The book is perhaps really dry or long and people kind of act like they've read it, without saying so explicitly. But most haven't read it.
Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
1–10 of 58 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#2The Phoenix Project.
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#3In Computers? The Mythical Man Month Fred Brooks
In Mnaagement? Turn the Ship Around David Marquet
In literature? Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
In Philosophy? The Republic Plato
In Religion? The Confessions St. Augustine
In Mathematics? The Elements Euclid
In History? Parallel lives Plutarch
In Physics? Principia Isaac Newton
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#4I somehow feel everyone pretends to have read “Thinking fast and slow” by Daniel Kahneman, but whenever I dig deep, most of the time I get to know they just bought the book but watched a video summary (it’s quite a biggie)
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#5Knuth.
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#6In Computers? The Mythical Man Month Fred Brooks In Mnaagement? Turn the Ship Around David Marquet In literature? Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad In Philosophy? The Republic Plato In Religion? The Confessions St. Augustine In Mathematics? The Elements Euclid In History? Parallel lives Plutarch In Physics? Principia Isaac Newton
Please add double line breaks between each point or question as your comment just renders as a big block of text.
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#7Capital in the 21 Century by Thomas Piketty is quite long and dry as there are many facts and figures, but it's essential reading to understand that the United States' 1960s, where people could buy a home, car, got to college etc working a minimum wage job and where people often say they want to return to in the modern day, is instead an anomalous post war boom and that the level of wealth inequality today is actually the norm for most of modern history.
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#8CLRS or some Algorithm Design Book, but you could easily be talking about TAOCP or SICP or Clean Code or any of 1000 other books.
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#9In Computers? The Mythical Man Month Fred Brooks In Mnaagement? Turn the Ship Around David Marquet In literature? Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad In Philosophy? The Republic Plato In Religion? The Confessions St. Augustine In Mathematics? The Elements Euclid In History? Parallel lives Plutarch In Physics? Principia Isaac Newton
Please add double line breaks between each point or question as your comment just renders as a big block of text.
In Computers? The Mythical Man Month Fred Brooks
In Management? Turn the Ship Around David Marquet
In literature? Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
In Philosophy? The Republic Plato
In Religion? The Confessions St. Augustine
In Mathematics? The Elements Euclid
In History? Parallel lives Plutarch
In Physics? Principia Isaac Newton
Re: Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?
#10Capital in the 21 Century by Thomas Piketty is quite long and dry as there are many facts and figures, but it's essential reading to understand that the United States' 1960s, where people could buy a home, car, got to college etc working a minimum wage job and where people often say they want to return to in the modern day, is instead an anomalous post war boom and that the level of wealth inequality today is actuall…
Perhaps it's because it's not my field that I found the After Piketty¹ collection of shorter essays easier reading.