Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
Yearly thread. It can be books published on 2021 or in previous years (but that you read this year.)
651 comments
“How to change your mind” by Michael Pollen.
I read a lot of books, and this is one that caused a change in my life. The succinct summary is that psychedelics are misunderstood and there is more and more research showing their potential, especially in the treatment of trauma.
I had a difficult childhood. It’s something I still struggle with personal interactions because of this, even after years of therapy. After reading Michael Pollen’s book I thought this might be something that could move the needle on my day-to-day quality of life.
I found a shaman and did an 8 hour blindfolded mushroom trip. Similar to what’s outlined in the book. Previously I’ve never done anything more than weed occasionally.
It had a profound impact on me. The way I describe it is like jumping off a diving board into a deep dark pool, and the pool is you. Then spending hours there.
I don’t know if I’d do it again but I learnt a lot about myself. I won’t proselytize here either, because the research is still early. There’s also risk because you put a lot of trust in someone who’s there with you while you’re high. But I do recommend at least reading the book.
I read a lot of books, and this is one that caused a change in my life. The succinct summary is that psychedelics are misunderstood and there is more and more research showing their potential, especially in the treatment of trauma.
I had a difficult childhood. It’s something I still struggle with personal interactions because of this, even after years of therapy. After reading Michael Pollen’s book I thought this might be something that could move the needle on my day-to-day quality of life.
I found a shaman and did an 8 hour blindfolded mushroom trip. Similar to what’s outlined in the book. Previously I’ve never done anything more than weed occasionally.
It had a profound impact on me. The way I describe it is like jumping off a diving board into a deep dark pool, and the pool is you. Then spending hours there.
I don’t know if I’d do it again but I learnt a lot about myself. I won’t proselytize here either, because the research is still early. There’s also risk because you put a lot of trust in someone who’s there with you while you’re high. But I do recommend at least reading the book.
As someone that works in psychedelic research I must say that this book did more for the acceptance of psychedelics as a legitimate therapy with mainstream America than anything, ever.
The number of “straight-laced”, “9 to 5” people that have mentioned this book to me when they find out what I do is so high I pretty much expect it at this point. I personally was bored reading the book but only because I am so familiar with the space and I don’t find his writing terribly interesting but I truly believe his book did more to legitimize psychedelics than anything that came before it. People used to think I was some fringe weirdo before that book, now I’ve had strangers tell me I’m “their hero.” That’s not a joke. I’ve had two different people, on two different occasions say that to me, and both of them mentioned his book.
The number of “straight-laced”, “9 to 5” people that have mentioned this book to me when they find out what I do is so high I pretty much expect it at this point. I personally was bored reading the book but only because I am so familiar with the space and I don’t find his writing terribly interesting but I truly believe his book did more to legitimize psychedelics than anything that came before it. People used to think I was some fringe weirdo before that book, now I’ve had strangers tell me I’m “their hero.” That’s not a joke. I’ve had two different people, on two different occasions say that to me, and both of them mentioned his book.
I had a similar experience with ayoaska. It removed some traumas that were blocking my self awereness and in some way growth. This helped me in my personal and professional life. I recommend it but should be taken with caution and in a security manner.
I'm in a similar headspace as you - not a druggy but went that shamanic route. 2x Ayahuasca ceremonies and 5 grams of mushrooms a few years ago... changed my life.
I recommend only doing mushrooms once or twice a year at most for larger dosages and once or twice a month at most if doing 2g or less. If you do it more regularly you may have diminishing returns. Cannabis I'd do at most once a month if at all. San Pedro can also be extremely good at low dosages. Alcohol is a no go.
Please be careful with dosages, set & setting, what you ate the previous weeks, how rested you are etc. Try to source good/clean mushrooms/cannabis. Always know exactly what you put into your body. Respect those plants and their power. When feeling the effects kick in, say hello to the "spirit" and welcome him/her for visiting you, like an old friend.
I recommend only doing mushrooms once or twice a year at most for larger dosages and once or twice a month at most if doing 2g or less. If you do it more regularly you may have diminishing returns. Cannabis I'd do at most once a month if at all. San Pedro can also be extremely good at low dosages. Alcohol is a no go.
Please be careful with dosages, set & setting, what you ate the previous weeks, how rested you are etc. Try to source good/clean mushrooms/cannabis. Always know exactly what you put into your body. Respect those plants and their power. When feeling the effects kick in, say hello to the "spirit" and welcome him/her for visiting you, like an old friend.
Worth noting the dose amounts vary wildly with the mushrooms and batches. The stuff I have (grown by a friend) would barely do anything for you at 2g. 3g was really the minimum, and 4g if you wanted anything other than feeling happy and high.
I've been lucky that I've been getting consistent potency (I think the online shop I buy from has had the same grower all this time). But other people have told me they've struggled with inconsistent potency. Super valid warning for others, thank you.
What would you say a good dose is for San Pedro? Have you ever tried a higher dose?
Typically a 30cm cutting is enough to send you to space if you use the boiling/tea method. For 16 hours at least. It is not a short journey so be careful with how much you take.
I typically do NOT boil them. I cut them up into disks and remove the skin and white stuff, then only keep the green slimy parts. Then I dehydrate them (make sure they are super dry - wait a week if you have to). Then I put them through a coffee grinder and sieve to make a fine powder that is lime green and smells very pungent. Then you have a choice before you: consume all of it or "microdose" - I'd recommend starting with 2 table spoons, maybe 4 if the effects are not coming on within 2 hours. Going the low dose way works extremely well for me - no vomiting/purging, my body accepts it fully. At this dosage things become extremely slowed down, as an example, 4 spoons strips time away for me and I feel like an immortal monk, ultra zen mode. Its cool to have small musical instruments around if you have any (flutes, bells, humming bowls, kalimba, ocarina, jews harp etc) and play with them even you don't know how to play them.
It is important to fast the day before so you take it on a clean body. Also try to be in nature, between plants - the smallest details and colours of plants, insects & flowers can put you down a very nice rabbit hole of feeling wholesome and thankful for being shown the beauty of nature... etc. I'd recommend taking it 05:00 in the morning if you have summer time. Have some fresh fruit available to eat around 14:00 - it is the best thing on earth, you will be able to taste the "essence" of each fruit and its super juicy and chewy. You will understand that all fruits/seeds want to be eaten, to propagate and spread and that realization might make you cry with how humbling the plants struggle is to survive.
I personally haven't had a full San Pedro dose yet since I'm too afraid to be honest. But a low dose of the dried stuff is amazing. No bad come down either. I'd also recommend growing them yourself and taking care of them (advice from the shaman) instead of buying them from a stranger - take care of them and they will take care of you. I currently have 6 of them and 4 new pups just appeared.
Word of caution: I've seen a person who has abused this plant to escape reality. He had a plantation in his backyard and when I met him, his brain was completely fried while being sober. Very slow to respond, droopy face etc. If you go down this path, please do respect the plants and their power over our brains and also be aware of the very thin line between reality/normality and insanity/psychosis.
Anyways, I hope you have a good journey and find all of the goodness hiding away in your heart. Its all there, more than you can imagine.
I typically do NOT boil them. I cut them up into disks and remove the skin and white stuff, then only keep the green slimy parts. Then I dehydrate them (make sure they are super dry - wait a week if you have to). Then I put them through a coffee grinder and sieve to make a fine powder that is lime green and smells very pungent. Then you have a choice before you: consume all of it or "microdose" - I'd recommend starting with 2 table spoons, maybe 4 if the effects are not coming on within 2 hours. Going the low dose way works extremely well for me - no vomiting/purging, my body accepts it fully. At this dosage things become extremely slowed down, as an example, 4 spoons strips time away for me and I feel like an immortal monk, ultra zen mode. Its cool to have small musical instruments around if you have any (flutes, bells, humming bowls, kalimba, ocarina, jews harp etc) and play with them even you don't know how to play them.
It is important to fast the day before so you take it on a clean body. Also try to be in nature, between plants - the smallest details and colours of plants, insects & flowers can put you down a very nice rabbit hole of feeling wholesome and thankful for being shown the beauty of nature... etc. I'd recommend taking it 05:00 in the morning if you have summer time. Have some fresh fruit available to eat around 14:00 - it is the best thing on earth, you will be able to taste the "essence" of each fruit and its super juicy and chewy. You will understand that all fruits/seeds want to be eaten, to propagate and spread and that realization might make you cry with how humbling the plants struggle is to survive.
I personally haven't had a full San Pedro dose yet since I'm too afraid to be honest. But a low dose of the dried stuff is amazing. No bad come down either. I'd also recommend growing them yourself and taking care of them (advice from the shaman) instead of buying them from a stranger - take care of them and they will take care of you. I currently have 6 of them and 4 new pups just appeared.
Word of caution: I've seen a person who has abused this plant to escape reality. He had a plantation in his backyard and when I met him, his brain was completely fried while being sober. Very slow to respond, droopy face etc. If you go down this path, please do respect the plants and their power over our brains and also be aware of the very thin line between reality/normality and insanity/psychosis.
Anyways, I hope you have a good journey and find all of the goodness hiding away in your heart. Its all there, more than you can imagine.
Forgive me - what is San Pedro?
Cactus containing Mescaline. Interesting compound. Also found in peyote. San Pedro grows everywhere and you've probably seen it around. Another one to look for is Peruvian Torch.
Peyote grows extremely slow and only in small corners of the world, I'd recommend skipping them as they need to be protected.
San Pedro grows about 40cm a year where I live. They can take plenty of water (growing thin and long) or they can get by with a cup a month (growing shorter and thicker). I'd recommend starving them once in a while to stress them out - this makes them produce mescaline. They also produce wonderful huge white flowers (only for a short time each year). If you do end up growing them, never sell them. Always give cuttings away as gifts to others.
Read up a bit about mescaline, it is not like the other psychedelics. With mushrooms, dmt, lsd + lsa (seed from Argyreia nervosa - plenty gardens have them) - these are all similar compounds with similar effects. Mescaline's effects are a bit different, so worth it to explore even if you think you've seen it all.
Fun fact: Mescaline is mentioned in The Matrix (the first one) when Neo encounters the girl with the white rabbit tattoo...make of it what you will.
Peyote grows extremely slow and only in small corners of the world, I'd recommend skipping them as they need to be protected.
San Pedro grows about 40cm a year where I live. They can take plenty of water (growing thin and long) or they can get by with a cup a month (growing shorter and thicker). I'd recommend starving them once in a while to stress them out - this makes them produce mescaline. They also produce wonderful huge white flowers (only for a short time each year). If you do end up growing them, never sell them. Always give cuttings away as gifts to others.
