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YC's Winter Reading List

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Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#51

Post by ashark »

overcast wrote: post #43
ashark wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you didn't care for Cryptonomicon , you're probably right to stop. I've read four of his novels and that's the only one that didn't fit the pattern of [promising first 1/3], [2/3 section is bad but I'm holding on that it'll go somewhere], [3/3 goes off the rails entirely, no payoff for suffering through the middle third]. Cryptonomicon was consistently OK , at least. The Diamond Age was the most frustrating of the…

Your pattern is commonly stated when describing Stephenson novels. I don't even know what to think of Snow Crash. It reminded me of someone just jotting down everything in their head while sitting at a coffee shop, and then sending it to the printing press. Thanks for the future warning.

Admittedly, Snow Crash follows it the most weakly of the other three I've read. Anathem and The Diamond Age fit the pattern perfectly.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#52

Post by protomyth »

haliax wrote: post #34
protomyth wrote: post #20

My disagreement with the placement of "Strangers in Their Own Land" is basically that it really is well loved by Mother Jones[1], NYT[2], etc. but not at all liked by the people it claims to report on[3]. I guess if you hold liberal beliefs and want some reinforcement, then its a good book, but I would think you probably want to read books by people who actually are the people being talked about. 1) http://www.mother…

I'm about 25% of the way through Strangers. The negative review you've given seems to be a content-free screed: most of what the writer criticizes is fairly innocuous phrasing (e.g. "my Tea Party friends" rather than "my friends"). The only substantive point is the claim that she lumps people into overly broad categories, but honestly, I've yet to see that. Do you have any sources that dislike the book and point out…

I guess if you considered the link I provided a "content-free screed" then I'm not sure what to say. Your example was not a good characterization of the review.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#53

Post by VLM »

ashark wrote: post #38
overcast wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first experience with Stephenson was Snow Crash, and it was an abomination. I tried Cryptonomicon next, and while slightly more coherent, it was the end of the line for me and this guy. Stephenson likes to write like he's smarter than he really is, plots that are literally everywhere, and characters I really don't care about. Let's not forget the third person present tense writing style. Regarding Gibson, I only r…

If you didn't care for Cryptonomicon , you're probably right to stop. I've read four of his novels and that's the only one that didn't fit the pattern of [promising first 1/3], [2/3 section is bad but I'm holding on that it'll go somewhere], [3/3 goes off the rails entirely, no payoff for suffering through the middle third]. Cryptonomicon was consistently OK , at least. The Diamond Age was the most frustrating of the…

The focus being on character development and conversation and scenes shows you might be a fan of soft sci fi. Thats OK. Different strokes, different folks, etc.

The only real problem Diamond Age has from a hard sci fi perspective, is its 20 years old and everyone knows about additive manufacturing and 3-d printing and slicing objects to be printed and feedstock issues and compiling and analog analogies to digital logic gates and compilers and natural language processing and the dangers of closed source, the idea of more or less tablet computing and wikipedia rolled into one. Its all really boring today of course, other than he got quite a few details wrong and its fun to spot them. Twenty years ago, of course, its ideas were absolutely mindblowing. I really enjoyed exploring and daydreaming about the new engineering and new computer science and new concepts in Diamond Age. Sure there was some fluffy interpersonal story to fill it out, but I mostly ignored it for the fascinating hard sci fi concepts.

In the late 90s it was a truly awesome hard sci fi novel. Not a very good soft sci fi novel, but whatever. Someone should suggest a modern hard sci fi novel... published in the last year or two.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#55

Post by maxerickson »

ArlenBales wrote: post #49

One genre that is always missing from HNer's and YC's recommendations is Fantasy. It feels like most people here read books to acquire knowledge and philosophy to apply to real life. Most fantasy books are read for entertainment and imagination. There's no hidden message to parse and put toward your next start-up project. That doesn't mean Fantasy books are a waste of time though if they're engrossing and entertainin…

A lot of people get their fantasy fix from science fiction.

(this is my favorite place to apply the Arthur C. Clarke quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.", whether he meant it that way or not)

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#56

Post by arzt »

crucini wrote: post #26
overcast wrote: post #21

I guess no book list can ever escape the mediocrity of Neal Stephenson. At least it wasn't Snow Crash this time.

Do you think he's eternally mediocre, or is his recent stuff worse? Is all scifi mediocre? Is the problem that Stephenson "crossed over" and got more mainstream credibility? Is Gibson also mediocre?

Speaking as some who has only read the Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon, there are definitely sections of Stephenson's books that are a slog, but I generally find finishing them is rewarding.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#57

Post by protomyth »

raisspen wrote: post #46
protomyth wrote: post #20

My disagreement with the placement of "Strangers in Their Own Land" is basically that it really is well loved by Mother Jones[1], NYT[2], etc. but not at all liked by the people it claims to report on[3]. I guess if you hold liberal beliefs and want some reinforcement, then its a good book, but I would think you probably want to read books by people who actually are the people being talked about. 1) http://www.mother…

I have to agree that it isn't the quintessential book to understanding the right. It starts off with good intentions, but she misses a few things, most likely as a result of not being able to escape her bias. I found the following review something to keep in mind if you do read the book. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2016/09/30/book-revie...

Thank you, I just couldn't find the words myself but "couldn't escape her bias" is a perfect phrasing of what happened.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#58

Post by VLM »

ArlenBales wrote: post #49

One genre that is always missing from HNer's and YC's recommendations is Fantasy. It feels like most people here read books to acquire knowledge and philosophy to apply to real life. Most fantasy books are read for entertainment and imagination. There's no hidden message to parse and put toward your next start-up project. That doesn't mean Fantasy books are a waste of time though if they're engrossing and entertainin…

No Holdstock and his Ryhope Wood series?

Of course that might be the implied problem of a "2016 winter reading list", its not the 1985 winter reading list and you probably should have read Mythago Wood back in 1985 when it was new. On the other hand in the sci fi discussion people are arguing about a hard sci fi book that's over 20 years old, so allowing a 30 year old book isn't too ridiculous...

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#59

Post by ythn »

ArlenBales wrote: post #49

One genre that is always missing from HNer's and YC's recommendations is Fantasy. It feels like most people here read books to acquire knowledge and philosophy to apply to real life. Most fantasy books are read for entertainment and imagination. There's no hidden message to parse and put toward your next start-up project. That doesn't mean Fantasy books are a waste of time though if they're engrossing and entertainin…

Name of the Wind is good. Almost too good. The downside of course is that some people fear Rothfuss will never finish the story...

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#60

Post by sn9 »

redthrowaway wrote: post #47
TillE wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't both of those publications vigorously oppose Trump? The "conservative intellectual" niche may be the most politically irrelevant group in the country.

>Didn't both of those publications vigorously oppose Trump? Yes. >The "conservative intellectual" niche may be the most politically irrelevant group in the country. Trump won the Presidency, not the Movement. The rest of the GOP, though shell-shocked, has not suddenly ditched conservatism and embraced Trumpism. The vast majority of the GOP members of the House and Senate, and those in state governments, are conservat…

You're conflating politicians with voters.

Most GOP voters are not conservative true believers. The fact that Trump won the GOP nomination is proof enough of that.

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