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Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

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Re: Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

#131

Post by joshschreuder »

qwertyuiop924 wrote: post #44

I don't have any friends who haven't read it who would appreciate it, but Clifford Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg is both a highly entertaining thriller, a fascinating look at how computer security was, and is, viewed, and a highly personal story about a man trying to figure it all out. It's very funny, entirely true, and taught me a lot. Oddly, a lot of people hated the various more personal aspects of the book, as you se…

I thought I recognised the name... turns out Cliff is the guy from the Numberphile videos who loves klein bottles. He is such an enjoyment to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k3mVnRlQLU

Re: Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

#132

Post by StanislavPetrov »

unimpressive wrote: post #92
xacaxulu wrote: post #80

I always have copies of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" to give out. As I get older, I love seeing younger people flip out when they read it and see how applicable it is in modern life.

Having read at least one history book about the Soviet Union, I'd recommend you not waste your time with Animal Farm and read an actual history book instead. The plot is basically ripped from Russian history, as it was intended to be a critique of Stalinism. My taste for Orwell's two most read, Animal Farm and 1984 was especially dulled after I read his non-fiction masterpiece Homage To Catalonia which is a harrowing…

1984 and Animal Farm aren't important for their historical allegories but their statements about the nature of society, and are just as poignant when applied to today's society as they were about the Soviet Union.

Homage To Catalonia is a wonderful book. I would also highly recommend checking out Down and Out in Paris and London and Burmese Days (two works of fiction loosely based on events from his real life experiences).

Re: Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

#133

Post by gooseus »

This is the sort of thread that hits me right in the wallet.

Here are some books I've given as gifts recently:

* The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm, Lewis Dartnell[1]

* The Black Swan, Nassim Taleb[2]

* Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse[3]

* The Happiness Trap, Russ Harris and Steven Hayes[4]

* Code, Charles Petzold[5]

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Rebuild-Civilization-Afterm...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Improbable-Robustness-Frag...

[3] https://www.amazon.com/Siddhartha-Hermann-Hesse/dp/161382378...

[4] https://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Trap-Struggling-Start-Livin...

[5] https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...

Re: Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

#137

Post by SwellJoe »

omaranto wrote: post #127
SwellJoe wrote: post #28

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. I've given it to just about everyone I've known who seriously wanted to be a writer, journalist, etc. as well as some folks who just wanted to write better. It's a small, beautiful, book about writing better. This is the book I've gifted the most. Several scifi books have also been gifted to friends, mostly Asimov (both the Foundation and Robots series), Herbert's Dune , and…

With Strunk & White I think you should ignore their advice which is often confused or nonsensical and just imitate their prose which is delightful. This review explains it better than I could: http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/2549...

Is there a more correct book that is similarly concise and similarly well-written? I would love to read it, if so.

Edit: I found this blog post that lists some alternatives http://thewritingresource.net/2011/09/22/forget-everything-s...

About half of the titles are punny or plays on words, which I'm somewhat suspicious of (even though I like puns). And, all are at least twice the size of Strunk and White. I understand that some subjects are bigger than a ~100 page book can cover, but despite having spent a lot of my life writing (and having published a book), I've never been able to plod through a big grammar book. I can read Elements of Style in an afternoon without feeling like it's a chore. As noted in some of the reviews, if it's wrong it's not worth even that much effort. But, I never thought it was predominantly wrong or predominantly misleading. And, it usually reminds me about one or more of my negative writing habits, and I correct it for a while until I forget again.

Re: Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

#138

Post by QuarterReptile »

pjmorris wrote: post #110

I've given a copy of 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb', Rhodes, and lent a copy that didn't come back. The gift recipient has urged the book on various managers, as the book has much to teach of scientific and technical management, as well as much, much more.

Along the same lines, I'd recommend 'The Rickover Effect'.

Re: Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

#139

Post by miduil »

This Saturday as a birthday present for a 14 year old friend of mine, who haven't been reading so much lately:

* Persepolis, first version

* Dark Angel, by David Klass

I've just started reading "Flowers for Algernon", I guess this can also be a good birthday present. I think gifting books is something very difficult, in my experience I never wanted to get books for present.

Re: Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?

#140

Post by jasonlmk »

I'm surprised there aren't more philosophy-oriented books mentioned here. I think they make great gifts.

Many of my friends are straight out of university, and it's a period where most people seem to start asking existential questions. The two books which have affected me greatly (and which I regularly give as gifts) are:

* Meditations by Marcus Aurelius * Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

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