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Books that have affected you and your life the most

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Re: Books that have affected you and your life the most

#21

Post by resab »

rramadass wrote: post #15
resab wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing, I was looking for a good yoga book, will definitely check it out! :)

Just a PSA; "Yoga Vasistha" has nothing to do with the physical aspects of Yoga i.e. Asanas (though some passages do talk about them) but deals purely with the internal/intellectual aspects of the mind. It is a very long book with lots of Allegories/Similes/Stories/Repetition and so you have to read it slowly and with patience. I recommend reading "The Concise Yoga Vasistha" (an abridged version) before reading the u…

Sounds good? Thanks for a heads up! :)

Re: Books that have affected you and your life the most

#22

Post by keiferski »

Fiction and philosophical nonfiction has far more potential to affect one's life than a pop-science book, at least in my experience.

Some of my favorites:

- Moby Dick. Probably the single greatest work of American literature, in my opinion of course.

- Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche. An excellent primer to his thought. Any of his books are worth reading, though.

- The Ego and Its Own, Stirner. An under-appreciated philosopher who can really shake up your foundations.

- Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, Borges. His favorite short story of mine. It serves as a very effective metaphor for the power of fiction.

- Anything by Joseph Conrad, although I particularly recommend The Secret Sharer.

Re: Books that have affected you and your life the most

#24

Post by srijanshetty »

- The essay "Complicating the Narrative" which lists out ways in which we can address the growing divide between humans on different sides of a debate. Vital for journalism to regain it's trust and also vital in everyday life.

- JCIP "Java Concurrency In Practice" changed my mental model of programming.

- Practical Vim, this was my Eureka moment with vim

- Wait But Why, gave me a diverse perspective on a wide range of things

Re: Books that have affected you and your life the most

#27

Post by croo »

"Never Split the Difference" and "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Before reading those I thought talking just happens between people with some of them being more resourceful. It never occurred to me before that simple tricks can be so useful in everyday conversations.

Why we sleep - changed my perception of sleep. I used to sleep the least I could get away with. Not anymore, I stand corrected by science.

Re: Books that have affected you and your life the most

#28

Post by stasbar »

srijanshetty wrote: post #24

- The essay "Complicating the Narrative" which lists out ways in which we can address the growing divide between humans on different sides of a debate. Vital for journalism to regain it's trust and also vital in everyday life. - JCIP "Java Concurrency In Practice" changed my mental model of programming. - Practical Vim, this was my Eureka moment with vim - Wait But Why, gave me a diverse perspective on a wide range o…

Practical Vim seems amazing, pushed it on top of my to-read stack :D By "Wait But Why" you mean this one ? The Elon Musk Blog Series: Wait But Why by Tim Urban

Re: Books that have affected you and your life the most

#29

Post by macando »

keiferski wrote: post #22

Fiction and philosophical nonfiction has far more potential to affect one's life than a pop-science book, at least in my experience. Some of my favorites: - Moby Dick. Probably the single greatest work of American literature, in my opinion of course. - Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche. An excellent primer to his thought. Any of his books are worth reading, though. - The Ego and Its Own, Stirner. An under-appreciated p…

The Immortal and The Aleph by Borges are pretty awesome too.

Re: Books that have affected you and your life the most

#30

Post by macando »

(Speculative) Fiction: "The City and The Stars" by Arthur C. Clarke

Nonfiction: "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. The best book on how to communicate. The best part: the book is written in a way that its content sticks to your memory for a very long time thus proving what it preaches.

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