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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?

#291

Post by hluska »

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,…

So, you will lie about your favourite book to socially engineer people? That would be the end of any friendship even if your favourite books are actually good reads. Why would I want to be friends with someone who will lie to qualify me? I don’t put up with that amongst mobile device salespeople and that’s a small investment.

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

#292

Post by d1str0 »

soufron wrote: post #217
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,…

Man, what an ass way of choosing your friends... I doubt it's optimal.

I think you just proved his point. This response is clearly quite aggressive and over the top and thus falls in the camp of being unlikely friends vs. someone who takes a more cordial approach.

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

#294

Post by krupan »

Nobody has mentioned:

- The Lord of the Rings. It is the secret gateway for us nerds to get into literature and poetry (do not skip the poems!). Read all the reference materials like The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, J.R.R.'s letters, the books his son Christopher edited and published, etc. If the poems seem weird or don't make sense, research why they are worded and structured the way they are.

- The Master and Margarita. Obscure and very unique. Make sure to get a good translation (if you don't know Russian) that has some annotations to explain the "inside" jokes/references

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

#295

Post by AlotOfReading »

kbelder wrote: post #219
EFreethought wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am guessing you have never met someone who actually did like "Atlas Shrugged". The fact is, some people deserve harsh judgement. Including people who lie to someone and think they are morally superior for doing so.

I liked Atlas Shrugged.

Why? What redeeming qualities does it have that make you prefer it to less mediocre books?

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

#296

Post by el_memorioso »

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,…

What happens later in the relationship when you reveal you lied about your favorite book as some weird social vetting process? It seems the insincerity would turn a lot of people off.

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

#298

Post by delecti »

rurp wrote: post #185

Cloud Atlas would be my choice for fiction. The novel covers an incredible range of interesting ideas and great writing. Antifragile for nonfiction. It really changed the way I think about how both the natural world and human institutions function.

I truly loved Cloud Atlas. It's also a rare example where the book and movie adaptation both lift each other up (though I saw the movie first, and can't know if I would have felt that way in the other direction). I felt like the movie is better at emphasizing the thematic connection between each story, while the book is better at showing the impact of each story on the next, and showing that each story exists for the characters in the next. I loved the movie even more after reading the book.

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

#299

Post by imjonse »

For fiction no idea, really hard to come up with a criterion and that is great actually.

For non-fiction, by far the one that had the most novelty factor and effect of my worldview probably Chomsky - Understanding Power. Not 100% because it's almost a tie with Manufacturing Consent - this one being much darker.

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

#300

Post by Severian »

carapace wrote: post #45

The best book I've ever read is perhaps "cheating" because it's "The Next Whole Earth Catalog" and, as the name says, it's a catalog of (mostly) books. (You can see it for yourself in all it's glory here: https://www.wholeearth.info/p/the-next-whole-earth-catalog-f... ) Other than that I'd have to say the Tao Te Ching. (The best fiction book I've read is almost certainly "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe. It's…

Indeed
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