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Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

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Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#31

Post by simonebrunozzi »

watwut wrote: post #26
lonesword wrote: post #14

>This "use" of literature and history is reflected in my choice of reading: There is very little "heavy" reading listed here. And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? My "oh hell yeah!" moment was when i saw Lord of the Rings in the list :p

> And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? Dostoevsky is not difficult to read. If you like depressive psychological drama, it is quite enjoyable. Homer difficulty depends heavily on translation. It can be stiff and boring or basically just fun (but again, you gotta like the relationships non-actiony aspect of it). Yeah, Ulysses…

And harder if you are a non-native English speaker (I grew up in Italy, live in the US since 2012).

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#32

Post by Aperocky »

watwut wrote: post #24
newsbinator wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd bet that the nervous 10-year-old promptly ignored Bjarne's advice and went on to ask others what to cram.

And maybe 10-years old would be right. Not because of becoming best in the world, but because there would be zero harm to his development, really.

Unless he burns out.

Usually 10 years old (speaking from experience) don’t worry about job or employment prospect, they just want to do the cool thing. And if it’s the former that’s pushing I suspect a strong possibility of burning out.

Heck, even as an adult I can barely tolerate working on things I’m not interested in but pressured so.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#33

Post by giu »

mpiedrav wrote: post #2

«I (Bjarne Stroustrup) have also been asked where I find the time to read non-technical books. Actually, it is not a question of finding the time. Reading non-technical stuff is essential. Without it, I'd go nuts and lose my sense of proportion. As a practical matter, I read for about an hour almost every evening before going to bed -- trying to go straight from technical work to sleep is usually not a good idea.»

I've been reading for 30 mins to an hour before going to bed for the past 6 months as part of my "sleep hygiene" routine. Honestly, this has been quite the game changer for me. For one, I'm always looking forward to it, since I really like to immerse myself into my current book's world (I'm reading a really good book right now called "Cibola Burn" by James S. A. Corey, the fourth book in The Expanse Series). Additionally, it helps me to fall asleep much better and my sleep has improved a lot, too.

I can recommend this to almost anyone; IMHO sleep hygiene in general is quite important, and this is one of the approaches that might improve it quite a bit.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#34

Post by kpU8efre7r »

giu wrote: post #33
mpiedrav wrote: post #2

«I (Bjarne Stroustrup) have also been asked where I find the time to read non-technical books. Actually, it is not a question of finding the time. Reading non-technical stuff is essential. Without it, I'd go nuts and lose my sense of proportion. As a practical matter, I read for about an hour almost every evening before going to bed -- trying to go straight from technical work to sleep is usually not a good idea.»

I've been reading for 30 mins to an hour before going to bed for the past 6 months as part of my "sleep hygiene" routine. Honestly, this has been quite the game changer for me. For one, I'm always looking forward to it, since I really like to immerse myself into my current book's world (I'm reading a really good book right now called "Cibola Burn" by James S. A. Corey, the fourth book in The Expanse Series). Addition…

This is my schedule as well. The last hour of every evening is non-technical reading.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#36

Post by joenot443 »

watwut wrote: post #26
lonesword wrote: post #14

>This "use" of literature and history is reflected in my choice of reading: There is very little "heavy" reading listed here. And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? My "oh hell yeah!" moment was when i saw Lord of the Rings in the list :p

> And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? Dostoevsky is not difficult to read. If you like depressive psychological drama, it is quite enjoyable. Homer difficulty depends heavily on translation. It can be stiff and boring or basically just fun (but again, you gotta like the relationships non-actiony aspect of it). Yeah, Ulysses…

I think there's a very wide range in difficulty for Dostoevsky's work. Crime and Punishment and Notes from Underground are a reasonable length, are told in a linear fashion, and largely easily differentiable characters. Brothers Karamazov, on the other hand, I found very challenging.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#37

Post by C1sc0cat »

dmos62 wrote: post #15
lonesword wrote: post #14

>This "use" of literature and history is reflected in my choice of reading: There is very little "heavy" reading listed here. And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? My "oh hell yeah!" moment was when i saw Lord of the Rings in the list :p

Do you find those difficult to read? I've not read them, so I'm actually asking. Or, is this a sentiment about older literature not being interesting, because of different tempo, cultural context, etc? I think difficulty in reading something is a personal thing. For example, I find reading Pynchon very difficult, because I can't seem to track what's happening and because there's a sense of being inside someone's pers…

There is a concordance for Gravity's Rainbow - which helps for non native readers.

That is assuming there is a corrected version the first printing I have confuses what a "redcap" is in the British military

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#40

Post by rbavocadotree »

watwut wrote: post #26
lonesword wrote: post #14

>This "use" of literature and history is reflected in my choice of reading: There is very little "heavy" reading listed here. And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? My "oh hell yeah!" moment was when i saw Lord of the Rings in the list :p

> And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? Dostoevsky is not difficult to read. If you like depressive psychological drama, it is quite enjoyable. Homer difficulty depends heavily on translation. It can be stiff and boring or basically just fun (but again, you gotta like the relationships non-actiony aspect of it). Yeah, Ulysses…

If Dostoevsky is not difficult to read, then there exist only a handful of authors who are. Maybe it isn't difficult to find enjoyment in his works, but there is a hell of a lot more going on than just depressive psychological drama.
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