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

871–880 of 980 posts

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

#871

Post by mindcrime »

nyeah wrote: post #536
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,…

But the best books are "A Canticle for Leibowitz", "Neuromancer", and "The Dying Earth".

A Canticle for Leibowitz

I found Canticle kinda "meh" personally. It was a great premise, and the 1st third was somewhat interesting, but the rest fell flat for me. I'd say it was a book I wanted to like a lot, but the execution let me down.

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

#872

Post by dartharva »

edanm wrote: post #687
dartharva wrote: post #671

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fiction: The Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson. Best fantasy books ever, IMO. I highly recommend listening to the GraphicAudio adaptation of this series. It's what got me into audiobooks.

Honestly, I've really disliked these kind of full cast recordings every time I've tried them. No idea why. I'm a fairly voracious audiobook consumer, though.

Probably because it's a jarring deviance from the traditional audiobook experience if you're used to it.

For someone like me who hadn't listened to many audiobooks before trying GraphicAudio, it was a very good experience.

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

#873

Post by mindcrime »

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…

These threads often end up, with everyone trying to prove they are literary scholars.

Good point. I have to admit, I have some disdain for academic literary criticism, and I care very little about reading/liking the books one is "supposed" to like. Now of course I do in fact like some of those books, just by happenstance. But I don't define myself by seeking out the "blessed" books and reading and endorsing them.

And I like a lot of "low brow" / pulp-fiction stuff. Lots of horror (Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Clive Barker, etc), plenty of action/adventure novels by Lee Child, David Baldacci, Robert Ludlum, etc., and all sorts of sci-fi by authors of no particular note. And I don't mind admitting it. :-)

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

#874

Post by mindcrime »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #442
allturtles wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These threads often end up, with everyone trying to prove they are literary scholars I see a wide variety of answers ITT. Some are very "literary" fiction e.g. Ulysses , others are lighter fare like Harry Potter , there's also a wide variety of non-fiction works from self-help to electronics manuals to philosophy. Have you considered that other people might actually have different tastes than you, and aren't trying…

C'mon. This is HN. People are trying to posture and prove all kinds of things. Of course folks have different tastes (I'm the redneck engineer, in my family. Most of my other siblings think James Joyce is da thang , but they are also into posturing). But it also intimidates folks into not sharing some really good stuff.

But it also intimidates folks into not sharing some really good stuff.

There's that, but there's also an element that's more "frustrates" than "intimidates" I think. Case in point: it's VERY rare in my experience, that one can mention Ayn Rand in any kind of favorable light here without getting downvoted to hell. Have that happen a few times, and one is probably going to start to develop a "well, my opinions aren't welcome here" response and quit sharing. Never mind that the person who mentions Rand quite possibly also likes many, many other things and would like to talk about them. And I'm reasonably sure this phenomenon isn't limited to Rand. I just noticed that, because I'm one of the people who does like Rand - and has been consistently down-voted to hell for it. :-)

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

#875

Post by mindcrime »

gregorymichael wrote: post #581
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…

I've read all 20+ of the Jack Reacher books, some multiple times. Best bedtime reading I've found. Fun enough I actually want to go to bed. Shallow enough that if I miss a page or two because I'm drowsy, no big deal.

I've read all 20+ of the Jack Reacher books,

Same! I think they're great. But that's "great" when you appreciate them for what they are. I wouldn't compare, say, The Killing Floor to Nineteen Eighty Four or anything. But I'd say they're both great - in their respective ways.

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

#876

Post by Onavo »

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…

Try The Name of the Wind, basic but good.

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

#877

Post by bee_rider »

fullstackchris wrote: post #826
bee_rider wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is political, but it is also not a good book. Like, it has a gigantic monologue in the middle where one of the main characters just stands there and expounds on the theme of the book, for many pages. It is not well written. If somebody said they liked… some books by Heinlein or whatever, there’s a guy with some Political Opinions. But he can write . It is believable, picking a Heinlein book isn’t an obvious politi…

> a gigantic monologue in the middle So just because you can't think of another book that has this, it's not well written? idk I'm no follower of objectivism but Atlas Shrugged is a book you definitely dont forget... and in my classification that makes it good

I mean… can’t really account for taste. But it is extremely rare that I’ll see anybody try to defend Atlas Shrugged as a good book in and of itself. Even you, trying to find some good in it, could only classify it as “memorable.” Lots of things are memorable and bad!

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

#878

Post by layer8 »

loveparade wrote: post #110
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't read The Selfish Gene, but reading the summary it looks like it touches on some very similar themes as Stephen Pinker's How The Mind Works, which I thought was also a great book. Gave me a good intuitive understanding of how the human neural system evolved, and I found so much of the book to be prescient and timely in our current "AI era".

What people forget to mention is when they have read a book. I read the Selfish Gene when I was a teen and it left a lasting impression. It was published in 1989. How the Mind works was published in 2011. Reading the Selfish Gene today as an adult, when you've probably read a dozen similar books already, is not going to have the same effect. It's going to be pretty boring. That's why asking for book recommendations i…

How the Mind works was published in 1997, and The Selfish Gene in 1976.

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

#879

Post by layer8 »

ataylor284_ wrote: post #504
adamhp wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in your boat. I revisited later and powered through and it does indeed get better. The narrative forms into something more cohesive and you start being less exhausted by all the lingo because you've learned it. You settle in. You have to sort of try to immerse yourself. I'd recommend trying to read in larger chunks of time and really absorb the aesthetic of the world.

This is exactly how I feel about Dune. The invented words and world-building are overwhelming at first, but once you absorb them it makes the narrative richer.

At least Dune has a glossary in the back.
Post reply on HN