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

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

#771

Post by EasyMark »

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,…

That might be a filter that goes both ways, not a bad idea on your part at all.

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

#772

Post by Izikiel43 »

dmonitor wrote: post #695
Izikiel43 wrote: post #677

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FTL They are not FTL, they are lightspeed. They managed the computers through quantum entanglement. It's not god powers, imagine 21st century humanity vs middle ages humanity. Like Arthur C. Clarke said, "advanced enough science is no different than magic" or something along those lines.

My understanding was that they sent the computers faster than light while their ships were traveling at sub-lightspeed, or something like that, which is why they could get here and fuck up the planet centuries before their fleet would make it. My point, though, is that we're making up a fantasy world where the impossible is possible, and a bleak universe isn't more "realistic" than a hopeful one. It bothers me that p…

No, they sent them at lightspeed, and arrived within 4 years (earth and their planet was 4 light years away) once they were completed.

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

#773

Post by paulcole »

I’ll give a few.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (and the great TA I had teaching the course) got me to change my major to English as a college freshman. I was just hit with a thought like, “I’ve never read anything like this and I’ve never heard a teacher want to talk about books this deeply.”

Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell showed a voice that I’d never heard before — knowledgeable about history, indie rock, cult movies, rural living, and very funny. It was like, “This is exactly who I want to be.”

Then I spent my whole life thinking I was a disorganized person and through the power of a really good memory I was able to hold things together at work. Then I read Mindset by Carol Dweck and Everything In Its Place by Dan Charnas that convinced me that a) I was holding myself back by thinking I was a disorganized person and that b) I could become an organized person. Maybe the best professional decision I’ve ever made because it turns out that being organized is really really useful.

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

#774

Post by EasyMark »

djkivi wrote: post #14

Godel Escher Bach is the best book I've read. Very interesting topics and the sheer creativity of the writing is amazing.

One of the few “you gotta read it” books from intellectual leaning friends that I never bothered reading. It could have states as much in 1/4 the number of pages.

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

#775

Post by llamaimperative »

wakawaka28 wrote: post #768
llamaimperative wrote: post #761

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh yeah, now that I got to this comment of yours… it’s very evident you haven’t read it by your (honestly, I don’t say this just to be insulting) downright cartoonish misunderstanding of its contents. Even more impressive, it’s obvious you haven’t even read a decent critique or summary of it. You should consider it! There’s a reason for its stature :)

I disagree. I listened to an hour long, glowing summary of it and read about it on Wikipedia. It is just not convincing to me. The only thing cartoonish is how hard people praise it, considering we already have property taxes much like George wanted, which are often quite high and don't add to the economy. Property taxes like that are very close to communism, especially if you take it to an extreme. The higher the ta…

Sorry, I didn’t mean cartoonish in the sense of extreme (quite the opposite), I meant it in the sense of not understanding what you’re talking about.

You’ve stuffed an impressive number of misunderstandings into these few comments, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to help you unwind them except to say you should read the book.

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

#776

Post by llamaimperative »

wakawaka28 wrote: post #770
llamaimperative wrote: post #760

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect you don’t know what you’re talking about based on your subsequent conflation of property tax with a land value tax. That’s a good shibboleth for “never have actually engaged this idea.”

Property tax is a land value tax. You literally pay a percentage of some notional value of your property every year, largely based on how you use it. The fact you don't recognize that is a good shibboleth for "never have engaged with the real world."

A portion of a property tax is a land value tax, but 1) it’s only one portion of it and 2) it’s the opposite of the portion that you just described.

It’s very specifically not based on how you use the land. And that’s literally the core fact of the system. The two calculations yield entirely different incentives. It’s clear you misunderstood it. I recommend reading the book itself as it will be clearer than you’ve apparently had it explained.

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

#777

Post by th3rac25 »

gadders wrote: post #157
5555624 wrote: post #63

The Count of Monte Cristo -- I've read it a few times and I know I'll read it again. While there are a few books I've read more than once, I can't think of any I know I will read again.

I recently read the unabridged version, and really enjoyed it. The pacing is a bit patchy, but has (what we would think) surprisingly modern things mentioned - cannabis, lesbianism. If anyone wants a recommendation for another good book from around the same date, I recommend Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. It has it's adventure aspects, but is also just a great tale of male friendship between two different chara…

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

#778

Post by th3rac25 »

edanm wrote: post #76
5555624 wrote: post #63

The Count of Monte Cristo -- I've read it a few times and I know I'll read it again. While there are a few books I've read more than once, I can't think of any I know I will read again.

Wonderful, wonderful book. One of my favorites. It's old, but the beginning especially is just a non-stop adventure. It always drags a bit for me after the first third, but picks up again and continues to be great throughout.

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

#779

Post by th3rac25 »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #228

Anna Karenina. Nothing mind-blowing. I didn't see a light in the sky. I read a lot, fiction and non-fiction. When I read Tolstoy, I remember thinking "What sort of dark magic is this?" He drew characters in a way I haven't seen since. I _knew_ these people. I remember this book, decades later. I remember a lot of what I've read, but Tolstoy was the man. I have no idea how or why his magic worked.

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