Read up a bit about mescaline, it is not like the other psychedelics. With mushrooms, dmt, lsd + lsa (seed from Argyreia nervosa - plenty gardens have them) - these are all similar compounds with similar effects. Mescaline's effects are a bit different, so worth it to explore even if you think you've seen it all.
Fun fact: Mescaline is mentioned in The Matrix (the first one) when Neo encounters the girl with the white rabbit tattoo...make of it what you will.
The number of people that I read/told me they read this book and go on to shaman trips and source material is staggering.
I never really knew it was that hard to find/source said items. They aren't marketed publicly, but if you're in the right community they're available, usually for free.
Psychedelics have a powerful community online from numerous forums, to websites such as Erowid and Psychonauts, which have their own discords. You can also find like minded people on meetup, or facebook groups.
Or, what all the cool kids do - music festivals and camping.
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Is the shaman really that necessary? AS for doing it again, more and more psychdelics and chemicals with neuro effects are being legalized such as Ketamine IV treatment.
There's also a whole semi famous association with it, MAPS.org, which has been increasing in membership, and governance creation and paid studies that show that psychedelics time and time again have a positive role in society.
Then again, maybe Shaman isn't so different from a Doctor or N.P.
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Just curious information, ever since Barnes & Noble highlisted this book when published, it really took off and this small world now seems to be mainstream.
I never really knew it was that hard to find/source said items. They aren't marketed publicly, but if you're in the right community they're available, usually for free.
Psychedelics have a powerful community online from numerous forums, to websites such as Erowid and Psychonauts, which have their own discords. You can also find like minded people on meetup, or facebook groups.
Or, what all the cool kids do - music festivals and camping.
--
Is the shaman really that necessary? AS for doing it again, more and more psychdelics and chemicals with neuro effects are being legalized such as Ketamine IV treatment.
There's also a whole semi famous association with it, MAPS.org, which has been increasing in membership, and governance creation and paid studies that show that psychedelics time and time again have a positive role in society.
Then again, maybe Shaman isn't so different from a Doctor or N.P.
-
Just curious information, ever since Barnes & Noble highlisted this book when published, it really took off and this small world now seems to be mainstream.
Honestly, as with any drugs, if you just know anyone who dabbles , you can get them easily.
I don't like drugs personally, but my closest social group has always been heavy drug users during my teens and early twenties (dealing with them is probably why I don't like drugs myself). I've always known where to go get stuff even though I don't partake in that lifestyle myself.
Now when I describe that time in my life to my wife and more straight laced friends, they're surprised because they assume finding drugs or a "shaman" is difficult, or part of some seedy underbelly of society with crimelords etc... But really it's no different than knowing someone who is into any other niche.
Also the idea of a shaman eludes me. Most "shamans" I've met are hucksters. They basically serve the purpose of guiding you in a trip, being a hype person and (assuming an experienced one) knowing how to deal with any issues that arise.
A "shaman" can just as easily be replaced by a good friend at home. Most people just do it for the experience IMHO, but there's nothing special about one.
I don't like drugs personally, but my closest social group has always been heavy drug users during my teens and early twenties (dealing with them is probably why I don't like drugs myself). I've always known where to go get stuff even though I don't partake in that lifestyle myself.
Now when I describe that time in my life to my wife and more straight laced friends, they're surprised because they assume finding drugs or a "shaman" is difficult, or part of some seedy underbelly of society with crimelords etc... But really it's no different than knowing someone who is into any other niche.
Also the idea of a shaman eludes me. Most "shamans" I've met are hucksters. They basically serve the purpose of guiding you in a trip, being a hype person and (assuming an experienced one) knowing how to deal with any issues that arise.
A "shaman" can just as easily be replaced by a good friend at home. Most people just do it for the experience IMHO, but there's nothing special about one.
> Or, what all the cool kids do - music festivals and camping.
Taking 1 gram of cubensis and taking 5 grams will not have the same effect.
Traditionally, strong psychedelic doses tend to be administered for therapeutic/spiritual journeys. It's preferable that it would be in the presence of someone who's truly knowledgeable about that process (shaman, guide, therapist, etc). It's true in practically any culture, whether in Africa, in the Americas, or elsewhere. And there are reasons why it is so, which is all explained in those books and papers.
Taking 1 gram of cubensis and taking 5 grams will not have the same effect.
Traditionally, strong psychedelic doses tend to be administered for therapeutic/spiritual journeys. It's preferable that it would be in the presence of someone who's truly knowledgeable about that process (shaman, guide, therapist, etc). It's true in practically any culture, whether in Africa, in the Americas, or elsewhere. And there are reasons why it is so, which is all explained in those books and papers.
Thanks for sharing this. I too had a difficult childhood (doesn't everyone?) and I have struggled with depression and debilitating anxiety.
12 years ago I started meditation, and after 10 years of seemingly nothing happening I began to get it. It's been 2 years and the depression/anxiety are just like shadows that are still there but do not affect me.
I am very curious about psychedelics, but afraid to ruin all the work I put in ... But what if it helps me even more! :)
Not sure what to do, but thanks again for posting your experience. It helps. Peace and Love to you brother.
PS: I meditate 2 to 3 hours a day. It took me 5 years just to get a regular habit, then 5 more to get to an hour. After that things seem to go quickly.
12 years ago I started meditation, and after 10 years of seemingly nothing happening I began to get it. It's been 2 years and the depression/anxiety are just like shadows that are still there but do not affect me.
I am very curious about psychedelics, but afraid to ruin all the work I put in ... But what if it helps me even more! :)
Not sure what to do, but thanks again for posting your experience. It helps. Peace and Love to you brother.
PS: I meditate 2 to 3 hours a day. It took me 5 years just to get a regular habit, then 5 more to get to an hour. After that things seem to go quickly.
Thanks for your sincere reply. I appreciate your honesty in sharing what you’re going through. I am impressed with your meditation habit. Being able to understand the quality of your own mind in that way is something that most people will never achieve in their entire lifetime.
Best wishes you to you too, and for a positive 2022.
Best wishes you to you too, and for a positive 2022.
The most important part of this book is the thoughtful explanation and deep dive into psychedelics. Sure you might come away with "I should try this", but it explains how and why these drugs (*medicines) should be used, especially the potential downsides and adverse effects.
I had a similar reaction after reading this book. I spent a good part of 2020 and 2021 in a deep dive of learning about psychedelic culture, science, and cultivation/synthesis. Regardless of how the science relating to mental health develops, I think these substances are crucial tools of personal exploration and should me more widely (and responsibly) used.
My favorite analogy used for psychedelics is a "microscope for the mind". In other words they aren't a panacea.
Did the mushroom trip enlighten you? Did it change how you view the world? Were you worried about a bad trip?
It changed how I see myself. I think I'm more honest and more compassionate with myself. I wasn't really worried about a bad trip, my life has been difficult enough at times that I felt I had little to lose. Few stable relationships, no family, no kids. But that's very specific to me.
> Were you worried about a bad trip?
I feel like people need to start talking about bad trips in a more helpful and realistic way. The info I got about put me off to tripping for years. I avoided them until my late 20s, wish i did them sooner.
I think bad trips are mostly just people who mix psychedelics with other drugs (weed is common) and freak out or aren't used to introspection (so is this really bad then?) or use irresponsibly. Like if you take 15 shots of vodka you're going to have a bad time, why is lsd any different? Or if you drink with assholes that ruin your night out why would you trip with them?
I feel like people need to start talking about bad trips in a more helpful and realistic way. The info I got about put me off to tripping for years. I avoided them until my late 20s, wish i did them sooner.
I think bad trips are mostly just people who mix psychedelics with other drugs (weed is common) and freak out or aren't used to introspection (so is this really bad then?) or use irresponsibly. Like if you take 15 shots of vodka you're going to have a bad time, why is lsd any different? Or if you drink with assholes that ruin your night out why would you trip with them?
> I think bad trips are mostly just people who mix psychedelics with other drugs (weed is common) and freak out or aren't used to introspection (so is this really bad then?) or use irresponsibly.
Respectfully: this is dangerous speculation. You can have a bad trip even if you do everything right, and it’s an important risk that we should highlight rather than minimize.
I believe that many psychedelic experiences are net positive, but some can be very negative for a very long time.
Respectfully: this is dangerous speculation. You can have a bad trip even if you do everything right, and it’s an important risk that we should highlight rather than minimize.
I believe that many psychedelic experiences are net positive, but some can be very negative for a very long time.
Your post is basically my problem with how people talk about bad trips. You made the term "bad trip" ambiguous, scary and sound random. You're saying something might happen but no one can tell you what. Yeah that's horrifying, what is this horrible thing, Ill let my imagination run wild.
But if you can be clear about the risks and how to avoid them I think you'll come out fine. I don't think if psychedelics were playing some game of russian roulette like you suggest they would actually be useful in therapy.
But if you can be clear about the risks and how to avoid them I think you'll come out fine. I don't think if psychedelics were playing some game of russian roulette like you suggest they would actually be useful in therapy.
I think you're entirely too dismissive of other people here, ironic for a thread on "How to change your mind"
I've had to calm people down off of bad trips. Unlike what you say, it's something that totally happens with single drugs and non hallucinogenics. Hell you can have a bad trip on alcohol.
It's all about the state of mind, and having an altered state of mind can make it much easier to start spiraling. This can happen even if you haven't taken drugs too, let's say from stress or lack of sleep. Again it's just about your mind being in a state it's uncomfortable with.
Specifically I've had friends on weed who've had anxiety attacks and deep paranoia till I calmed them down. They were completely non functional in the same way someone having a sober anxiety/panic attack would be.
I've had to help people on just E at parties who've started hyper ventilating and started having stressed delusional visions.
That's not even getting into being there for someone who's on psychedelics, where I've had friends who've suffered fairly longer lasting bouts of out of body syndrome, even after the drugs wore off because of how it affected their perception of self.
Drugs aren't the cause of a bad trip. They just increase the chances of one, and for many psychedelics, you therefore want to make sure you're in a calm, happy place. If someone is trying it for the first time, do it around people who will look out for you, and preferably those who can responsibly look after you if things do go sour.
I've had to calm people down off of bad trips. Unlike what you say, it's something that totally happens with single drugs and non hallucinogenics. Hell you can have a bad trip on alcohol.
It's all about the state of mind, and having an altered state of mind can make it much easier to start spiraling. This can happen even if you haven't taken drugs too, let's say from stress or lack of sleep. Again it's just about your mind being in a state it's uncomfortable with.
