Wool by Hugh Howey
Ask HN: What literature do you read?
31–40 of 92 posts
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#32How about David Foster Wallace? Also China Miéville and Haruki Murakami.
I went of a bit of a Murakami bender after reading The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. While it's still my favorite of his works, Kafka on the Shore is pretty fantastic as well.
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#33While I often read Science Fiction and recently enjoyed Corey Doctorow's Rapture of the Nerds, Last week I finished Jeet Thayil's Narcopolis.
Currently, I am reading the third volume of Rick Atkinson's history of the second world war, The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945. I've enjoyed all three volumes over the past decade.
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#34I'm surprised no one's mentioned Philip José Farmer and his Riverworld series. The last book is comparatively weak, but the rest are great.
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#35I've been chewing through some Neil Stephenson books lately. I think a lot of his earlier work was somewhat prescient (in terms of general themes) and some of his newer work bring up some interesting societal points especially about the role of government with regards to technology. Another theme that I feel is particularly relevant lately is the bifurcation of the technically skilled (or even aware) and the technica…
Couldn't agree more about Cryptonomicon.
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#36Weird Life: The Search for Life That Is Very, Very Different from Our Own.
I am cheating with an audiobook though....spend a lot of time in a car=)
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#37I recently started Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. From what I understand, in the US the book is viewed as a must-read for students, but it's much less known here in Europe.
A fun rebuttal to her work (I've read Atkas Shrigged twice and find her deeply flawed but still interesting in some ways) is Sewer Gas and Electric by Matt Ruff. It's very fun silly sci fi.
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#38I love biographies/auto-biographies of people not in technology (directly) who live an interesting life.
"Giant Steps: The Remarkable Story of the Goliath Expedition From Punta Arenas to Russia" by Karl Bushby
Unbelievable what it feels like to just take off...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0751536954
"Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination"
The first third of the book is remarkable in that Walt Disney constantly struggles with failure.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0679757473
"Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer" by Lynne Cox
Her story is all about single focus on doing what you want to do.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013L8AQQ
"Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life" by Steve Martin
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#39I tell everyone I meet who is into books to read "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski.
Re: Ask HN: What literature do you read?
#40I recently started Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. From what I understand, in the US the book is viewed as a must-read for students, but it's much less known here in Europe.
You are horribly misinformed. Opinions or merits of the book aside, Ayn Rand is viewed as a crackpot and is generally (I'm sure there are exceptions) not taken seriously in academia, and I have never heard of any public highschool that views Atlas Shrugged as critical reading.
We read "The Fountainhead," if that's anything. Doesn't mean the rest of what you said is wrong.