I’m 15% into Cryptonomicon by Neal Staephenson, and it’s living up to the hype. I’ve only read a few of his books: Snowcrash, Anathem, and Fall; or, Dodge in Hell. He’s such a good thought experimentalist and decent novelist. Reading one of his books is almost like sitting in a really interesting philosophy class in college that just makes you think about familiar concepts differently or way more in depth.
Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
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Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#72The Coming of Neo-Feudalism by Joel Kotkin
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#73“How to change your mind” by Michael Pollen. I read a lot of books, and this is one that caused a change in my life. The succinct summary is that psychedelics are misunderstood and there is more and more research showing their potential, especially in the treatment of trauma. I had a difficult childhood. It’s something I still struggle with personal interactions because of this, even after years of therapy. After rea…
What kind of shaman and how did you find them?
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#74I try to broaden my horizons and get out of my tech bubble, so I like to learn how artists think. I don't think I could do any better than David Byrne "How Music Works" which is surprisingly and satisfyingly technical, along with musical, and Patti Smith's "Just Kids" about her time in New York City starting out with artist Robert Mapplethorpe at the Chelsea Hotel. Amusingly, she meets Alan Ginsburg when he tries to pick her up thinking she is a young man.
In the same vein, not books but documentaries, I learned a lot from three Andy Warhol documentaries on YouTube: "The Life of Andy Warhol", "Andy Warhol - The Complete Picture", and "BBC Modern Masters 1of4 - ANDY WARHOL"
From those I learned about the art business, how much Warhol loved money (he left an estate or around 400 million dollars) and how much of this applies to today's world of art related NFT speculation.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#75Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (1946). A close runner up might be Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis (1989).
I love Liar’s Poker!
Signed: BSD
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#76The Dispossessed , by Ursula K. Le Guin. It identified so many of the "edges" of society and how I think about and interact with the world, on a daily basis. Without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe even the best. The only other book that came close this year was Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir .
Highly recommend Left Hand of Darkness if you haven’t read it yet
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#77The apology of Socrates by Plato
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#78Blood Meridian (or The Evening Redness in the West) by Cormac McCarthy. Quickly became my favorite book after reading it a second time. I've never read a book with more effective language.
I’m reading his Outer Dark for the second time. That epic, almost Biblical style of his early books is unsurpassed.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#79“How to change your mind” by Michael Pollen. I read a lot of books, and this is one that caused a change in my life. The succinct summary is that psychedelics are misunderstood and there is more and more research showing their potential, especially in the treatment of trauma. I had a difficult childhood. It’s something I still struggle with personal interactions because of this, even after years of therapy. After rea…
What kind of shaman and how did you find them?
I live in the US and there are some places here where it’s now decriminalized.
As to shamen part, I do recommend reading the book. There’s a lot on “set and setting” which goes into this.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#80Definitely Ubik by Phillip K. Dick