Specifically I've had friends on weed who've had anxiety attacks and deep paranoia till I calmed them down. They were completely non functional in the same way someone having a sober anxiety/panic attack would be.
I've had to help people on just E at parties who've started hyper ventilating and started having stressed delusional visions.
That's not even getting into being there for someone who's on psychedelics, where I've had friends who've suffered fairly longer lasting bouts of out of body syndrome, even after the drugs wore off because of how it affected their perception of self.
Drugs aren't the cause of a bad trip. They just increase the chances of one, and for many psychedelics, you therefore want to make sure you're in a calm, happy place. If someone is trying it for the first time, do it around people who will look out for you, and preferably those who can responsibly look after you if things do go sour.
tayo42(1)
Maybe I can give an anecdotal example that is less ambiguous. I have a fair amount of experience with psychedelics. I have had both uncomfortable trips and once what I would characterize as an actual bad trip. In the case of the bad trip it was a normal dosage, less than 2 grams of mushrooms (cubensis), and wasn't mixed with anything else. In terms of effects I would describe it as feeling like you are losing your mind, and you will never be yourself again. I imagined, in an extremely vivid and negative way, how I would be judged - by my friends, parents, society for what was happening in my head. How I would be pitied. For lack of a better word, I understood what it was to be "insane" and I knew I would never be sane again. I was unable to answer basic questions - completely unable to function (I could still speak but was highly confused). Fortunately I had friends who took care of me, changed my setting, and I came out of it after an hour or two finishing the trip feeling fine.
Psychedelics amplify your current emotions. If you feel love for the world you'll feel that 10x or 100x. If you have a panic attack, then it's the same amplification. You are correct that mixing and overdoing it are great ways to cause panic and bring on a bad trip - but bad trips really can happen if your set and setting is off. This is why people talk so much about being careful with set and setting - it is the most effective way to not play Russian roulette as you say. This is why in therapy there is always a guide - it is always in a calm place, and a therapist isn't going to recommend it for you if they see you're in the wrong mindset. But even then its not as if set and setting can somehow be measured to ensure the trip is good.
As negative as the experience was, in some ways I am glad I had it, because it gave me a much deeper understanding of where my mind could go - both positive and negative.
Psychedelics amplify your current emotions. If you feel love for the world you'll feel that 10x or 100x. If you have a panic attack, then it's the same amplification. You are correct that mixing and overdoing it are great ways to cause panic and bring on a bad trip - but bad trips really can happen if your set and setting is off. This is why people talk so much about being careful with set and setting - it is the most effective way to not play Russian roulette as you say. This is why in therapy there is always a guide - it is always in a calm place, and a therapist isn't going to recommend it for you if they see you're in the wrong mindset. But even then its not as if set and setting can somehow be measured to ensure the trip is good.
As negative as the experience was, in some ways I am glad I had it, because it gave me a much deeper understanding of where my mind could go - both positive and negative.
You wouldn't classify that as something like an uncomfortable introspection? I think if in general people were more clear about what the psychedelic experience is you wouldn't be caught off guard like that.
> you are losing your mind, and you will never be yourself again.
I feel like is a pretty common thing to come up, especially with lsd which lasts forever. If people were more prepared for what will come up (I actually tell people about that scenario if tripping for the first time comes up). Thats what i mean, is it better to say "oh the trip can go bad for any unpredictable reason" or we talk about in more clear terms then "bad trip" about what can actually be uncomfortable while on the drugs.
I think saying "you might feel like your losing your mind, but your not, youll feel better at the end" is less horrifying then "bad trips"
> you are losing your mind, and you will never be yourself again.
I feel like is a pretty common thing to come up, especially with lsd which lasts forever. If people were more prepared for what will come up (I actually tell people about that scenario if tripping for the first time comes up). Thats what i mean, is it better to say "oh the trip can go bad for any unpredictable reason" or we talk about in more clear terms then "bad trip" about what can actually be uncomfortable while on the drugs.
I think saying "you might feel like your losing your mind, but your not, youll feel better at the end" is less horrifying then "bad trips"
I would say it was too chaotic to be introspective (I realize I cited an example of my train if thought but this was not the norm).
I see your point about preparation and it’s valid however hearing someone else talk about what it’s like really can’t prepare you. I knew bad trips were possible and had read extensively about set and setting. But in the moment there was no reason or logic. I forgot everything I knew about managing the experience. It was completely overwhelming and in that situation there is very little you can do.
In many ways it’s like the psychedelic experience overall. You can read about and be as prepared as possible but the experience is so otherworldly there is no way to fully understand that it’s like unless you go through the experience.
I see your point about preparation and it’s valid however hearing someone else talk about what it’s like really can’t prepare you. I knew bad trips were possible and had read extensively about set and setting. But in the moment there was no reason or logic. I forgot everything I knew about managing the experience. It was completely overwhelming and in that situation there is very little you can do.
In many ways it’s like the psychedelic experience overall. You can read about and be as prepared as possible but the experience is so otherworldly there is no way to fully understand that it’s like unless you go through the experience.
> As negative as the experience was, in some ways I am glad I had it, because it gave me a much deeper understanding of where my mind could go - both positive and negative.
So is it still appropriate to consider this a “bad” trip? It’s a serious question; psychedelics are experiencing a resurgence in clinical interest precisely because of their persistent effects, quite apart from the acute trip experience itself. One might assume that a trip saturated in negative affect might leave a person worse off than before, but it is clearly more complex than that. Perhaps it is akin to the difference between post-traumatic stress vs. growth, and proper management of set/setting/aftercare can promote the latter over the former.
So is it still appropriate to consider this a “bad” trip? It’s a serious question; psychedelics are experiencing a resurgence in clinical interest precisely because of their persistent effects, quite apart from the acute trip experience itself. One might assume that a trip saturated in negative affect might leave a person worse off than before, but it is clearly more complex than that. Perhaps it is akin to the difference between post-traumatic stress vs. growth, and proper management of set/setting/aftercare can promote the latter over the former.
You raise an interesting point and perhaps it is both. I think it’s possible to experience negative or awful things and still grow - silver linings and all that. Does that make it good though? A much more serious example could be someone that survives cancer and now has a new found appreciation for life. I’m not sure that makes it “good” even though there were some positive outcomes. The difference of course is that I was never in any danger - though in the experience I certainly didn’t know that.
I am unsure about persistent long term negative outcomes from psychedelics - you bough I know several people that tried them once, had a rough experience and never touched them again.
I am unsure about persistent long term negative outcomes from psychedelics - you bough I know several people that tried them once, had a rough experience and never touched them again.
> Psychedelics amplify your current emotions.
so true. Even weed does this to an extent. if you're comfortable within yourself you'll have the time of your life but if you're not in the right head-space, or have fear of the drug (or fear a bad trip) you'll likely have a bad trip. Even so I think it's possible to steer yourself out of it with some practice of mental exercises (while sober)
With psychedelics it helps to have experience with lower dosage or even a weaker drug (weed) where you learn how to escape "a paranoia" and steer yourself to "happier thoughts".
When I was young I've seen one of my exes, who was a cop in Singapore, have a horror trip on weed in Thailand. She really wanted to smoke but never tried anything other than alcohol and her environment was also exactly what one would expect from a cop in SG. It was a nightmare for both of us. She even wanted to try it a second time a few days later and experienced a weaker paranoia as the first time (still not a happy time). It led me to the hypothesis that she'd need many such sessions over a longer time where she could re-integrate these experiences and also that she didn't get addicted into her worldview. The amount of brainwashing she went through from her society about what drugs do and how weed will make you switch to heroin and rob banks etc ... if she was ever going to feel great on weed it wouldn't be just a few times trying. (we never smoked after the second time because why on Earth would she when it only made her feel terrible).
My brother was in an even more extreme situation doing shrooms in Sumatra with his then gf. She never wanted to take anything (other than booze) but then decided to do shrooms with him after getting very drunk (I think he also talked her into it and she might have just said yes so she could have a bad trip in order to tell him "I told you so" ... at least that's the person she was). As predicted she had the ultimate horror trip, with visuals similar in to what got peddled by anti-drug propaganda in the 70ies. A zombie or elephant face stares back from the mirror, ants and spiders all over the ceiling ready to drop on them, walls closing in, etc ... By brother panicked and suggested the only thing he knew: "smoke yourself down from a bad trip", and proceeded to "roll one" for them. She hated the idea of adding another drug on top of the first drug, because she never took anything until then (and clearly this meant that by the time she was sober she would be a junky craving crack. The idea of another drug "as cure for a bad trip for the first drug" was an outrage for her.
She eventually did agree to smoke because the visuals were so horrific. From his account of the story it did make her better. But she would never admit it when they brought it up even years later. What she remembered was both drugs had caused her major distress. She used these experience to harden her believe further that drugs are always bad 100% of the time, and there can not be any medical value for anyone. (oddly she was so psychotic and manipulative, and never learned how to communicate without resorting to drama. In hindsight it's sad because drugs could have shown her that real self so she could address these issues).
What both stories taught me is never talk anyone into taking drugs or be too quick with "offering guidance" based on my own experience. Secondly be there for them to say no, when they're drunk and ask to go "score some weed" because they're on vacation and drunk enough to try (they can still do so the next day and then turn it into a proper event/memory).
Setting and preparation is key to get something out of it. if the people you surround yourself with aren't sensitive to your feelings you're better off doing it alone or not at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Teachings_of_Don_Juan <-- I really enjoyed this (because it puts so much emphasis on preparation and respect (in yourself _and_ the drug).
so true. Even weed does this to an extent. if you're comfortable within yourself you'll have the time of your life but if you're not in the right head-space, or have fear of the drug (or fear a bad trip) you'll likely have a bad trip. Even so I think it's possible to steer yourself out of it with some practice of mental exercises (while sober)
With psychedelics it helps to have experience with lower dosage or even a weaker drug (weed) where you learn how to escape "a paranoia" and steer yourself to "happier thoughts".
When I was young I've seen one of my exes, who was a cop in Singapore, have a horror trip on weed in Thailand. She really wanted to smoke but never tried anything other than alcohol and her environment was also exactly what one would expect from a cop in SG. It was a nightmare for both of us. She even wanted to try it a second time a few days later and experienced a weaker paranoia as the first time (still not a happy time). It led me to the hypothesis that she'd need many such sessions over a longer time where she could re-integrate these experiences and also that she didn't get addicted into her worldview. The amount of brainwashing she went through from her society about what drugs do and how weed will make you switch to heroin and rob banks etc ... if she was ever going to feel great on weed it wouldn't be just a few times trying. (we never smoked after the second time because why on Earth would she when it only made her feel terrible).
