Some Heroes • Hacker News Board

Re: Some Heroes

#51

Post by mrtron » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 3:14 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #2

"I used to read a lot of novels when I was younger. I can't read most anymore, because they don't have enough information in them." This is a good one to add to the list of things not to say on a first date. And if it does somehow come up, at least have enough sense not to follow it with "I also don't read biographies/memoirs because I consider them fiction." /Don't ask

Actually I also rejected fiction after university, I find I don't have that much time to sit and read so why bother with fiction. I was a ridiculously avid reader of fiction and I wish that I had of read science books instead of re-reading the Hardy Boys (original series and some of the casefiles).

I do read some biographies/memoirs though :P

Re: Some Heroes

#52

Post by jsomers » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 3:51 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #2

"I used to read a lot of novels when I was younger. I can't read most anymore, because they don't have enough information in them." This is a good one to add to the list of things not to say on a first date. And if it does somehow come up, at least have enough sense not to follow it with "I also don't read biographies/memoirs because I consider them fiction." /Don't ask

This was the only part of the essay that irked me. Bad writing in general has a low information density; the problem is not exclusive to fiction.

It doesn't help that information is embedded structurally in a novel, which makes it harder to tease out. But good fiction (say, Ulysses or Crime and Punishment or Nine Stories) is as rich as any essay or monograph.

It's also not clear that density, in the strict sense, is what I'm after when I read. If so I'd be buried in technical papers, when what I really want is something to tickle my brain; to that end, I wouldn't want to lose any one of arXiv, the Engineering library, or the literature section at Borders.

Re: Some Heroes

#53

Post by Anchor » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 3:57 PM UTC

Have you read The Nature of Order by Christopher Alexander? I'd very much like to hear your opinions and comments on the book series. And also see, whether he would appear on your next list of heroes.

He is definitely on mine.

Re: Some Heroes

#54

Post by cadalac » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 4:14 PM UTC

"Everyone on the list had two qualities: they cared almost excessively about their work, and they were absolutely honest."

Honesty is a quality I really admire in you myself, PG. Be careful not to work too hard though! Thanks for another good read!

Re: Some Heroes

#55

Post by jwesley » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 5:22 PM UTC

I would put Paul Graham on my list. :)

Re: Some Heroes

#56

Post by as » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 5:29 PM UTC

This is what I was looking for.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152805

Re: Some Heroes

#57

Post by as » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 5:32 PM UTC

revorad wrote: post #46

"I've never cried like I cried at his funeral." My favourite sentence in the essay. Made me aware of a dimension I didn't associate pg with.

The brevity does make him seem a bit stoic.

Re: Some Heroes

#58

Post by mynameishere » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 6:03 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #2

"I used to read a lot of novels when I was younger. I can't read most anymore, because they don't have enough information in them." This is a good one to add to the list of things not to say on a first date. And if it does somehow come up, at least have enough sense not to follow it with "I also don't read biographies/memoirs because I consider them fiction." /Don't ask

Here's a tip: Read one novel by Tom Robbins, and then if a female asks, always say that you just read it last week.

Re: Some Heroes

#59

Post by CharlieInCO » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 6:40 PM UTC

Uh, Paul, I assume that you mean Robert Morris the younger? Or his dad?

If the younger, I'd think you're well equipped with at least one example where he was less that perfectly right about something.

Re: Some Heroes

#60

Post by rglovejoy » Sat, Apr 05, 2008, 6:45 PM UTC

yters wrote: post #44

rglovejoy wrote: post #35

I like P.G. Wodehouse's stories; I'm quite a bit less impressed with his activities during World War 2. Wodehouse was in France when the Germans invaded in 1940. He was interned as an enemy alien by the Nazis for a year. The Germans were able to persuade him to make some light-hearted radio broadcasts intended for American (but not British) consumption, in exchange for his release from internment. Many Britons (inclu…

Do you mean he made Nazi propaganda?

No, that would have been Lord Haw Haw and Ezra Pound who made propaganda broadcasts for the fascists.

It wasn't as though Wodehouse had shaken hands with Hitler. He merely talked about what his internment was like, and he only made about five broadcasts. Even so, I think he was incredibly naïve of him to do this, given that by 1940, the Germans hadn't simply crossed the line into uncivilized conduct, they had gleefully flown over it with flags raised and fireworks shooting.