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Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

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Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#181

Post by cushychicken »

nt591 wrote: post #108
Evgeny wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you'd be better off reading something like Marcus Aurelius' Meditations instead, or some of the other classics. Incidentally, I'm trying to read Meditations now, but it's not an easy reading and it goes very slowly. Maybe I'll be able to put in on my 2015 list of influential books?

The first time I read Meditations I read the Gregory Hays translation. It's written with very colloquial language and makes for a great entrance to the book.

I'm interested to read the Hammond translation and compare it to Hays's - I was very pleased with Hays's work.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#183

Post by fsloth »

encoderer wrote: post #96

The Great Bridge is a phenomenal engineering story (and so much more). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich was chilling but I'd read it again. Simply fascinating, written by a western reporter who was actually there.

I second Rise and Fall of third reich. I was fairly knoweable of the overall history but this book contains very pertinent insights to so many mechanisms at work when germany transitioned into third reich and how the war progressed. The only downside was that the author issues quite deragatory comments of the nazi subjects of the book which, while perhaps warranted, are stylistically awkward in a history book.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#185

Post by tablatom »

netcan wrote: post #44

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield It's written for writers but is relevant broadly. The message is pretty simple and you don't really need to read the whole book to get it. It's one of those keep-driving-the-message self help-ish books. Basically the point is to name and shame "resistance," a catch all term for procrastination, fear and everything else that prevents a writer from writing a book. It also applies to…

So glad to see this book mentioned. The follow-up, Turning Pro, which is effectively the second half of the same book, is also golden.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#186

Post by alphaBetaGamma »

michaelvkpdx wrote: post #140
alphaBetaGamma wrote: post #53

Stoner, by John Williams The story of an average, not very successful literary professor, told with great humanity and tenderness. This does not seem much of a story line, yet I believe this book is so good it will still be read in one hundred years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoner_%28novel%29

Thank you for this. I am going to search this one out.

I tend to think that the average fiction book is less interesting that the average non-fiction book, but that the best fiction books are much, much better than the best non-fiction ones (and teach you more, and deeper things).

This one is up there with the very best. It is exquisitely well written (John Williams was a literature professor, directing a creative writing program), and despite the plainness of the plot(or maybe because of it?) it offers a remarkable view of what gives meaning to life (IMHO of course. Your millage may vary).

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#188

Post by therealdrag0 »

ikeboy wrote: post #48

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky and the related sequences.

This is what I thought about posting. I've read a lot of books this year (45 books totaling 22,000 pages), the most important being: History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Silent Spring, The Feminine Mystique, The Grapes of Wrath, The Price of Inequality, The Happiness Hypothesis.

But, out of all that (which I had to go look up on my Goodreads), HPMOR is what came to mind, both an engaging story, thought provoking ideas, and a lot of pages to work with :).

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#189

Post by therealdrag0 »

arthurjj wrote: post #38

Having a 30 minute subway commute I'm looking forward to seeing what suggestions come out of this thread. My two suggestions: 1. Thinking fast and slow - Understanding how we actually think as opposed to how we think we think is a critical skill, especially in a startup. Having a Nobel prize winner explain how the two systems of your brain work together (and can sabotage you) was enlightening and enjoyable. This book…

"Thinking Fast and Slow", was definitely the most impacting book for me last year. Highly recommended.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#190

Post by mark_l_watson »

johnnyg wrote: post #92

Caesar's Commentaries, by Julius Gaius Caesar Teaches that while technology will change and political systems will be distinct and nuanced, the human animal is just about the same. When I see something that people did then that they still do today, I find that I can predict what a group of people is likely to do in a given situation in the future. This both blows my mind as things "click" and makes me sad. In either…

I read a good part of this a few years ago, but stopped reading. Interesting read to understand Caesar, but after finishing about half the book I felt like I was not getting anything more out of it.
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