My brother was in an even more extreme situation doing shrooms in Sumatra with his then gf. She never wanted to take anything (other than booze) but then decided to do shrooms with him after getting very drunk (I think he also talked her into it and she might have just said yes so she could have a bad trip in order to tell him "I told you so" ... at least that's the person she was). As predicted she had the ultimate horror trip, with visuals similar in to what got peddled by anti-drug propaganda in the 70ies. A zombie or elephant face stares back from the mirror, ants and spiders all over the ceiling ready to drop on them, walls closing in, etc ... By brother panicked and suggested the only thing he knew: "smoke yourself down from a bad trip", and proceeded to "roll one" for them. She hated the idea of adding another drug on top of the first drug, because she never took anything until then (and clearly this meant that by the time she was sober she would be a junky craving crack. The idea of another drug "as cure for a bad trip for the first drug" was an outrage for her.
She eventually did agree to smoke because the visuals were so horrific. From his account of the story it did make her better. But she would never admit it when they brought it up even years later. What she remembered was both drugs had caused her major distress. She used these experience to harden her believe further that drugs are always bad 100% of the time, and there can not be any medical value for anyone. (oddly she was so psychotic and manipulative, and never learned how to communicate without resorting to drama. In hindsight it's sad because drugs could have shown her that real self so she could address these issues).
What both stories taught me is never talk anyone into taking drugs or be too quick with "offering guidance" based on my own experience. Secondly be there for them to say no, when they're drunk and ask to go "score some weed" because they're on vacation and drunk enough to try (they can still do so the next day and then turn it into a proper event/memory).
Setting and preparation is key to get something out of it. if the people you surround yourself with aren't sensitive to your feelings you're better off doing it alone or not at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Teachings_of_Don_Juan <-- I really enjoyed this (because it puts so much emphasis on preparation and respect (in yourself _and_ the drug).
> Were you worried about a bad trip?
Many therapists and scientists have documented their personal experience guiding hundreds, sometimes thousands of trips with strong psychedelic doses (e.g. 20mg+ synthetic psilocybin, 200mcg+ lsd). They've written entire chapters on bad trips in the context of specifically psychedelics, what are their cause, how to avoid them, and how to handle them when they occur. Research papers, books, articles, etc. It's all in there. Sometimes, even reading just a single chapter from a single book is enough (James Fadiman's The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide is quite accessible. https://tripsafe.org/ also offers good advice)
Acquiring that knowledge requires to actually sit down and read the stuff. Sadly, what we have around us is people usually just spewing anecdotes and opinions.
If you're considering taking the journey, do yourself a favor and research the topic a bit before. You might be surprised at the amount of misinformation that's out there (and in these very threads).
Many therapists and scientists have documented their personal experience guiding hundreds, sometimes thousands of trips with strong psychedelic doses (e.g. 20mg+ synthetic psilocybin, 200mcg+ lsd). They've written entire chapters on bad trips in the context of specifically psychedelics, what are their cause, how to avoid them, and how to handle them when they occur. Research papers, books, articles, etc. It's all in there. Sometimes, even reading just a single chapter from a single book is enough (James Fadiman's The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide is quite accessible. https://tripsafe.org/ also offers good advice)
Acquiring that knowledge requires to actually sit down and read the stuff. Sadly, what we have around us is people usually just spewing anecdotes and opinions.
If you're considering taking the journey, do yourself a favor and research the topic a bit before. You might be surprised at the amount of misinformation that's out there (and in these very threads).
What kind of shaman and how did you find them?
I'm in Cape Town, a shaman visits two or three times a year. Currently costs around ~$400 for a 3-day retreat, excluding accommodation.
Just for interest sake, my medical aid has paid around $2000 dollars worth of mental healthcare bills in total over three years (it's a lot for my country, but a fraction for Americans). I'd say the value/progress received from the mental health route has been utterly slow where a handful of mushrooms has had the best effects of my life. Going the shaman/Aya route is like pouring paint stripper on your soul, where you can then have a peek at your inner workings - its is not for the faint of heart. I do not regret doing it but I also advocate caution. You cannot unsee/unfeel the things you experience, some of it is positive and some might be negative.
So yeah, all round worth it to do it via a shaman. Especially if you have tried normal mental health care and you aren't making progress. I feel all adults should do it as a rite of passage of sorts, especially anyone in positions of power.
Just for interest sake, my medical aid has paid around $2000 dollars worth of mental healthcare bills in total over three years (it's a lot for my country, but a fraction for Americans). I'd say the value/progress received from the mental health route has been utterly slow where a handful of mushrooms has had the best effects of my life. Going the shaman/Aya route is like pouring paint stripper on your soul, where you can then have a peek at your inner workings - its is not for the faint of heart. I do not regret doing it but I also advocate caution. You cannot unsee/unfeel the things you experience, some of it is positive and some might be negative.
So yeah, all round worth it to do it via a shaman. Especially if you have tried normal mental health care and you aren't making progress. I feel all adults should do it as a rite of passage of sorts, especially anyone in positions of power.
I live in the US and there are some places here where it’s now decriminalized.
As to shamen part, I do recommend reading the book. There’s a lot on “set and setting” which goes into this.
As to shamen part, I do recommend reading the book. There’s a lot on “set and setting” which goes into this.
I had a similar experience with ayahuasca. It removed some traumas that were blocking my self awareness and in some way growth. This helped me in my personal and professional life. I recommend it but should be taken with caution and in a security manner
How long has it been since you did it? Have the effects waned?
It’s been around four months since I did it.
It’s hard to describe the effects. It’s unlike taking a medicine. I’ve heard analogies such as pouring concrete into your foundation, or shuffling your mental deck of cards. Neither of those quite describe it.
One concrete effect was that I stopped wearing a smart watch. After the journey I just realized I didn’t want it. I stopped having a need to see notifications immediately.
More abstractly: “revisiting” the worst of my childhood as an adult was moving and full of pent-up grief. I blame myself a lot less for who I ended up becoming as person.
It’s hard to describe the effects. It’s unlike taking a medicine. I’ve heard analogies such as pouring concrete into your foundation, or shuffling your mental deck of cards. Neither of those quite describe it.
One concrete effect was that I stopped wearing a smart watch. After the journey I just realized I didn’t want it. I stopped having a need to see notifications immediately.
More abstractly: “revisiting” the worst of my childhood as an adult was moving and full of pent-up grief. I blame myself a lot less for who I ended up becoming as person.
The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin.
It identified so many of the "edges" of society and how I think about and interact with the world, on a daily basis.
Without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe even the best.
The only other book that came close this year was Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir.
It identified so many of the "edges" of society and how I think about and interact with the world, on a daily basis.
Without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe even the best.
The only other book that came close this year was Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir.
Oh, this been one of my favorite books for decades. I was introduced by Tony Wolk, an old hippie professor of English Lit at Portland State. I took a class from him nearly every term, in part because he was good friends with LeGuin and would have her guest lecture sometimes. She was astonishing, perhaps the best combination of intellect and humanity I’ve encountered.
Tony said that first and last sentences in her books were very important to her. To this day I remember that the book begins “There was a wall.” And at the end: “His hands were empty, as they had always been.”
Tony said that first and last sentences in her books were very important to her. To this day I remember that the book begins “There was a wall.” And at the end: “His hands were empty, as they had always been.”
"The light of his world filled his empty hands" is one of my favorite lines ever
Le Guin's prose is incredible.
Her writing style exemplifies St. Exupery's quote about perfection being "...when there is nothing left to take away."
Her writing style exemplifies St. Exupery's quote about perfection being "...when there is nothing left to take away."
Agreed! Super spare in the best way
The ending line was a home run. Fantastic ending to a fantastic book. I read it a month ago, and it would be my favourite fiction of the year if I didn’t also read The Grapes of Wrath this year.
That's cool.
I'd have loved to have met her.
I'd have loved to have met her.
Highly recommend Left Hand of Darkness if you haven’t read it yet
I was very excited to read LHoD after hearing so many glowing reviews, but it didn't resonate with me at all. I kind of regret spending the time to read it. Curious what you took away from it?
Same experience here. As far as genre fiction goes, the prose itself is pretty good. But the plot and themes did not resonate with me or strike me as particularly interesting. I do understand its historical context, but I don't really think that elevates it.
God I loved it, read long ago dimly remembered, I loved that Genly seemed to barely be aware of the complexity of the world he was in and the consequences for others of their interactions with.
One of those books that if you just told me what it was about, I wouldn't care, but reading it was a very enthralling journey and a positive experience.
Yeah! Somewhere recently I read someone talking about how in the 20th century male writers were writing grand books, and until johnathon franzen turned up it was only women writers were writing the books that depicted people emotionally honestly. I have no idea if this true, but it certainly true that Le guin and Alice Munro write books that capture human experience in a way that I really love
I also read it this year.
It came very close to me. The society of the book was very similar to the society in which I grew up, Soviet Union in 90s.
Some of the lines from the book:
".. the social consience completely dominates the individual conscience, instead of striking a balance with it. We don't cooperate - we obey. We fear being outcast, being called lazy, dysfunctional, egoizing. We fear our neighbor's opinion more than we respect our own freedom of choice."
"No matter what their society's like, some of them must be decent. People vary here, don't they? Are we all perfect Odonians? But in a sick organism, even a healthy cell is doomed."
It came very close to me. The society of the book was very similar to the society in which I grew up, Soviet Union in 90s.
Some of the lines from the book:
".. the social consience completely dominates the individual conscience, instead of striking a balance with it. We don't cooperate - we obey. We fear being outcast, being called lazy, dysfunctional, egoizing. We fear our neighbor's opinion more than we respect our own freedom of choice."
"No matter what their society's like, some of them must be decent. People vary here, don't they? Are we all perfect Odonians? But in a sick organism, even a healthy cell is doomed."
I came to say that my favorite book read this year is her "The Birthday of the World and Other Stories".
Very nice to read science fiction that is about people rather than things.
Very nice to read science fiction that is about people rather than things.
I also like Theodore Sturgeon and Cordwainer Smith for people-centered science fiction.
I love Cordwainer Smith. I vividly remember reading "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" as a teenager in the 60's. It had a huge effect on me, and I still have that copy of Galaxy magazine.
I just read that story based on your recommendation - thank you! I might be just a tiny bit better as a person now than I was before reading it.
