131–140 of 980 posts
One of the previous posts mentioned that it changes for them frequently, and I'm pretty much the same way. But for right now: Fiction: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Non-Fiction: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
To be clear, both are fiction, it’s just that one is fantasy and the other is set in modern reality.
Best book: Snow Crash Best short stories: Borges
Harry Potter 4 was the first book I binged when I was a kid. Lord of the Flies was the first book that made me feel weird emotions, and I liked it. Snow crash is the book that made me think "Fuck, how can one write a book like that ?" and therefore started what I hope to be a lifelong hobby. I still think of Flatland from times to times, as I'm jealous and amazed of the brain of its author.
Godel Escher Bach is the best book I've read. Very interesting topics and the sheer creativity of the writing is amazing.
"I Am a Strange Loop" by the same guy covers the same concepts, albeit without the whimsey or color.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull. It saved my life, two times. First time inspiring me, second time literally.
What happened the second time?
Fast forward to me being ahead, miscalculating a turn before the church, and heading full-speed straight for the edge of a cliff. I couldn't brake because I'd lose control. I couldn't jump off the bike because I'd start rolling. I remembered Jonathan and how he learned acrobatic flight. I didn't have wings to barely bend but I slightly, slightly, lightly than a feather, turned the stem, and got out of trouble right at the last inch in the fastest turn ever performed on a bicycle.
Unless youve just read a handful of books in your life it is impossible to give a good answer to the question. Books are not oranges.
>Unless youve just read a handful of books in your life it is impossible to give a good answer to the question. And yet, there are many answers to that question in this thread.
The Count of Monte Cristo -- I've read it a few times and I know I'll read it again. While there are a few books I've read more than once, I can't think of any I know I will read again.
Wonderful, wonderful book. One of my favorites. It's old, but the beginning especially is just a non-stop adventure. It always drags a bit for me after the first third, but picks up again and continues to be great throughout.
Yeah, as much as I love Count Monte Christo as a story, being it a movie (https://youtu.be/qesn8pV9yu8?si=ssccZfQGf9F1fCk3), series (https://youtu.be/bF1Z7irZLdY?si=oDF0OnB-1NWVfwZq) or anime (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gankutsuou:_The_Count_of_Monte...), the book gets so slow after first third that I have never actually read it through till the end.
Its a pity that we can have new cuts of movies (Zack Snyders Justice League vs original one) but we will never get George R. R. Martin version of Count of Monte Cristo.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haven't read The Selfish Gene, but reading the summary it looks like it touches on some very similar themes as Stephen Pinker's How The Mind Works, which I thought was also a great book. Gave me a good intuitive understanding of how the human neural system evolved, and I found so much of the book to be prescient and timely in our current "AI era".
What people forget to mention is when they have read a book. I read the Selfish Gene when I was a teen and it left a lasting impression. It was published in 1989. How the Mind works was published in 2011. Reading the Selfish Gene today as an adult, when you've probably read a dozen similar books already, is not going to have the same effect. It's going to be pretty boring. That's why asking for book recommendations i…
Also,
Bill Bryson’s “Short History of Nearly Everything”.
Brian Greene’s “The Fabric of the Cosmos” (and all of his other books)
Richard Dawkins’ “The Ancestor’s Tale” and “The Blind Watchmaker” are also amazing.
Fiction:
Adrian Czajkowski‘s “Children of Time” and Orson Scott Card‘s “Ender’s Game” are both anong my favourites.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Books are not oranges." As an aside, what do you mean by this? I would have an even harder time giving and answer to the best orange I've eaten. The Hobbit. My brother read it to me when I was just starting to read. When he was done I asked him to read it again. he said no and I learned to read in earnest. I was often shooed out of the adult section of the library. I have read lots of books by now.
> what do you mean by this That books are not a commodity.