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Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

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Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#321

Post by sdab »

nutmeg wrote: post #303

- Mort, Terry Pratchett The first Pratchett book I've read, and I can't believe I've waited so long to read his work. Humorous in a Douglas Adams sort of way. - Arabian Nights, Haddawy translation This is a great read. The translation is modern and clear, and the stories are exciting. I can understand why these stories have been around for centuries.

I also recently read my first Pratchett book after reading some excerpts from around the time he died. Im 5 books in now including having read Mort. On Reaper Man now.

Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#323

Post by scelerat »

Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Waldo E. Martin

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15722514-black-against-em...

A comprehensive study of the origins, actions, philosophy and results of the Black Panther party. Outgrowth of my interest in historical topics in general and Oakland, my adopted hometown, specifically.

I'm in awe of the drive, focus, and audacity of these revolutionaries, especially in light of present-day politics of race, inequality, police, and armed citizenry.

Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#325

Post by chops »

navbaker wrote: post #228
chops wrote: post #151

After years of only reading technical, business, and philosophical books, I finally decided to take the plunge and read some fiction about 2 years ago. Since then, I've caught up with Song of Ice and Fire, read the first 11 books of Sword of Truth, and did the first 2 Dune books. Most recently, I finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and I'm currently going through a bunch of HP Lovecraft (it feels good to final…

You would probably really enjoy Brandon Sanderson's and Patrick Rothfuss's novels, based on your fiction list.

Thanks, I'll look into them!

Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#326

Post by teraflop »

rwallace wrote: post #275
bemmu wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Diaspora and Permutation City put totally new questions in my head. If consciousness is only a series of states in your brain, does it matter what the order of running that sequence is? In Permutation City there is an experiment where brain states are played back backwards or in a random order, but to the person perceiving it, it seems like just business as usual. I always assumed that after my brain is destroyed the…

> If consciousness is only a series of states in your brain, does it matter what the order of running that sequence is? I liked Permutation City, but I regard it as something of a cognitive hazard because it's not obvious which parts are realistic and which parts aren't unless you have a fairly specialized background. The above is something that wouldn't actually work, for the simple reason that the later states depe…

Yeah, Egan's "Dust Theory FAQ" page discusses some of the philosophical problems with the novel. http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/PERMUTATION/FAQ/FAQ... (contains spoilers)

Incidentally, his answer to Q6 on that list inspired a more recent story, "Crystal Nights": http://ttapress.com/553/crystal-nights-by-greg-egan/

Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#327

Post by monksy »

ryanSrich wrote: post #99

Currently I'm trudging through GEB[1]. Last month I read: - The Dip (super short read and has a few good points but overall I didn't really like it)[2] - Going Clear (great book, terrible formatting, but a great book)[3] - The Martian (short read, very entertaining and well researched)[4] 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach 2. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/ 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

I know there are a lot of fans of "The Dip" but I got the feeling that it was just too preachy and didn't have a lot of concrete examples.

Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#328

Post by ottocoder »

kelukelugames wrote: post #150
andrea_sdl wrote: post #145

Quiet by Susan Cain, great book about introversion and why we have the "Extrovert Ideal". It's really fascinating to see how introverts have their qualities and how Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert Pirsig: Fantastic book that talks about philosophy in a new way and goes deeper into discovering what's "Quality" and what are the main 2 ways of interacting/reading the world around us. Adam Smith, theor…

Can you help me understand why Quiet is a good read? It's been recommended to me before but it just keeps on getting bumped on the backlog.

I wouldn't recommend it. It's not a "bad" book, but I went in to it hoping for something else. If you want some affirmation that introverts are awesome and under-appreciated (which they often are) then it's exactly what you want.

I'm not sure what I was hoping for when I read it but it started to go sour for me when she talked about Dale Carnegie's book How To Win Friends and Influence People. I couldn't help but think the author never read it (an irrational thought, but colored my perception the rest of the way).

Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#329

Post by DawkinsGawd »

koevet wrote: post #306

"The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains" by Nicholas Carr. I'm halfway through it. The main thesis of the book is that the Internet has quickly modified our brain (neuro-plasticity) so that we absorb information quickly but we don't get deep into any topic any longer. The book start strong with this thesis and then goes into a very interesting detour on the history of writing, from the egyptian to Gut…

Does the book address the issue of specialization in the professions and either exempt it or adapt it to the thesis?

Re: Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?

#330

Post by mathattack »

mjhoy wrote: post #266
mathattack wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I struggled with Don Quixote. After 100 pages or so I just felt like I was missing something. It was as if the story was just repeating itself. Did you get to the end? Did it get better?

I'm about 40 chapters (~350 pages) through. I wouldn't say it gets better, or worse: I loved it from the beginning. If you aren't hooked by 100 pages, I'd put it down. However I'd recommend coming back to it later, maybe in a few years, try it again, see if you don't get more out of it. Also, if you didn't read the Edith Grossman translation, try that, it is very smart and modern. The older translation feels a bit st…

Thanks! I kind of felt I needed to visit Spain again to appreciate the cultural feel. :-)

Do any movies do it justice?

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