For fellow fans of le Guin, Sturgeon and Smith looking for more authors, I would recommend Lois McMaster Bujold. Space opera adventures on the surface, but with subtle depths and insights into human nature. Or for something more recent, Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota series; we have solved world hunger, achieved gender equality and invented flying cars, but what are the implications for world politics and human interactions?
For fellow fans of le Guin, Sturgeon and Smith looking for more authors, I would recommend Lois McMaster Bujold. Space opera adventures on the surface, but with subtle depths and insights into human nature. Or for something more recent, Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota series; we have solved world hunger, achieved gender equality and invented flying cars, but what are the implications for world politics and human interactions?
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I also read the dispossessed this year. So, so good. I was shocked at how nuanced the book’s politics were too.
I just started reading it a few days ago, and I can't put it down. I can't recommend it enough
The Dispossessed was not enjoyable to read, so I stopped after about 30 pages.
Everyone has different tastes and not everyone likes the type of book the disposed is, but canyou really say you gave it a fair shot after only 30 pages?
...then you didn't read it. Try again, it's a brilliant reflection of human nature and really digs into the dystopia / utopia thing.
Your loss!
I read it whole and also found it to be not enjoyable.
I just finished a re-read of the "Commonweal" series by Graydon Saunders, which begins with The March North:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=MoIOAwAAQBAJ
I've never been sure how to sum up these books. They're thoroughly strange fantasy books, oddly written and frequently chewy reads. They have an interest in politics and metaphysics; but they also have magical railguns, the sorcerous application of FOOF [1], and a five-ton battle-sheep named Eustace.
The first book is fairly straightforward: A quiet backwater of the Commonweal is under threat, and its only defense is an understrength territorial battalion, a handful of experimental artillery pieces, and three of the mightiest sorcerers of the age.
Then the second book (A Succession of Bad Days) isn't at all about the military, and is more like the weirdest going-to-sorcery-school book I've ever read. It also has an extended, detailed section on using sorcery in canal construction. If you ever wanted a book about the best ways to use magic in the service of civil engineering, this series is your jam.
These books really aren't for everyone, but I kind of love them, and they aren't widely known, so I'll always take an opportunity to shill them.
[1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-wor...
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=MoIOAwAAQBAJ
I've never been sure how to sum up these books. They're thoroughly strange fantasy books, oddly written and frequently chewy reads. They have an interest in politics and metaphysics; but they also have magical railguns, the sorcerous application of FOOF [1], and a five-ton battle-sheep named Eustace.
The first book is fairly straightforward: A quiet backwater of the Commonweal is under threat, and its only defense is an understrength territorial battalion, a handful of experimental artillery pieces, and three of the mightiest sorcerers of the age.
Then the second book (A Succession of Bad Days) isn't at all about the military, and is more like the weirdest going-to-sorcery-school book I've ever read. It also has an extended, detailed section on using sorcery in canal construction. If you ever wanted a book about the best ways to use magic in the service of civil engineering, this series is your jam.
These books really aren't for everyone, but I kind of love them, and they aren't widely known, so I'll always take an opportunity to shill them.
[1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-wor...
I re-read the series this year too. The books are just as good the second time 'round--maybe better. There's a fifth one new since my last read-through, and another in the offing perhaps[1].
Saunders' writing is for people who think that Gibson spends too much time explaining things.[2]
You do have to read between the lines a lot, and also stop a lot to figure out how bits of the world work, but the world-building is among the best I've seen. A fully worked out, humane society with its own customs, institutions, methods of government, and history in a world with multiple climatic zones and ecosystems.
Unlike most fantasy it's not fantasy aristocracy--there's no binary-thinking "of the blood/not of the blood" or lords and slaves stuff. Magical ability is Gaussian distributed; the mighty sorcerers come from the extreme right tail of the distribution, but everyone has a place and is allowed to grow and contribute as they desire and are able.
Democratic/collectivist welfare state fantasy, perhaps.
1. Saunders's blog: https://dubiousprospects.blogspot.com/
2. Must re-read The Peripheral.
Saunders' writing is for people who think that Gibson spends too much time explaining things.[2]
You do have to read between the lines a lot, and also stop a lot to figure out how bits of the world work, but the world-building is among the best I've seen. A fully worked out, humane society with its own customs, institutions, methods of government, and history in a world with multiple climatic zones and ecosystems.
Unlike most fantasy it's not fantasy aristocracy--there's no binary-thinking "of the blood/not of the blood" or lords and slaves stuff. Magical ability is Gaussian distributed; the mighty sorcerers come from the extreme right tail of the distribution, but everyone has a place and is allowed to grow and contribute as they desire and are able.
Democratic/collectivist welfare state fantasy, perhaps.
1. Saunders's blog: https://dubiousprospects.blogspot.com/
2. Must re-read The Peripheral.
Thanks for providing the link. It was surprisingly hard to find places to buy the book
You’ve done much better in summing them up here then I’ve ever seen elsewhere or done myself personally. Well sluiced.
Will note the writing style is almost weirder and more niche than the rigidly strange content though if that’s possible. It’s not difficult to get past and without a doubt enhances the general vibe & chewiness of it all, but man the sentence structures are just downright convoluted at times. Totally fitting.
Will note the writing style is almost weirder and more niche than the rigidly strange content though if that’s possible. It’s not difficult to get past and without a doubt enhances the general vibe & chewiness of it all, but man the sentence structures are just downright convoluted at times. Totally fitting.
Holy shit you were not joking. I’m trying to like the book, but while I like the story, it borders on unreadable.
I find myself trying to figure out what the author was thinking while writing something out, as only half of the words seem to make it to the paper.
I find myself trying to figure out what the author was thinking while writing something out, as only half of the words seem to make it to the paper.
I remember it getting “easier” once the universe & style sank in a bit after they ventured out into the desert IIRC but yeah, definitely a reread while reading type experience.
Absolutely worth it if you can stomach it though, especially the second book with the wizard students and extensive civil engineering!
Absolutely worth it if you can stomach it though, especially the second book with the wizard students and extensive civil engineering!
These sound fantastic. I’ll give them a read.
You sold me! Starting it now
I haven’t finished this yet (only at the start of chapter 6) but The Scientist and Engineer’s Guide to Digital Signal Processing [0] has been excellent so far. DSP is one of the subjects I’ve wanted to learn for years but could never get my head around, mostly (I think) due to bad instructors and very math-heavy explanations. This book is finally demystifying it for me, with explanations that go for intuition over mathematical purity.
The book is even freely available on the author’s site! I wish I’d found this years ago.
0: https://dspguide.com
The book is even freely available on the author’s site! I wish I’d found this years ago.
0: https://dspguide.com
Read that one too this year. Didn't like how he tried to scare the reader off from complex numbers though! Perhaps a product of the time it was written in?
Hah, maybe! I haven't gotten to that point yet. There are definitely some things that seem dated.
I’ve tried to learn electrical engineering and bounce off with more advanced circuit arithmetic. It feels like DSP is a level above that. Does this digest well with someone with a CS degree?
Yep, I've just got the CS degree too, and same here re: EE stuff. I always thought it'd be fun to get into electronics but I couldn't get very far with it.
I like that the author takes time to actually explain the concepts with words before getting into the mathy stuff, whereas it seems like a lot of books on topics like this will lead with "The <whatever whatever> is defined as <math equation with 17 symbols in it>. Thus, we can <do complex next-level thing> and <I will never explain what any of those symbols mean>"
I like that the author takes time to actually explain the concepts with words before getting into the mathy stuff, whereas it seems like a lot of books on topics like this will lead with "The <whatever whatever> is defined as <math equation with 17 symbols in it>. Thus, we can <do complex next-level thing> and <I will never explain what any of those symbols mean>"
Appreciate the breakdown!
Yea - way less mathematical abstractions than other DSP books. It has a more practical bent. I'm reading through Oppenheim and Schaefer's text, which is far tougher.
I mean, if you're using your CS degree for Haskell, I'd recommend something like O + S instead!
I mean, if you're using your CS degree for Haskell, I'd recommend something like O + S instead!
I read Sapiens by Yuval Harari this year. It was long and fascinating, incredibly well researched, and easy enough for "light reading" that I had time for between writing research papers. A couple things that stuck with me were stories of giant land mammals that used to exist, many more than I realized, alongside humans. Wherever humans colonized, the large mammals were killed off soon after. This happened in Australia, China, and Europe, and long before the days of colonization. Another was the idea that humans have been cultivated by wheat, rather than the other way around, based on the observation that our relationship with wheat is more beneficial for the plant than for ourselves.
I read Sapiens and its companion a few years ago.
This year I read Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity' by David Graeber and David Wengrow [0]. And found it much more nuanced, interesting and believable. Harari's narrative is just too slick.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29316008
This year I read Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity' by David Graeber and David Wengrow [0]. And found it much more nuanced, interesting and believable. Harari's narrative is just too slick.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29316008
The slickness is part of the appeal. I agree that he gets some of the details slightly wrong: the part about serotonin and depression sticks out. But at the same time, I'd rather have a slightly wrong and profoundly enjoyable book than one that's a slog to get through but gets more of the details right. I think Sapiens strikes a good balance.
Ostrogodsky(1)
Not a fan of Harari’s pop science books. Lots of theories and opinion presented as fact.
Serious question and would love to better my understanding : why do you say so? Any sources?
There are some really questionable claims from both an anthropological and political perspective.
John Sexton's summary mirrors my own opinion:
> The book is fundamentally unserious and undeserving of the wide acclaim and attention it has been receiving. But it is worth considering the book’s blind spots and flaws — the better to understand the weaknesses of the genre and the intellectual temptations of our age. [0]
[0] https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/a-reductionist-h...
Intellectual temptations is our contemporary desire for condensed information from a single source.
John Sexton's summary mirrors my own opinion:
> The book is fundamentally unserious and undeserving of the wide acclaim and attention it has been receiving. But it is worth considering the book’s blind spots and flaws — the better to understand the weaknesses of the genre and the intellectual temptations of our age. [0]
[0] https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/a-reductionist-h...
Intellectual temptations is our contemporary desire for condensed information from a single source.
Thank you for sharing a counterpoint. IMO this act of skepticism is the most important trait of the HN culture.
