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Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#81

Post by QwertyPi »

wolframhempel wrote: post #71
LoFiSamurai wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought The Coddling of the American Mind was excellent.

Yup. I've been looking for books that explain the underlying structures and dynamics of "wokeness" for a while. I feel "the Coddling" does a good job for some aspects of it. The best book I found so far in this regard is "Cynical Theories" by Helen Pluckrose. You read it and just think: "yeah, this is it". Unfortunately it's written like a PhD thesis, so not the lightest read.

> I've been looking for books that explain the underlying structures and dynamics of "wokeness" for a while.

Fear & fear of tolerance is a universal theme throughout history, there's not much to it. "Coddling" is a pejorative used by people afraid of tolerance.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#82

Post by jeksn »

electricant wrote: post #46
jeksn wrote: post #31

I’ve been getting into Italo Calvino after reading Invisible Cities, which was great. Right now I’m reading The Baron in the Trees.

Calvino is one of my favorite writers. Let me recommend also: The castle of crossed destinies (the book that got me into tarots)

Thanks, putting it on the list.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#83

Post by subtra3t »

vidyesh wrote: post #62

Actively reading: - The Fountainhead - Project Hail Mary - Learning TypeScript Passively reading: - The Design of Everyday Things - Dive into Design Patterns Considering to read - This is mostly for anyone who has read them and would like to give their opinion about it. - Algorithms to Live By - Name of the Wind - Malazan Book of the Fallen - Good Girl's guide to murder - The Paradox of Choice - Moonwalking with Eins…

Malazan is amazing, possibly the best fantasy series I've ever read after Stormlight Archives (KKC would be on the list if not for the author's attitude towards the 3rd book). That said, it's really common for newcomers to the series to abandon the book even after a couple hundred pages.

Think of it as being akin to being dropped in a completely foreign country, with no kind of guidance or language experience. The 1st book is the hardest to really "get" but if you do manage to get into it you'll have a really great time.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#84

Post by hknmtt »

Magicians of The Gods by Graham Hancock. But I will not finish it. It is boring and long-winded and he's more a travel journalist than researcher or scholar, so no real breakthroughs and a sprinkle of Daniken-like sensationalism while stretching the facts quite a bit. But what killed the book for me eventually was his unfounded attack on Sitchin. The previous book I read from him was Fingerprints of The Gods, that one was better but still had similar issues.

I would like to finish reading Hitler's Mein Kampf. I had it for years, started it twice but never finished it. I have no other books to read so I think this will be my next.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#86

Post by jack_pp »

QwertyPi wrote: post #81
wolframhempel wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. I've been looking for books that explain the underlying structures and dynamics of "wokeness" for a while. I feel "the Coddling" does a good job for some aspects of it. The best book I found so far in this regard is "Cynical Theories" by Helen Pluckrose. You read it and just think: "yeah, this is it". Unfortunately it's written like a PhD thesis, so not the lightest read.

> I've been looking for books that explain the underlying structures and dynamics of "wokeness" for a while. Fear & fear of tolerance is a universal theme throughout history, there's not much to it. "Coddling" is a pejorative used by people afraid of tolerance.

Far left woke people aren't really tolerant though. At least not universally

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#88

Post by QwertyPi »

jack_pp wrote: post #86
QwertyPi wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've been looking for books that explain the underlying structures and dynamics of "wokeness" for a while. Fear & fear of tolerance is a universal theme throughout history, there's not much to it. "Coddling" is a pejorative used by people afraid of tolerance.

Far left woke people aren't really tolerant though. At least not universally

Sure, but that's just Popper's old paradox of tolerance: tolerating hateful people makes a hateful society. Anyone who is fine tolerating hate isn't working towards a tolerant society, they're working towards a hateful society. You don't need to look any further than e.g. the contemporary indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinians to see this. Or the deep fear and lack of empathy americans have towards the poor.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#89

Post by arketyp »

I'm reading Against Method by Paul Feyerabend. It makes the case for more anarchy in science, that observations are shaped by the paradigm and that therefore new theories sometimes require respite from a lack of support in current evidence. It's a refreshing critique of Popper coming from within the analytic school. Like a Foucault light.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#90

Post by subtra3t »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #76
vidyesh wrote: post #62

Actively reading: - The Fountainhead - Project Hail Mary - Learning TypeScript Passively reading: - The Design of Everyday Things - Dive into Design Patterns Considering to read - This is mostly for anyone who has read them and would like to give their opinion about it. - Algorithms to Live By - Name of the Wind - Malazan Book of the Fallen - Good Girl's guide to murder - The Paradox of Choice - Moonwalking with Eins…

Re: Name of the Wind. I read the first book in the series and enjoyed it but didn't continue after finding out that the author has stalled indefinitely with the third volume. I understand that mental health issues are serious, but there's so many good finished series out in the world that I don't get why people keep recommending this guy's books. There was also some drama surrounding the author due to some charity do…

I'm a guy who recommends the first book to almost all newcomers to fantasy, even though I know that Rothfuss is never going to finish it. The reason I recommend NotW so much is because it probably has the best prose in all of fantasy. And it's not like the plot is bad too. Rothfuss is still talked about in the fantasy books community, sometimes more so than other authors who are still writing like Mark Lawrence. Hell, he has more Goodreads followers than Brandon Sanderson!
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