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Mind-expanding books

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Re: Mind-expanding books

#51

Post by dunemaster »

razemio wrote: post #20
dunemaster wrote: post #5

>Patrick rothfuss before lord of the rings This has to be bait

Patrick Rothfuss ruined other fantasy novels for me. Seriously, I usually now stop after 2-3 hours in because it is just bad in comparison. I know that there are some that do not like his books. For me those are the best fantasy books I have ever read. It is not even close. Like he is so much better that I can not even compare it to anything else.

For me it was the other way around. The first book was so bad that I stopped reading fiction all together because I realized there are more important things I can do with my limited time.

Re: Mind-expanding books

#52

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

The title is completely wrong: it should be "Books with high Goodreads score."

Also, arguably, all books (or at least should be) are mind-expanding as they provide you with new information. As for the quantitative aspect, it is a very individual thing: what is a huge trove of new information for me might be old news for you. With time, what was once new becomes more or less common knowledge.

Personally, I find the books on the limits of science to fall in this category - especially our grasp of micro- and macrocosm, but also biology and neuroscience. Chemistry is extremely interesting but my feeling is that there aren't that many breakthrough developments these days; nevertheless, it's fascinating to observe, say, the influence of various alkaloids on living organisms - there is so much to discover here. I love books by specialists in the field, preparing a meta-analysis of various phenomena, and then proposing a novel explanation for them.

Re: Mind-expanding books

#54

Post by pdamoc »

thelittleone wrote: post #25

Been wondering lately about "books that everyone should read". I used to go to Amazon search a category and then get the most popular / highly rated book. But is that really what I need or want? As I start to appreciate the value of uniqueness I wonder more about obscure books, books less read and have found these often contain gems.

You might want to read first "How to Read a Book" and then proceed to the recommended list [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Read_a_Book#Reading_lis...

Re: Mind-expanding books

#55

Post by Fnoord »

I've read several books in the first section (and quit skimming through the list after).

I am sorry but to me this is completely useless. Someone whom I don't know can claim they recommend whatever. They have no authority, and lists like these don't say why they recommend some. I am far more interested in the why than the who or what. In other words, the most interesting piece (a well written albeit short review) is missing. Without that, title and aithor is pointless as they are rarely descriptive enough about content.

Re: Mind-expanding books

#56

Post by timeon »

cinntaile wrote: post #43
drawfloat wrote: post #36

Master and Margerita at the top of the classics list – fantastic book, definitely recommend people read, but would not in any way say it was "mind expanding".

I read this because it gets recommended a lot on HN. I don't get the hype. It was decent, but nothing special.

> It was decent, but nothing special.

Especially if one have read some books from authors like Leonid Andreyev or (not directly related to those authors) you know some Gnostic concepts.

Re: Mind-expanding books

#58

Post by kthejoker2 »

5 books not on this list that might expand your.mind:

* The Dice Man by George Cockroft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dice_Man?wprov=sfla1

* The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda.

* Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/624

* Poverty and Progress by Henry George

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55308

* The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt

Re: Mind-expanding books

#59

Post by ceceron »

IMHO this kind of list defeats its purpose. Being popular / having high rating in the popular services is definitely not an accurate marker of being "mind-expanding". In fact, I would expect most of them be rather safe/easy/conforming to what people find acceptable, therefore not challenging their minds. Just looking at the philosophy section of the list proves the point. Also the sci-fi part is surprisingly poor in substance — one would think that technical people should be well-versed in that particular genre.

I would prefer to read a list curated by a single "expert" person. Such a list would be shorter, more biased, but hopefully not so bland. For example, Eli Bendersky puts every now and then a nice summary of his impressive reading adventures.

Re: Mind-expanding books

#60

Post by razemio »

dunemaster wrote: post #51
razemio wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patrick Rothfuss ruined other fantasy novels for me. Seriously, I usually now stop after 2-3 hours in because it is just bad in comparison. I know that there are some that do not like his books. For me those are the best fantasy books I have ever read. It is not even close. Like he is so much better that I can not even compare it to anything else.

For me it was the other way around. The first book was so bad that I stopped reading fiction all together because I realized there are more important things I can do with my limited time.

Why was it bad in your opinion? Always interested how you can argue against this masterpiece.
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