That being said, I read through the counterpoint article and found it pretty hollow. In fact it seems to strengthen my belief that Sapiens is a valuable book. I kept expecting the author to point out where Harari’s assertions were wrong, but each section more or less boiled down to Harari is either not funny or not clever. The author even contradicts his article’s own thesis partway through:
“Nonetheless, his version of human history involves moral judgments that suggest he is not so thoroughly reductionist, or as cynical about the human condition, as he appears to be at first glance.“
+1 for Harari
That being said, I read through the counterpoint article and found it pretty hollow. In fact it seems to strengthen my belief that Sapiens is a valuable book. I kept expecting the author to point out where Harari’s assertions were wrong, but each section more or less boiled down to Harari is either not funny or not clever. The author even contradicts his article’s own thesis partway through:
“Nonetheless, his version of human history involves moral judgments that suggest he is not so thoroughly reductionist, or as cynical about the human condition, as he appears to be at first glance.“
+1 for Harari
David Graeber says something about this in “The Dawn Of Everything”.
I’d suggest reading both books. One for the scaffolding and the other for color.
I’d suggest reading both books. One for the scaffolding and the other for color.
Seconded.
I received this book as a gift earlier this year and I thought it might be one of the most incredible books I've ever encountered.
What I liked about it is how it paints everything in very broad strokes so that you get to see humanity's place in the big picture.
It did have the side effect of leaving me very cynical afterwards, though. I'd think to myself "We're all apes"; All those accomplishments I'm so proud of are rather silly, and had things turned out slightly differently we'd still be hanging around under trees and scared of predators.
It also had the side effect of getting me to go play Far Cry Primal afterwards, just to get a little taste of what our ancestors might've experienced.
I received this book as a gift earlier this year and I thought it might be one of the most incredible books I've ever encountered.
What I liked about it is how it paints everything in very broad strokes so that you get to see humanity's place in the big picture.
It did have the side effect of leaving me very cynical afterwards, though. I'd think to myself "We're all apes"; All those accomplishments I'm so proud of are rather silly, and had things turned out slightly differently we'd still be hanging around under trees and scared of predators.
It also had the side effect of getting me to go play Far Cry Primal afterwards, just to get a little taste of what our ancestors might've experienced.
These books are fun, but should be taken with some skepticism.
This particular story with large mammals is a good example. The assumed causality does not hold closer scrutiny. Climate was also changing into something that works better for humans, and into worse for large mammals. There were many things at play. Humans may had or may not have had a role. However, it is very unlikely that humans had a defining role.
Good read nevertheless! Changed my mind how I view humans as mammals, and made me dig deeper into the topic.
This particular story with large mammals is a good example. The assumed causality does not hold closer scrutiny. Climate was also changing into something that works better for humans, and into worse for large mammals. There were many things at play. Humans may had or may not have had a role. However, it is very unlikely that humans had a defining role.
Good read nevertheless! Changed my mind how I view humans as mammals, and made me dig deeper into the topic.
The fact that the first human skeletons in isolated areas (Australia, North America, Cuba) almost always coincide with the last ones of large mammals is troubling though… well explained in the book.
I find it hard to believe that it was the climate that killed all the large mammals worldwide in a span of tens of thousands of years. But I'm open to having my mind changed.
It is one of the hypotheses. It seems very likely that there were multiple factors at play in the late pleistoscene extinction. A quick search with that topic will provide you with materials. Hunting is a common hypothesis, but it is impossible to prove the causality, and world is usually not that simple. Also, prehistoric human consumption of plant food has most likely been underestimated, as the plant remain fossils have not been able to remain in such climate. Recent dental calculus has shown that humans and their fellow neanderthals ate more plants than it has been originally estimated.
I don't claim to be an expert, but Harari is an excellent story teller. That narrative fits really well with his story.
I don't claim to be an expert, but Harari is an excellent story teller. That narrative fits really well with his story.
You inspired me to read the Wikipedia article, which paints a pretty damning picture. It is not that far off from what is presented by Harari.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_extinction
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_extinction
You might also like Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist (2009). I read that first and was struck by his many insights into how human society has prospered by collaboration and exchange. Reading Sapiens after that book gave me the feeling of reading a somewhat watered-down and much more pessimistic take on the same millenia-long story.
On the topic of wheat for eaxmple Ridley, who is originally a biologist, tells it as how humans created wheat for our own benefit - modern wheat simply does not exist as a wild plant. (Have you ever seen a wheat weed?)
What stuck with me is how we basically discover that we could work with physics (he has a story that goes something like this: "We had discovered that energy can produce force way before we had trains, when we cook the bowl seemed to move on its own."
Unsong by Scott Alexander
A delightful, completed serial that tells an alternate story of the world since 1968, when Apollo 8 crashed into the crystal fabric of the sky and fundamentally broke the machinery of the universe. Now science no longer works, the old ways have power and sometimes people go to bed on Monday to wake up on Wednesday.
I loved the way the fiction intertwined with reality.
A delightful, completed serial that tells an alternate story of the world since 1968, when Apollo 8 crashed into the crystal fabric of the sky and fundamentally broke the machinery of the universe. Now science no longer works, the old ways have power and sometimes people go to bed on Monday to wake up on Wednesday.
I loved the way the fiction intertwined with reality.
This book is so underrated! One of my favourite parts is when overworked archangel Uriel loses his shit when trying to load New Zealand from a backup.
Relevant quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8050527-please-asked-the-gi...
“Please?” asked the girl.
“I AM BUSY. I AM TRYING TO FIX CONTINENTAL DRIFT.”
“I…didn’t know it was broken.”
Uriel’s face became more animated, his speech faster.
“IT HAS BEEN BROKEN FOR FIVE WEEKS AND FIVE DAYS. I THINK IT BROKE WHEN I RELOADED NEW ZEALAND FROM A BACKUP COPY, BUT I DO NOT KNOW WHY. MY SYNCHRONIZATION WAS IMPECCABLE AND THE CHANGE PROPAGATED SIMULTANEOUSLY ACROSS ALL SEPHIROT. I THINK SOMEBODY BOILED A GOAT IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK. IT IS ALWAYS THAT. I KEEP TELLING PEOPLE NOT TO DO IT, BUT NOBODY LISTENS.”
Relevant quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8050527-please-asked-the-gi...
“Please?” asked the girl.
“I AM BUSY. I AM TRYING TO FIX CONTINENTAL DRIFT.”
“I…didn’t know it was broken.”
Uriel’s face became more animated, his speech faster.
“IT HAS BEEN BROKEN FOR FIVE WEEKS AND FIVE DAYS. I THINK IT BROKE WHEN I RELOADED NEW ZEALAND FROM A BACKUP COPY, BUT I DO NOT KNOW WHY. MY SYNCHRONIZATION WAS IMPECCABLE AND THE CHANGE PROPAGATED SIMULTANEOUSLY ACROSS ALL SEPHIROT. I THINK SOMEBODY BOILED A GOAT IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK. IT IS ALWAYS THAT. I KEEP TELLING PEOPLE NOT TO DO IT, BUT NOBODY LISTENS.”
Given the topic Uriel talks about here, this is awfully relatable.
My favorite part was probably the American Pie discussion, but this paragraph highlights the pun overload in this book well:
Exodus 15:3 says “The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His Name.” But this verse is ambiguous: “man of war” can mean either a type of Portuguese jellyfish or a type of British warship. Which one is the LORD? I suggest that He is the latter. A jellyfish is a primitive and ignorant animal, unworthy to be compared to the glories of God. But a warship is mighty and inspires awe, and divine comparisons are entirely suitable; indeed, God may be the only thing worthy of being compared to it. For it is written, “The LORD alone is worthy of warship.”
Exodus 15:3 says “The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His Name.” But this verse is ambiguous: “man of war” can mean either a type of Portuguese jellyfish or a type of British warship. Which one is the LORD? I suggest that He is the latter. A jellyfish is a primitive and ignorant animal, unworthy to be compared to the glories of God. But a warship is mighty and inspires awe, and divine comparisons are entirely suitable; indeed, God may be the only thing worthy of being compared to it. For it is written, “The LORD alone is worthy of warship.”
Yes! Unsong. I love this book, Scott Alexander is such a genius. He has knowledge of modern physics, of Jung psychology, ethics, biblical stories, and he intertwines everything in this book. Also, he is witty man! In my opinion, his fiction is on whole another level (I like it much more than to his non-fiction blog.)
I loved it
If you like science fiction, there were a few books published this year worth picking up:
- The Hail Mary Project by Andy Weir (of the Martian). Nice page turner and he's back to form with his third novel.
- Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. Enjoyable and fun; though arguably not his finest work. I might pick up his earlier work for re-reading over Christmas. Anathem probably, which I would recommend to anyone.
- Leviathan Falls (part 9 and the last one of the Expanse series). James S.A. Corey (the writer duo). The whole series was quite enjoyable and this is a fitting end to it.
- The Hail Mary Project by Andy Weir (of the Martian). Nice page turner and he's back to form with his third novel.
- Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. Enjoyable and fun; though arguably not his finest work. I might pick up his earlier work for re-reading over Christmas. Anathem probably, which I would recommend to anyone.
- Leviathan Falls (part 9 and the last one of the Expanse series). James S.A. Corey (the writer duo). The whole series was quite enjoyable and this is a fitting end to it.
I'd second the recommendation of anathem, which is one of my favourite books.
Thanks for pointing out the new book by Neal Stephenson, I didn't know he'd released that and will probably check it out.
I also read the hail Mary project which I thought was an enjoyable light read, but nothing too special.
Thanks for pointing out the new book by Neal Stephenson, I didn't know he'd released that and will probably check it out.
I also read the hail Mary project which I thought was an enjoyable light read, but nothing too special.
Project Hail Mary was special because it was so straightforward. It didn't try to beat you over the head with some grand message about society. It's just a science teacher doing cool stuff in space. Refreshing, in my opinion.
The thing I found the most funny about project hail Mary, was that the bits that most broke my immersion were the political bits.
(WARNING: minor spoilers follow)
In a story about someone travelling to another galaxy and investigating other life forms, the thing that I struggled with the most was that the entire planet unilaterally put their faith in one person and there wasn't a giant amount of infighting and countries at each other's throats.
(WARNING: minor spoilers follow)
In a story about someone travelling to another galaxy and investigating other life forms, the thing that I struggled with the most was that the entire planet unilaterally put their faith in one person and there wasn't a giant amount of infighting and countries at each other's throats.
Agreed, the geopolitics was very simplistic. I was always looking forward to the next space scene.
I also read Ministry for the Future which was pretty heavy on politics. It didn't grab me the way Project Hail Mary did, though.
I also read Ministry for the Future which was pretty heavy on politics. It didn't grab me the way Project Hail Mary did, though.
