Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift? • Hacker News Board

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

#381

Post by david-given » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:12 AM UTC

Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds.

Set in a mediaeval China that never existed (but should have), it's the story of how village peasant Number Ten Ox and the ancient sage Master Li (who has a slight flaw in his character) go on a quest to save the children of his village from a plague which can count... and the other quest which they find themselves part of.

On the way you'll learn how to make a fortune with a goat, how not to cook porcupine, the best way to move rocks using only a corpse, why you should always be polite to ginseng, and the true meaning of courage. You'll meet ghosts, monsters, and gods --- and they're typically less bizarre than the human cast, which contains such jewels as the Ancestress, Miser Shen, the Old Man of the Mountain, Lotus Cloud and of course, the inimitable Ma the Grub and Pawnbroker Fang...

It's by parts hilarious, touching, gripping, and there are parts that will make you cry from sheer beauty. Read this book.

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

#382

Post by Jaruzel » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:14 AM UTC

Last Christmas, I was given and then bought for others:

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer

( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrilling-Adventures-Lovelace-Babba... )

It's a halfway house between a graphic novel and a proper book, and is written in a very entertaining way. I can thoroughly recommend it for anyone who is interested in Computer History, and normally struggles through dry tomes of non-fiction (which this is most definitely not!)

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

#383

Post by Jaruzel » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:18 AM UTC

Frogolocalypse wrote: post #355

skaplun wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, robot would probably be easier to get into than foundation :) also "stranger in a strange land" by Heinlein makes for a great gift

Time Enough For Love was my favorite Heinlein book.

...and then of course you end up with To Sail Beyond The Sunset.

Heinlein, both during his early sane and latter mad years, was an utter genius story-teller.

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

#384

Post by Jaruzel » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:19 AM UTC

henrik_w wrote: post #359

peckrob wrote: post #232

I read a lot of Science Fiction for fun. These are a few of my favorites that I've given to other people: 1. Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter. When I think of epic hard science fiction, the Xeelee Sequence books spring to mind. With a story line that spans millions of years (and a few dozen books), this collection of short stories is a good introduction to one of the best and most underrated sci-fi series out there.…

+1 for The Martian - fantastic book!

I loved it so much that I still haven't seen the film. I don't want the book spoilt. :(

(and I'm a life long sci-fi reader!)

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

#385

Post by barrkel » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:20 AM UTC

swframe wrote: post #263

tnecniv wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are all great. I've also given Dune, the Forever War, and The Stars my Destination.

I used to give Dune to my teenage relatives and it usually turned them into avid readers; they would thank me later. I noticed that it doesn't hold the interests of the recent teenagers in the family; it is hard to get them to start and even harder to get them to finish. I think competition from the internet, youtube and cellphone is just too strong. That is horrible because developing a passion for reading helps lot…

Dune is very close to a revenge fantasy. I read it for the first time a year or two ago and was not particularly impressed.

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

#386

Post by yumaikas » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:21 AM UTC

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software was one of the most formative books for my programming self education. I've tried to loan it to several of my friends more than once, and it was a gift to me.

Also had a strange case of loaning out C# 4.0 in a Nutshell and never getting it back, but I would do it again (with an updated version). Albahari is good at writing a reference without being too boring, and C# has some legitimately interesting sides in how it does some things, like it's dynamically compiled regexen.

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

#387

Post by stdbrouw » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:21 AM UTC

wallflower wrote: post #328

ComputerGuru wrote: post #264

The Count of Monte Cristo , by Alexander Dumas. I'd read thousands of books, novels, and other literature and never had an answer to "your favorite book?" and thought I just wasn't meant to ever have one... Until I read it. Since then, I've bought copies solely to have on hand to gift to people I actually care about. To drive home the point of just how much I loved this book, I went on to learn French just so I could…

> I went on to learn French just so I could read it in the original print. That is one of my mom's favorite books! Can you please elaborate about the process of getting there/how much practice it took to get you towards the point where you could enjoy The Count of Monte Cristo in its native French? Right now, I am studying Spanish and my reading comprehension in Spanish is low. It is not enough to understand somethin…

YMMV, but I've noticed that you can actually read books in foreign languages quite enjoyably without a perfect grasp of the language. If the book grips you, words or even paragraphs you don't understand stop to matter. Sometimes it will take a couple of pages of "oh shit, I don't know what this is saying at all" before you get into it, though. (Reading it on an e-reader for the instant dictionary does help, of course.)

One of the interesting things about Monte Cristo and actually about a lot of 19th century French literature is that there's very little archaic French in there, and I found it easier to read (though still not easy!) than many modern novels that use French street slang / argot.

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

#388

Post by stdbrouw » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:24 AM UTC

peckrob wrote: post #232

I read a lot of Science Fiction for fun. These are a few of my favorites that I've given to other people: 1. Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter. When I think of epic hard science fiction, the Xeelee Sequence books spring to mind. With a story line that spans millions of years (and a few dozen books), this collection of short stories is a good introduction to one of the best and most underrated sci-fi series out there.…

Foundation is a great story, but am I the only one who thought the prose to be absolutely awful?

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

#389

Post by Jaruzel » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:27 AM UTC

mwest wrote: post #311

The Player of Games , by Iain M. Banks - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Games

I've been scrolling through all the comments, seeing if someone mentioned the late great Mr Banks. His Culture books are almost perfect hard sci-fi in my opinion, and his contemporary collection contain some amazing books (The Wasp Factory, and The Bridge immediately come to mind).

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

#390

Post by yumaikas » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 9:30 AM UTC

tnecniv wrote: post #246

peckrob wrote: post #232

I read a lot of Science Fiction for fun. These are a few of my favorites that I've given to other people: 1. Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter. When I think of epic hard science fiction, the Xeelee Sequence books spring to mind. With a story line that spans millions of years (and a few dozen books), this collection of short stories is a good introduction to one of the best and most underrated sci-fi series out there.…

Those are all great. I've also given Dune, the Forever War, and The Stars my Destination.

I enjoyed the first Dune book, solely on the amount of world building in the book. But I never read any of the others other than the 3rd one, as Herbert seemed to get a bit long in the tooth with all the grandiose plans involving the god emperor after a bit.