Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

431–440 of 980 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#431

Post by micromacrofoot »

tb_technical wrote: post #142

"The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." Not because I remember anything about it, or believe anything it espouses, or even like it all that much, but because it's a useful filter for obnoxious people in meatspace. If someone I don't know too well asks me what my favorite book is, I say Atlas Shrugged. If they react inappropriately, I'll be cordial and treat them with respect,…

> If they're critical in a way I can appreciate

What about people who are critical in a way you'll never know? Personally I might check off a "don't ask for book recommendations" box in my head and never mention it to you again

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#432

Post by tb_technical »

dsizzle wrote: post #408
tb_technical wrote: post #142

"The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." Not because I remember anything about it, or believe anything it espouses, or even like it all that much, but because it's a useful filter for obnoxious people in meatspace. If someone I don't know too well asks me what my favorite book is, I say Atlas Shrugged. If they react inappropriately, I'll be cordial and treat them with respect,…

Can you summarize what kind of responses you get? I'd like to believe I'd quickly figure out this too-on-the-nose response wasn't serious and it'd lead to a laugh and more interesting discussion

Yeah that's normally how it goes, actually.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#434

Post by luddit3 »

tb_technical wrote: post #142

"The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." Not because I remember anything about it, or believe anything it espouses, or even like it all that much, but because it's a useful filter for obnoxious people in meatspace. If someone I don't know too well asks me what my favorite book is, I say Atlas Shrugged. If they react inappropriately, I'll be cordial and treat them with respect,…

Starting out a relationship by lying seems like a horrible idea.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#435

Post by the_panopticon »

matrix87 wrote: post #421

Probably Brothers Karamazov I didn't really understand what it was trying to tell me when I first read it, the ideas just sort of ruminated. I read it when I was either 19 or 20, was completely at odds with who I was then but helped me grow as a person The way that we think about individual agency and self-interest in modern society is at odds with what our emotional needs are. He makes this point in many of his book…

+1, especially the 'Grand Inquisitor' portion. And a close 2nd would be Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment.'

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#436

Post by tb_technical »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #431
tb_technical wrote: post #142

"The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." Not because I remember anything about it, or believe anything it espouses, or even like it all that much, but because it's a useful filter for obnoxious people in meatspace. If someone I don't know too well asks me what my favorite book is, I say Atlas Shrugged. If they react inappropriately, I'll be cordial and treat them with respect,…

> If they're critical in a way I can appreciate What about people who are critical in a way you'll never know? Personally I might check off a "don't ask for book recommendations" box in my head and never mention it to you again

I write off not knowing things I'll never know. Not worth the time worrying about it.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#437

Post by mightybyte »

The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/366821.The_Evolution_of_...

See also https://ncase.me/trust/ for a really nice 30-min interactive summary of the ideas presented in the book.

My rough definition of "best" here is "most potentially impactful to humanity" (see also Andrew Breslin's Goodreads review).

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#439

Post by qingcharles »

MailleQuiMaille wrote: post #134

Depends at what age you'd ask me that. Harry Potter 4 was the first book I binged when I was a kid. Lord of the Flies was the first book that made me feel weird emotions, and I liked it. Snow crash is the book that made me think "Fuck, how can one write a book like that ?" and therefore started what I hope to be a lifelong hobby. I still think of Flatland from times to times, as I'm jealous and amazed of the brain of…

I sat down once and read all 8[0] Harry Potter books, and while the author is a terrible person, the books are absolutely fantastic IMO.

[0] I'm including the script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#440

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

will-burner wrote: post #388
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #362

These threads often end up, with everyone trying to prove they are literary scholars. I prefer junky fantasy books. I'm really too old and cynical to give a damn what y'all think of me. I probably liked David Edding's Belgariad series, along with the Mallorean series, the most. I reread them, regularly, and go through all ten books, in a couple of weeks. They are an easy read. Also, Glen Cook's Black Company books ar…

A great fantasy book is "The Fifth Season" by N. K. Jemisin. The whole broken earth trilogy by Jemisin is amazing. Here's to fantasy books!

I really enjoyed that series. My mother was a geologist, and it was a fun time.
Post reply on HN