It must be a bit strange for Andy Weir. He wrote 'The Martian' as a serial online, originally, and later published it on Kindle as a bit of a 'why not?'. (I bought the Kindle self-published version for $2!)
Fast forward a few years, and Barack Obama and Bill Gates are posting that his latest book was one of their favourites of the year.
Fast forward a few years, and Barack Obama and Bill Gates are posting that his latest book was one of their favourites of the year.
I second this. The Hail Mary Project was a great read and even made it into Barack Obama's list[1]. I am working my way through The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin and so far it's a page turner.
[1]: https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1471168495312420877
[1]: https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1471168495312420877
Curious, I wouldn't call Three-Body Problem a page turner - there was a whole lot of nothing happening the whole time. Even fans of the book (which I am not) tend to retreat into "well actually it's the sequels that are good".
The Three-Body Problem certainly takes a _while_ to get going. I gave up the first time reading it on my phone. But I kept hearing others sing its praises.
Years later, I started playing the audio book on a roadtrip. At some point, I couldn't "put it down", so to speak--especially as the plot twist is gradually revealed. The sequels are extraordinary, and perhaps among the best sci-fi ever written.
Years later, I started playing the audio book on a roadtrip. At some point, I couldn't "put it down", so to speak--especially as the plot twist is gradually revealed. The sequels are extraordinary, and perhaps among the best sci-fi ever written.
I couldn't put the thing down. Then I had to immediately order the sequels. Different strokes for different folks. There have been plenty of books that people have recommended to me as page-turners and I just couldn't get through them at all.
Yep snooze fest for me too. DNF
I’m 15% into Cryptonomicon by Neal Staephenson, and it’s living up to the hype. I’ve only read a few of his books: Snowcrash, Anathem, and Fall; or, Dodge in Hell. He’s such a good thought experimentalist and decent novelist. Reading one of his books is almost like sitting in a really interesting philosophy class in college that just makes you think about familiar concepts differently or way more in depth.
I just finished his latest, Termination Shock. Enjoyable and relatively easy for people new to Neal Stephenson. Cryptonomicon is fun all the way through. Anathem is probably his most philosophical book right after the Baroque Cycle. If you enjoy the latter, I'd recommend reading everything the man has ever written.
I'll be honest, the first read of the Baroque Cycle took me some time and I came close to putting it down. I've since re-read it about six or seven times. Most of his books get better when you re-read them.
I'm looking forward to re-reading Termination Shock probably some time next year.
I'll be honest, the first read of the Baroque Cycle took me some time and I came close to putting it down. I've since re-read it about six or seven times. Most of his books get better when you re-read them.
I'm looking forward to re-reading Termination Shock probably some time next year.
No way! I'm reading it too, on page 116. I read Seveneves a couple years ago and really liked it, so I'm giving this a shot. Seveneves I just couldn't put down, the universe and worldbuilding was really great. I feel like Cryptonomicon is off to a slower start, but hopefully I'll form a more complete opinion as I get through more of it.
I read snowcrash as a teen but Cryptonomicon was my reintroduction to Neal Stevenson as an adult and it got me hooked.
Is it worth the effort? I've picked up snow crash a few times in the past 20 years and found it a hard read. I really want to enjoy it but I find it hard to swallow. I suppose it has been hard because it doesn't take itself seriously. My sci-fi reading history has been:
- several William Gibson novels between 1995-2008 - Most of the ender's game series and home coming from 80's to 2008. - Between 2008 and 2018 I read only 1 novel, which was Ready Player One. - From 2019 to today I've ready 40+ novels: The Expanse, Red Rising, Bobiverse, Planetside, Magic 2.0, Singularity Trap, Vicarious, NPC, Childeren of Time, Project Hail Mary, Fuzzy Nation, Space Between Worlds, The Salvage Crew.
I feel like I've exhausted sci-fi and have been checking out fantasy novels like Riyria. I've been having a hard time finding something new to sink my teeth into. Piranesi was weird but good.
- several William Gibson novels between 1995-2008 - Most of the ender's game series and home coming from 80's to 2008. - Between 2008 and 2018 I read only 1 novel, which was Ready Player One. - From 2019 to today I've ready 40+ novels: The Expanse, Red Rising, Bobiverse, Planetside, Magic 2.0, Singularity Trap, Vicarious, NPC, Childeren of Time, Project Hail Mary, Fuzzy Nation, Space Between Worlds, The Salvage Crew.
I feel like I've exhausted sci-fi and have been checking out fantasy novels like Riyria. I've been having a hard time finding something new to sink my teeth into. Piranesi was weird but good.
the first chapter of snowcrash is one of my favorite chapters in any book i’ve ever read. the rest of the book is great and goes into some really bizarre territory on how to manipulate humans, as well as looking at the effects of a truly decentralized economy + metaverse. it’s really forward looking and prescient for a book that was written in 1988-91.
I couldn't get over the fact that "Hiro Protagonist" is the actual _hero_ (and of course) _protagonist_ in the first few chapters. The writing style is good though. AFAIK the first chapter is when the virus takes over a rich and famous friend of Hiro and he has to take part on a sparing battle which ends up quickly. Afterwards the other party finds out Hiro is the stronger character in the metaverse.
Couldn't agree more! That first chapter hooked me harder than anything I have ever read. It would hav been amazing had the entire book held to that pace, but I personally felt it got too bogged down at times in the more philosophical bits. Still a great book on balance, and deserves great credit for its exploration of the metaverse.
Give the Three Body Problem series a try, I think you’ll enjoy it immensely.
I don't think this is in the same league as Snow Crash, or any other Stephenson novel. Learning about parts of 20th century China political history? Cool! The Sci-fi? Makes distractingly little sense. The wire-slicer weapon was pretty cool though!
I found the next two books in the trilogy (The Dark Forest, Death's End) to go much more in depth on the sci-fi aspect; if you're willing to suspend a little disbelief the story is constantly engaging and quite thought-provoking. While the style is different from Stephenson's I think anyone who enjoys Stephenson's books would enjoy the journey and perspective this series offers too!
Now I want to read the second!
I always forget how little actually happens in the first book of the trilogy, and how…earthy(?) it is?
It’s just so small in scope compared to the following books that I forget that its entire appeal is just how unknown the unknowns are and how much potential it sets up for the rest of the story.
It’s just so small in scope compared to the following books that I forget that its entire appeal is just how unknown the unknowns are and how much potential it sets up for the rest of the story.
Read Revelation Space by Reynolds and Pandora's Star by Hamilton if you feel like you exhausted SciFi. Also check out The Diamond Age by Stephenson and Altered Carbon by Morgan if Snow Crash isn't for you. Stranger in a Strange Land, Fahrenheit 451, and The Martian Chronicles are great golden age SciFi
A protip for Snow Crash is that you can just skip ahead 5-10 pages whenever there's an info dump about Babylonian grammar or the history of herpes simplex. You'll miss a bit, but not much. However if the first chapter doesn't get your interest at least a little piqued you probably won't enjoy the rest of the book any more.
Funny — I've been recently re-leafing through it to find _just_ the Babylonian infodumps. (though I failed at "skip ahead 5–10 pages whenever there is an action scene", because they're too good :-)
For me the blurring of religion/biology/code boundaries was brilliantly interesting (even if factually unconvincing). If you skip these infodumps, consider going back later.
-> for those who like that meta-liguistic angle, Laundry Files series by Charles Stross may be fun. It has some similar "Enochian" language used for programming zombies / magic / etc. (the tone is quite different though, more of a horror comedy, and varies between books as he's parodying different material.)
-> on the "collapse of government" angle, Diamond Age by Stephenson is almost a direct continuation. plus very cool nano-tech. (2nd half has few scenes using humans bodies in a gross way.)
-> if you like a large Quest crossing both physical and intellectual world, well, almost any Stephenson book :)
For me the blurring of religion/biology/code boundaries was brilliantly interesting (even if factually unconvincing). If you skip these infodumps, consider going back later.
-> for those who like that meta-liguistic angle, Laundry Files series by Charles Stross may be fun. It has some similar "Enochian" language used for programming zombies / magic / etc. (the tone is quite different though, more of a horror comedy, and varies between books as he's parodying different material.)
-> on the "collapse of government" angle, Diamond Age by Stephenson is almost a direct continuation. plus very cool nano-tech. (2nd half has few scenes using humans bodies in a gross way.)
-> if you like a large Quest crossing both physical and intellectual world, well, almost any Stephenson book :)
I have reread snow crash since my first read of it as a teen and did not enjoy it as much. I like his newer stuff much more. But at the time, and my state of mind, it was very influential to my view of technology, the internet and society so it has a very special place in my scifi cannon.
Snow Crash is (I think?) his most digestible one! Shortest, at least.
I got the audiobook of this recently and have re-started it from chapter 1 a few times after a few chapters. I am really struggling to get into it. I really want to 'get it' as on paper it sounds right up my street. Any advice ? Maybe I should get the actual book?!
Yeah, I hope it continues to live up to the hype you've heard. I had a hard letdown, but I hope that doesn't happen for you.
I tried to read Cryptonomicon as a first introduction to Stephenson. Kept waiting for the good parts, and actually just stopped reading halfway through out of sheer boredom.
A few years later and I read Seveneves. Absolutely fall in love, and read Anathem right after. Loved it too.
To this day I still don’t understand why the first book felt so boring and the others didn’t. To make it worse, when you go looking for a synopsis of Cryptonomicon, everyone is so vague!
A few years later and I read Seveneves. Absolutely fall in love, and read Anathem right after. Loved it too.
To this day I still don’t understand why the first book felt so boring and the others didn’t. To make it worse, when you go looking for a synopsis of Cryptonomicon, everyone is so vague!
haha! I felt the same way about Seveneves, although I guess that doesn’t have as much hype. The premise for the opening chapter was so cool, and then the exhaustive descriptions of spaceships and orbital mechanics and what not was just too dry. Maybe I’ll give it another attempt in a few years.
Yeah, I can't get aboard the Stephenson train either. I tried and failed to finish Seveneves for the same reason. I can't believe someone managed to make an end of the world novel this boring.
[deleted]
I stopped halfway through and tried reading the sparknotes to see if anything exciting ends up happening but I ended up getting bored and let down just reading those highlights.
That said, maybe I was expecting something very different. I enjoyed Snowcrash and I enjoyed various sections of Cryptonomicon’s prose, it was just sooooo boring in the end.
That said, maybe I was expecting something very different. I enjoyed Snowcrash and I enjoyed various sections of Cryptonomicon’s prose, it was just sooooo boring in the end.
