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Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

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Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

#391

Post by throwqwerty »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #379
throwqwerty wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whenever someone mentions ender's game in a positive light i worry about that person https://web.archive.org/web/20070206121131/http://www4.ncsu.... tldr; orson scott card is a bigot and ender's game is nazi apologia. if you don't want to read the above it's been written about in numerous places (google "ender's game book fascism").

When I read > ender's game is nazi apologia in your comment, I was pretty sure that there would be a point in the quoted article where the author went from reasonable background/description, to instantly jumping to a completely nonsensical argument, and I was not disappointed. > The difference between Peter and Ender is not in what they do, but in what they are What? That's incredibly dumb. This like saying a serial…

>Maybe Ender went too far, but he did act in self-defense

the book is literally about a kid committing genocide and the reasons why he should feel okay about it (ie a pretext). or did you not read it through to the end?

Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

#394

Post by mirimir »

I'm an old man now, so I'm especially interested in books about getting complete with life. I'm also into amusing and distracting.

Top on my list are William S. Burroughs' last trilogy (especially Place of Dead Roads and The Western Lands) and Matthew Stover's Caine series (especially Caine Black Knife and Caine's Law). Burroughs published that trilogy when he was about my age, and there's some amazing stuff about how memory shows up. The Caine series is basically a contemplation of "What if you could undo the worst thing that you've ever done?".

I could go on about many other authors whom I've loved, over the years, but there's other stuff that I gotta do now.

Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

#395

Post by spats1990 »

kbradero wrote: post #392

i learn from Dune to never ever trust blindly any kind of leaders. Great leaders should be come with a warning on attach to their heads.

similarly from dune re leadership... it's just a simple thing but the idea that once you tell a group of people under your leadership to do something once, you have to tell them to do the thing every time. Thus good leaders give as few commands as possible. I've found this broadly applicable any time i have to tell more than one human at a time what to do and in assessing leadership in other people (mostly bosses I've had. The best ones have been hands off but approachable when what needs to be done is obvious and very hands on when teaching/introducing something new until everything is clear, then back to hands off). It even works when you're trying to train a dog.

Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

#396

Post by TulliusCicero »

throwqwerty wrote: post #391
TulliusCicero wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I read > ender's game is nazi apologia in your comment, I was pretty sure that there would be a point in the quoted article where the author went from reasonable background/description, to instantly jumping to a completely nonsensical argument, and I was not disappointed. > The difference between Peter and Ender is not in what they do, but in what they are What? That's incredibly dumb. This like saying a serial…

>Maybe Ender went too far, but he did act in self-defense the book is literally about a kid committing genocide and the reasons why he should feel okay about it (ie a pretext). or did you not read it through to the end?

I read through to what I quoted.

What an author starts spouting completely nonsense arguments, why would I waste my time continuing further?

The author apparently thinks self defense is as bad as killing for the heck of it, if they're that dumb, why would I be interested in their moral judgment for anything else?

Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

#397

Post by Jarwain »

throwqwerty wrote: post #391
TulliusCicero wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I read > ender's game is nazi apologia in your comment, I was pretty sure that there would be a point in the quoted article where the author went from reasonable background/description, to instantly jumping to a completely nonsensical argument, and I was not disappointed. > The difference between Peter and Ender is not in what they do, but in what they are What? That's incredibly dumb. This like saying a serial…

>Maybe Ender went too far, but he did act in self-defense the book is literally about a kid committing genocide and the reasons why he should feel okay about it (ie a pretext). or did you not read it through to the end?

Reasons why he should feel Okay with it? He was Tricked into committing genocide, and the story goes on to show that the aliens weren't bad and how the entire war stemmed from the type of misunderstandings that come from interacting with an alien consciousness.

It's far from being a book that advocates for or otherwise encourages genocide

Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

#399

Post by spats1990 »

bookworm3827482 wrote: post #312
abdullahkhalids wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are thinking about it wrong. Suspend your disbelief about the practicalities of what he did (pretend he was tired and not thinking at all). The story is a metaphor about life, the struggle, and a cruel world. Every person will interpret it differently. Think about how his story is a metaphor for some part of your life, and you might get the emotional import of it.

The guy was a professional fisherman... but didn't know how to fish? I get the point of the story and what the author was trying to do. It just seems silly to have such a huge flaw in the plot. It's like Lord of the Rings - the eagles could have flown the ring over to Mordor. I just can't enjoy books (or films for that matter) which require a suspension of, I dunno, basic reasoning.

Aw man, Mordor had air support though (nazgul). It's like saying the allies could have just assassinated Hitler. Not a plot hole in my opinion.

Re: Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

#400

Post by DoreenMichele »

snegu wrote: post #371
DoreenMichele wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

How long ago was that? I had my son three years ago, and breastfeeding was pushed pretty heavily at the hospital, with lactation consultants galore.

Long ago and far away.

Glad you have seen better.

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