80,000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good by Benjamin Todd definitely had the biggest impact on my life (and therefore hopefully on many others as well). To know that I can save quite a few lives throughout my career gave my life a somewhat deeper sens
Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
301–310 of 434 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#302Dune and Lord of the Rings. Both have such detail to their worlds that is rarely done well in other works. On top of the world building, I enjoyed the internal struggles that both Paul and Frodo had to go through to become better people and achieve their goals
It's amazing how Dune is becoming more and more relevant. Not because of any dystopia thing, but because the fundamental issues it talks about (unstable power systems, ecology and power, the right to sovereignty) are becoming more and more mainstream. If they make another movie, I think it could potentially do quite well.
In case you don't already know they are actually working on a new version of a Dune movie to be released in two parts, first movie at the end of 2020 IIRC, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#303Principles by Ray Dalio changed my life and really helped me better understand that inwardly looking at and analyzing my emotional responses to problems at work and home set me up for failure and since reading it I've had such profound clarity of thought. I recommend that book to literally everyone.
Worth pointing out that an official bulletin point summary/excerpt is available too
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#304Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's amazing how Dune is becoming more and more relevant. Not because of any dystopia thing, but because the fundamental issues it talks about (unstable power systems, ecology and power, the right to sovereignty) are becoming more and more mainstream. If they make another movie, I think it could potentially do quite well.
In case you don't already know they are actually working on a new version of a Dune movie to be released in two parts, first movie at the end of 2020 IIRC, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Man I Hope that works out. The last attempt was just bizarre (the one with the zebra striped starships)
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems Frankl has been somewhat exposed/debunked. I loved his book too as a teenager; it pained me to read sources mentioned on his wikipedia page. Would you believe he was at Auschwitz for only a few days, performed medical experiments on Jews himself, and it appears his main thesis about attitude mattering above all else for survival in the camps is simply false. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl#Contro…
Wow. I'm shocked. I had never heard of these controversies, despite spending some time interested in Frankl a while back. They seem plausible at first read, and should receive more attention. Thank you for highlighting them.
Please be careful... Investigate these claims more fully than Wikipedia, these claims can be exaggerated / out of context
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#306Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#307From a few angles: * I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up joining a church, so that's pretty consequential. * Moby Dick and Journey to the West were probably the most sheer enjoyment I got out of books * Learning C# 3.0 by Jesse Liberty is extremely dated at this point, and was dated even when I read it, but was the first book that made me "get" many basic OO concepts and taught me a language I've gotten a…
Wow, a lot of these resonate. Epp's Discrete Math was so much fun--definitely my favorite textbook from college. Moby Dick was mindbending, and my favorite novel until reading Homer's Odyssey. The Bible was a great education in ancient cultures. I was just reading an interview of McPherson on NYT's 1619 project, too. May your journey of faith be fruitful. I enjoyed reading Dostoyevsky and G.K. Chesterton along those…
I've enjoyed a few Dostoevsky books, especially Crime and Punishment. The Odyssey is also a blast.
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#308Zen mind beginner’s mind: Highly recommended to anyone interested in meditation. Helped me understand the non-goal aspect of the practice. Gravity’s rainbow: Not the easiest read but immensely rewarding. For better or worse some of Pynchon’s vivid descriptions are burned into my soul. Crime and punishment: I’m not into literature but this one is worth it. A great dive into human psychology. Deliverance: intense story…
I read Crime and Punishment last year and found it incredibly disappointing, considering its massive reputation. Simpletons, idiots, caricatures, buffoons and victims performing lots of hand-wringing, posturing, dithering, swooning and assorted drama. Hard to identify with or care about any of them. Call it entertainment, but I prefer Dickens.
I understand what you mean, the insight on the mind of a murderer is what kept me going. I found the same unecessary drama/silliness while reading "The Master and Margarita", maybe it's a Russian writing style.
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#309Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up joining a church, so that's pretty consequential. Is there a bigger story here? I'm not the type that would find reading the Bible appealing but I can say without a shadow of doubt that if I would, it would not awaken any latent desires for religion.
I've read 3 different versions of the bible and it converted me from an agnostic to an atheist. I think GP may have been predisposed to religion (or at least to the social aspects of joining a church) as the bible, as interesting as it is, is only as interesting as any other selected and vetted collection of philosophy and story telling. Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam also have very interesting texts worth rea…
To be fair, few people actually read it in the first place (one big way in which my experience of church was not what I imagined)
Re: Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?
#310From a few angles: * I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up joining a church, so that's pretty consequential. * Moby Dick and Journey to the West were probably the most sheer enjoyment I got out of books * Learning C# 3.0 by Jesse Liberty is extremely dated at this point, and was dated even when I read it, but was the first book that made me "get" many basic OO concepts and taught me a language I've gotten a…
"I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up joining a church, so that's pretty consequential." In that case, to be fair to yourself, did you also read the Quran, for comparison? Other religious texts?
I read some of the more notable Greek and Roman mythology if that counts. Otherwise no.