeskov's "The Last Ringbearer". It's a sequel/retelling of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" written from the Mordorian perspective and based on the premise that LOTR is "a history written by the victors". It has a completely different feel than Tolkien's writing, and sort of stuffs something resembling Cold War politics into Midd…
You might enjoy Jacqueline Carey's duology The Sundering. It's sort of LoTR told from the side of the "bad" guys, though it's set in its own original world, and the story isn't an actual retelling of LoTR.
Number theory step by step.
Anyone tried The Real Anthony Fauci? Looks it's a bestseller of this year everywhere.
I’m 15% into Cryptonomicon by Neal Staephenson, and it’s living up to the hype. I’ve only read a few of his books: Snowcrash, Anathem, and Fall; or, Dodge in Hell. He’s such a good thought experimentalist and decent novelist. Reading one of his books is almost like sitting in a really interesting philosophy class in college that just makes you think about familiar concepts differently or way more in depth.
“How to change your mind” by Michael Pollen. I read a lot of books, and this is one that caused a change in my life. The succinct summary is that psychedelics are misunderstood and there is more and more research showing their potential, especially in the treatment of trauma. I had a difficult childhood. It’s something I still struggle with personal interactions because of this, even after years of therapy. After rea…
Did the mushroom trip enlighten you? Did it change how you view the world? Were you worried about a bad trip?
I feel like people need to start talking about bad trips in a more helpful and realistic way. The info I got about put me off to tripping for years. I avoided them until my late 20s, wish i did them sooner.
I think bad trips are mostly just people who mix psychedelics with other drugs (weed is common) and freak out or aren't used to introspection (so is this really bad then?) or use irresponsibly. Like if you take 15 shots of vodka you're going to have a bad time, why is lsd any different? Or if you drink with assholes that ruin your night out why would you trip with them?
"Code" from Charles Petzold as well. Gave me solid, primary intuition on how to understand what a computer is.
Hands down, the most fascinating book I read in 2021 (and I will have read for a long time!) is "The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood" by James Gleick: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400096235 Those who have a computer science background will almost definitely love the book. It connects many dots that are previously seemingly unrelated. My jaw dropped for literally every few pages of most chapters.
Claude Shannon had quite the mind. "A Mind at Play" is a good book on Shannon's life and "The Bit Player" is a good partner movie to watch :) "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" and "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits" paved the way for much of modern computing.