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Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?

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Re: Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?

#141

Post by GameOfFrowns »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #72
lcuff wrote: post #43

James Clavell's Shogun: The contrast between the Japanese and European cultures in 1600 are delicious, the characters and plot both well developed. I've read it at least a dozen times over four decades. As I age, I find I experience it very differently.

It's a very good book. I read the book and watched the 1970's TV series. I think it's a great candidate for a redo in the streaming era. It has adventure, political intrigue, romance, and on and on... It's definitely worth reading more than once.

>I think it's a great candidate for a redo in the streaming era

Don't wish for it. It's very likely that it will be utterly ruined by shoehorning in current political talking points and race relations.

Re: Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?

#142

Post by gigantecmedia »

Incerto by Nassim Taleb. Best piece of work I've ever read. I'm re-reading it, and still... what a masterpiece, a mind-blowing piece of work. Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, and Antifragile remain my "Holy Trinity" of books. You just couldn't stop reading them.

Re: Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?

#146

Post by muzani »

muzani wrote: post #139

Qur'an. As my Arabic is poor, I'd pick the Tafsir al-Jalalayn in Indonesian. The English translation often miss out most of the good stuff. Religious books are a bit cliche, but here's my reasoning. 1. Information density The reverse Blinkist effect - summaries of the book end up longer than the book itself. You read the book once, find it nice. Then you read someone else's understanding of it. Compare notes, and fin…

If we're going with secular books, I'd say 33 Strategies of War. It misses many of the criteria above, but it is rereadable. It's probably not the kind of book I'd want to read for the rest of my life; I can imagine becoming toxic and paranoid from that.

Other philosophical books also come close, especially on information density. But most seem to be missing something. Maybe a hack would be reading a book on writing essays and then learning via writing.

Re: Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?

#147

Post by philophyse »

Jaruzel wrote: post #67

If I was forced to only pick one, or at least one set of books it would be: The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. There are many better books I've read, but I grew up with these, and would want access to copies at all times in my life. Now... I'm off to make a Perfectly Normal Beast sandwich and ponder why Eddie is in the space time continuum.

The conversation around eddies in the space-time continuum is the single funniest thing I've ever read. I haven't read those books for years but I still chuckle every time I am reminded of it for any reason. Douglas Adams was a true master of his craft.

Re: Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?

#149

Post by arisbe__ »

brudgers wrote: post #56

If it was TAoCP , I would always have something I didn’t understand to read. I would always be learning. And Knuth is a fine writer to boot.

This would be my pick for the same reason or perhaps a mathematics book with tons of proofs (preferably Analysis).

Re: Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?

#150

Post by ImageXav »

I would have to say Bertrand Russell's The Problems of Philosophy. A short book, it covers the limits of knowledge and how to think about the world.

Every time I read it I discover something new, and it would be a good companion guide through life if I could read nothing else.

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