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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?

#51

Post by samvher »

bsenftner wrote: post #6

The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse, it probably one of the easiest Nobel Literature winners to read.

Yes I came here to post this one as well, together with Narziss and Goldmund and Steppenwolf - I read all of them in a pretty short period. There is a sort of common theme where Hesse explores the trade-offs between a life of thinking vs a life of feeling (most obviously in Narziss and Goldmund) which at that time meant a lot to me. I can't think of another author whose work resonated in the same way, though I'm not sure I would have the same experience rereading the books now.

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

#52

Post by tonetheman »

Illusions Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

An amazing book about choices. And what you can and cannot control in your life. I read it in college and have re-read it over the years.

https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Adventures-Reluctant-Richar...

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

#53

Post by ASVVVAD »

Surprised how no one mentioned Little Brother[1] by Cory Doctorow and the sequel Homeland[2]

It's near-future Sci-Fi and since it was written in 2008, it's more or less present now. It dives into a lot of topics that are relevant nowadays

1. https://craphound.com/littlebrother/

2. https://craphound.com/homeland/

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

#55

Post by drakonka »

The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson. I read it in middle school, although they later removed it from our library as it had some explicit themes. It was an amazing escape into an alien world, and an amazing alien species/civilization that I could not have imagined had I not read about it here. A human crash lands on this planet and is forced to live with and adapt to this bizarre species and their way of life. Reading this in my mind was more like living it. Eventually I bought a copy second hand for myself. It was one of only two books that I brought with me when I moved to the other side of the world years ago and now I have trouble finding it. I wish there was a Kindle version.

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

#56

Post by palerdot »

jkcorrea wrote: post #10

The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged of course), it really rose my bar for great storytelling. Also the sandwich is pretty good.

I came here to just recommend 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. Such a profound, breathtaking novel.

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

#57

Post by jrziviani »

palerdot wrote: post #45

The Count of Monte Cristo If you find yourself HOPELESS (which whole world is experiencing right now), just read this. Because this book is all about HOPE. Edit: Go for the 'unabridged' version to truly experience this novel.

The way Edmond escapes the prison was the best thing I've ever read.

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

#58

Post by oceanghost »

Zenn and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- It was the first time I'd heard someone speak about values that mattered to me personally.

The Diamond Age: Or, A Ladies Young Primer -- A fantastic book about a future where computation and construction of devices is nearly free. It was about 25 years ago but predicted so many things. The story meanders a little but is full of amazing ideas and revolutionary thoughts.

I try to read both these books once a year.

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

#59

Post by ASVVVAD »

ASVVVAD wrote: post #53

Surprised how no one mentioned Little Brother[1] by Cory Doctorow and the sequel Homeland[2] It's near-future Sci-Fi and since it was written in 2008, it's more or less present now. It dives into a lot of topics that are relevant nowadays 1. https://craphound.com/littlebrother/ 2. https://craphound.com/homeland/

I read it when I was 16 and it really changed my views

A couple years later I witnessed a lot of similar events to those in the novel, especially the protests and the government's reactions to them

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

#60

Post by hprotagonist »

kidintech wrote: post #48

A lot of friends that I respect and people on HN recommended "Master and margarita". I have only got back into reading ~4 years ago, so I haven't gone through all the great literature, but this felt different right after its midway point (starting with Satan's ball). My advice is to look for a translation with plenty of footnotes, because historical context plays a big part. It's different to anything I've ever read,…

The burgin and o’connor translation is by far the most excellent english version.

chapter end-notes that tell you all the soviet jokes you missed.

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