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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?

#511

Post by aquir »

aloisdg wrote: post #418
aquir wrote: post #416

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin She was a great visionary and turned the Science Fiction genre upside down. This book is a thought provoking story; an "An Ambiguous Utopia" (this is the subtitle of the book. It really makes you think but also a mocking glass for our society. Close second is The Left Hand of Darkness from the same author.

I am reading it right now. I will leave this thread to avoid any spoil.

Yeah, I was thinking about putting a little summary but I don’t want to spoil the fun and also, it’s hard to summarise this book in a few sentences

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

#512

Post by gjkood »

The best non-fiction book I have ever read is 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb'[1] by Richard Rhodes.

Fantastic early history of the people that eventually comprise the Manhattan Project. I feel any person who is interested in physics should read the book.

It is mindblowing the scale of the facilities that they had to build to generate a very small amount of the fissile material needed.

Strangely enough, I started on (a few times already) the second part, 'Dark Sun' [2], which is about the making of the Hydrogen Bomb focused on Edward Teller but I haven't been able to complete it yet.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes/dp/...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Sun-Making-Hydrogen-Bomb-ebook/d...

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

#513

Post by malshe »

It is challenging to define what's "best" but I used a simple criterion to write this comment: the book I have read the most is the best book for me.

With this criterion, Based on a True Story by Norm Macdonald is the best book. Each time I reread it, I find a new nugget! And as a bonus, this book is also available as an audiobook narrated by the author himself.

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

#514

Post by aanet »

nataliste wrote: post #87

The Consolation of Philosophy by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius. It is a profound synthesis of classical philosophy and personal reflection on the human condition. Boethius, writing in prison while awaiting execution, blends Stoic, Neoplatonic, and Christian ideas to address timeless questions of fate, fortune, happiness, and virtue. It transcends religious dogma and focuses on rational inquiry into how one can f…

Thanks for this brief endorsement. I'll add it to my list of books to read... Currently, running a rather high tsundoku...

My own fav is also called Consolation of Philosophy but it's by Alain de Botton, one of my fav contemporary writers. His prose is fine, and the writing's a treat. His book is of course a modern treatment of Boethius. Recommended!

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

#516

Post by pazimzadeh »

delecti wrote: post #298
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…

It was hilarious, and I learned a lot of new words.

That said, the first/last story was a bit of a grind because of the language style.

I didn't think the movie captured it at all. The trailer is great though, and got me to read the book.

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

#518

Post by [deleted] »

lolinder wrote: post #495
abeppu wrote: post #488

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If they react inappropriately, I'll be cordial and treat them with respect, but I don't want to be friends. If they're way too supportive - the same rule applies. > Really, I'm just looking for people who won't jump down my throat on a faux pas. I think when cactacea says "huh, ok", this is neither inappropriate, or "jumping down someone's throat", or being "way too supportive" -- so I think by tb_technical's state…

Right, but the end goal of the filter isn't just to have a list of passes and fails. The filter exists because OP doesn't want to associate with people who are overly ideological—one way or the other. If someone silently puts OP in a bucket and never reaches out again, the end goal is still achieved.

[deleted]

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

#519

Post by dbg31415 »

airstrike wrote: post #283

Picking a "favorite" is generally hard. I once learned that the best way to phrase this question is in the form of e.g. "What are some of your favorite books?" so the responder doesn't have to force rank their all-time-favorite in their head, which can feel taxing. So I'll name two: I'm actually a bit surprised to not see "Brave New World" mentioned yet. That was a life-changing experience to my teenage self And sinc…

Agreed.

I remember getting assigned this book in high school, I think Freshman Year, and not being able to put it down. Just left me with this feeling of, "Shit, if we sacrifice freedom and individuality for happiness and a sense of security then we're really going to be fucked." I know that's probably too political for HN, but man, the message I got from this book has resonated loud and clear with me ever since.

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

#520

Post by analogwzrd »

lordnacho wrote: post #170
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,…

Have you considered that someone who hears Atlas Shrugged is your favourite book might react similarly? I'd be polite, but note you down as either an immature thinker or someone who likes to provoke. With a little more prodding, possibly also one of those people who has to be right about everything, and this is their hill. I guess I'm on passive radar and you are on active.

If I met someone who said that any book was their favorite book, and then didn't remember anything about the book or had any value for the ideas that it advocated for, then I'd have to consider that person a bit of a manipulator.

Being disingenuous is just a bad first and only data point to give someone about yourself.

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