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Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#221

Post by r00fus »

bitcoin_anon wrote: post #167
cactacea wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." "huh, ok" > Really, I'm just looking for people who won't jump down my throat on a faux pas. I think you're dismissing the people such as myself that would note you as an idiot without comment and move on wanting nothing to do with you. Edit: tests and trick questions with people you just met is an ineffective way to navigate the world…

You just failed the test.

If we're doing litmus tests, your handle is almost certainly going to get you ignored by a lot of people.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#222

Post by Maro »

As a teenager I read 'Catch 22' over and over.

I read Feynman's 'Surely You're Joking', and that led to me becoming a physicist.

For software engineering, all the essays in Fred Brooks' 'Mythical Man Month' were formative.

Rand's 'Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged' were also thought-provoking.

For investing, reading Warren Buffet's 'Letters to Investors' shaped what I believe works.

The best business book I've read is 'Invent and Wander' and 'Working Backwards' about Amazon culture.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#223

Post by rpdillon »

ziddoap wrote: post #199
tb_technical wrote: post #142

"The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." Not because I remember anything about it, or believe anything it espouses, or even like it all that much, but because it's a useful filter for obnoxious people in meatspace. If someone I don't know too well asks me what my favorite book is, I say Atlas Shrugged. If they react inappropriately, I'll be cordial and treat them with respect,…

Responding to a genuine question of interest with some sort of test says a lot about you. I guess your filter works both ways, because I would not want to associate with someone who does this. Edit: Watching my points go up and down on this one has been interesting! I didn't realize people were so divided on whether or not it's okay to lie and test people as some sort of friendship filter.

It is somewhat odd to ask someone about their favorite book and instead get a lie that's intended to test whether or not you'll be a good friend. It's also completely offtopic for a discussion about folks' favorite books.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#224

Post by gadders »

jjcm wrote: post #204
5555624 wrote: post #63

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.

This is one of my favorites. It's one of the few where the hero manages to become the villain in the end, and does so convincingly.

Do you think? He does show some mercy towards some people that have wronged him.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#225

Post by MisterBastahrd »

As far as enjoying it at the time I was reading it?

The Once and Future King.

I was on summer vacation while camping and fishing and I read the entire book in a couple of days in the evenings. Maybe it was the lack of distraction, but the Arthurian legend of that book has influenced a ton of modern fiction.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#226

Post by JohnAaronNelson »

yogurtboy wrote: post #206
cactacea wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." "huh, ok" > Really, I'm just looking for people who won't jump down my throat on a faux pas. I think you're dismissing the people such as myself that would note you as an idiot without comment and move on wanting nothing to do with you. Edit: tests and trick questions with people you just met is an ineffective way to navigate the world…

Totally agree. While the logic of the comment wasn't bad, that's just a weird maniuplative style of social engineering.

Thinking one step ahead instead of two

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#227

Post by bee_rider »

Vegenoid wrote: post #195
tb_technical wrote: post #142

"The best book I've ever read was Atlas Shrugged in 8th grade. Changed my life." Not because I remember anything about it, or believe anything it espouses, or even like it all that much, but because it's a useful filter for obnoxious people in meatspace. If someone I don't know too well asks me what my favorite book is, I say Atlas Shrugged. If they react inappropriately, I'll be cordial and treat them with respect,…

I know almost nothing about Atlas Shrugged, besides that it is very political, but this seems a strange and deceptive way to interact with people. I can't imagine it is very good for establishing trust with someone even if they "pass the test". I would think that many level-headed people you seek to select for would not appreciate being tested in this way, but I suppose you are selecting for a very specific kind of p…

It is political, but it is also not a good book. Like, it has a gigantic monologue in the middle where one of the main characters just stands there and expounds on the theme of the book, for many pages. It is not well written.

If somebody said they liked… some books by Heinlein or whatever, there’s a guy with some Political Opinions. But he can write. It is believable, picking a Heinlein book isn’t an obvious political test.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#228

Post by DanielBMarkham »

Anna Karenina. Nothing mind-blowing. I didn't see a light in the sky.

I read a lot, fiction and non-fiction. When I read Tolstoy, I remember thinking "What sort of dark magic is this?" He drew characters in a way I haven't seen since. I _knew_ these people.

I remember this book, decades later. I remember a lot of what I've read, but Tolstoy was the man. I have no idea how or why his magic worked.

Re: Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?

#230

Post by perihelions »

gadders wrote: post #157
5555624 wrote: post #63

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.

I recently read the unabridged version, and really enjoyed it. The pacing is a bit patchy, but has (what we would think) surprisingly modern things mentioned - cannabis, lesbianism. If anyone wants a recommendation for another good book from around the same date, I recommend Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. It has it's adventure aspects, but is also just a great tale of male friendship between two different chara…

There's nothing anachronistic about hashish in 19th-century France; it was a widely-known narcotic long before that. If you read Wikipedia's "history" entry, Dumas and Paris are explicitly name-checked (among a lengthy list of writers),

- "In the 19th century, hashish was embraced in some European literary circles. Most famously, the Club des Hashischins was a Parisian club dedicated to the consumption of hashish and other drugs; its members included writers Théophile Gautier, Dr. Moreau de Tours, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Baudelaire and Honoré de Balzac.[19]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashish#History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_des_Hashischins

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