That will be Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World's Smells, by Harold McGee. I doubt it will have the same impact as his masterwork On Food And Cooking, but, by jove, it blew my mind several times.
The book is a somewhat systematic tour of the smells of the world. Most of which are generated, one way or another, by organisms. It makes you realize that (because of this simple fact) the world is an even more special place than you already thought: most of the smells in this world probably exist nowhere else in the universe.
The book makes you see (smell) the similarities between things as disparate as a pine trees and lemons, melons and fish, ants and ginger, and it explains why they exist. You come out of the experience with a rich new vocabulary and a plethora of fascinating facts.
The book is a bit technical (lots of high school level organic chemistry) but it is a joy to read, because McGee is a very good writer who manages to be precise and lyrical at the same time. A book to savor slowly.
The book is a somewhat systematic tour of the smells of the world. Most of which are generated, one way or another, by organisms. It makes you realize that (because of this simple fact) the world is an even more special place than you already thought: most of the smells in this world probably exist nowhere else in the universe.
The book makes you see (smell) the similarities between things as disparate as a pine trees and lemons, melons and fish, ants and ginger, and it explains why they exist. You come out of the experience with a rich new vocabulary and a plethora of fascinating facts.
The book is a bit technical (lots of high school level organic chemistry) but it is a joy to read, because McGee is a very good writer who manages to be precise and lyrical at the same time. A book to savor slowly.
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb. Changed my life and my perspective on doing business, building company and understanding luck. Such a classic.
Also honourable mention: Super Pumped by Mike Isaac. Great read on the legendary Travis' journey.
I loved that book. It's too bad that all other books by him are more or less or a recap of FbR. I still laugh at his portraits of the OTHER brokers.
This is my favorite of all his works. I feel like you can derive a lot of his other work if you payed attention in undergraduate probability theory and took Fooled by Randomness to heart.
Super Pumped is a really well written page turner, and the subject is really interesting.
I bought all the other books of him after reading Skin In the Game.
Insanely nice book and it was easy to read!
Insanely nice book and it was easy to read!
Two thumbs up for every book by Nassim Taleb!
Yasha Levine's "Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet" (2018). I ended up reading it side-by-side with Ed Snowden's "Permanent Record" (2019) which was useful as they have somewhat different takes on domestic and global mass surveillance.
The one take-away I'm still thinking about is how the Tor Onion Router system works, and if the primary purpose behind Tor was to allow spies in various locations around the planet to communicate with known headquarter locations without leaving any traces. That's what Levine implies, anyway, and Snowden sort of confirms that, as I read things.
Overall, some people believe putting advanced technology in the hands of individuals is a solution to authoritarian control, some people believe political reforms are the solution to authoritarian control. Interesting debate certainly.
The one take-away I'm still thinking about is how the Tor Onion Router system works, and if the primary purpose behind Tor was to allow spies in various locations around the planet to communicate with known headquarter locations without leaving any traces. That's what Levine implies, anyway, and Snowden sort of confirms that, as I read things.
Overall, some people believe putting advanced technology in the hands of individuals is a solution to authoritarian control, some people believe political reforms are the solution to authoritarian control. Interesting debate certainly.
Aristotle's Poetics. Yes, it was published before 2021.
A lot of writers try to set their own rules, but according to the best, you need limitations to be creative. Just like you would play sports with rules. That rulebook is Poetics.
It's the kind of book that's so information dense that you have to read it slowly. Summaries are often as long as the book itself.
There's some aging in there. Notably the concept of hamartia has changed from "mistake" to "sin" over a few hundred years. Good stories were all tragedy back then, where a noble person makes a mistake. And the audience is fearful because if this superior person can make mistakes, what about me?
Since Christianity, the philosophy has been that everyone makes mistakes, but repenting for it saves you from tragedy. And more popular now is a reversal. Some tries to slay a monster, but the monster is too perfect. But eventually the monster suffers from hamartia (missing the mark, making human sins) and the hero exploits that to win.
Besides drama, the book also covers actual poetry and music, both of which have their own limitations, but that part was all Greek to me.
A lot of writers try to set their own rules, but according to the best, you need limitations to be creative. Just like you would play sports with rules. That rulebook is Poetics.
It's the kind of book that's so information dense that you have to read it slowly. Summaries are often as long as the book itself.
There's some aging in there. Notably the concept of hamartia has changed from "mistake" to "sin" over a few hundred years. Good stories were all tragedy back then, where a noble person makes a mistake. And the audience is fearful because if this superior person can make mistakes, what about me?
Since Christianity, the philosophy has been that everyone makes mistakes, but repenting for it saves you from tragedy. And more popular now is a reversal. Some tries to slay a monster, but the monster is too perfect. But eventually the monster suffers from hamartia (missing the mark, making human sins) and the hero exploits that to win.
Besides drama, the book also covers actual poetry and music, both of which have their own limitations, but that part was all Greek to me.
I have always seen greek tragedy as the precursor technology to the scientific method. If you didn’t know how the world worked you would advance confidently on a determined path, protected by the gods. If the gods turned their face from you…tragedy. But to me that’s another way of describing hypothesis and (failed) experiments. But before the scientific method was established, failure was related to the god’s scorn. Failures of Heroes are the most confusing and interesting, so they are retold. And, related, Christian forgiveness was critical technological advance to making scientific failures acceptable.
> And, related, Christian forgiveness was critical technological advance to making scientific failures acceptable.
So did it just take 1,600 years for that critical advance to express itself, or something? I judge Greek technology (and all technology is the result of scientific failures) to be greater than Medieval technology. Maybe you mean a "Protestant forgiveness?"
So did it just take 1,600 years for that critical advance to express itself, or something? I judge Greek technology (and all technology is the result of scientific failures) to be greater than Medieval technology. Maybe you mean a "Protestant forgiveness?"
I would think it took 1600 years between a small group of weirdos intuiting that forgiveness was an important, perhaps even a key, virtue and society being organised in such a way as to actually be capable of expressing it in the realm of technology.
"you need limitations to be creative", who sold you that?
this whole genre of "adversity builds character" type of advice is a backwards rationalisation at its purest. no, adversity does not build character but merely reveals it, just as limitations don't make you creative, rather creativity forces you to find newer ruts. also, you lost me at aristotle ;)
"who sold you that?"
Specifically, David Mamet and Aaron Sorkin, who directly tells everyone to read Poetics. But also anyone who engages in poetry and lyrics; the whole idea of poetry is adding limits and seeing what you can do with it.
Think of it like chords in music, or moves on a game. If you play tennis and anyone can just kick or throw the ball, that's not very fun.
Specifically, David Mamet and Aaron Sorkin, who directly tells everyone to read Poetics. But also anyone who engages in poetry and lyrics; the whole idea of poetry is adding limits and seeing what you can do with it.
Think of it like chords in music, or moves on a game. If you play tennis and anyone can just kick or throw the ball, that's not very fun.
> "adversity builds character" type of advice is a backwards rationalisation at its purest. no, adversity does not build character but merely reveals it
This seems like the classic fixed vs growth mindset situation. There are those who think that we are born with all our capability and then there are those who think that we can gain new capabilities through experience.
If you're truly set on believing that everyone is static, then fine. However if you have some curiosity, then a pretty good gentle introduction to growth mindset can be seen in this short 10 minute summary of an RSA talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl9TVbAal5s
This seems like the classic fixed vs growth mindset situation. There are those who think that we are born with all our capability and then there are those who think that we can gain new capabilities through experience.
If you're truly set on believing that everyone is static, then fine. However if you have some curiosity, then a pretty good gentle introduction to growth mindset can be seen in this short 10 minute summary of an RSA talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl9TVbAal5s
It's not adversity. Merely constraining the dimensionality of the problem space a bit, hence making the problem of finding the good stuff easier.
It's actually opposite to adversity, the constraint is supposed to _help_ the creative process.
It's actually opposite to adversity, the constraint is supposed to _help_ the creative process.
The final section of The Baroque Cycle. Clever, detailed historical fiction epic about the 1600s and 1700s in Europe, The Middle East, and a bit of North Americas east coast. Interactions between fictional and real characters, without anything that can be proved didn't happen (like The Thee Musketeers). And, just a hint of magic. See Isaac Newton as a precocious Cambridge student probing the universe by maneuvering a darning needle through his eye; later, his occult obsessions.
Honorable mention to Children of Time and its sequel. Gripping sci-fi story about transforming, interactions between humans and computers, and other beings. Imaginative world about cultures very different from own own, and how they might evolve under different evolutionary conditions.
Also, honorable mention to Project Hail Mary.
Honorable mention to Children of Time and its sequel. Gripping sci-fi story about transforming, interactions between humans and computers, and other beings. Imaginative world about cultures very different from own own, and how they might evolve under different evolutionary conditions.
Also, honorable mention to Project Hail Mary.
Just finished the last book of Baroque Cycle today too, this was something that I picked up after seeing a recommendation on HN (thanks!). Intertwined, complex story spanning over decades of an era I hardly knew anything about was a welcome surprise, it reads pretty much like Cryptonomicon or Reamde, but on a grander scale.
I absolutely adore the Baroque Cycle. Question: Since I read it I’ve wanted to read more about the development of money and financial institutions, but I’ve had difficulty finding good books on the topic. Does anyone have any good recommendations?
Money: The Unauthorised Biography by Felix Martin
(I) think of the baroque cycle as fictionalized history rather than historical fiction
It's a bit of both. I learned a ton of the period from the baroque cycle. Stephenson inserts the most curious historical details of the period into the books and you are constantly checking wikipedia - did this really happen? Usually the most outrageous details are picked from history.
Such a marvelous trilogy.
Such a marvelous trilogy.
Foundation- this book blew my mind. What I found fascinating about it is that it’s a science fiction book but at its core it’s about how to resolve Geopolitical issues using diplomacy. It feels like this should be a primer for anyone who wants to understand and improve modern geopolitics.
Interesting. I read this book and became entirely disenchanted about the series (initially very excited as it was a favorite of my dad's, the TV show came out, Bill Gate, etc.).
A couple of the issues I had: - The story is a bit contradictory in that "Psychohistory can't predict the live of 1 person" and then the story repetitively relies on a single person to pull people through Seldon Crises.
- The entire story is a stereo typical "battle of wits" and you can instantly predict who will win/lose by their emotionality (if they are emotional, they will lose, if they are calm, they will win).
A couple of the issues I had: - The story is a bit contradictory in that "Psychohistory can't predict the live of 1 person" and then the story repetitively relies on a single person to pull people through Seldon Crises.
- The entire story is a stereo typical "battle of wits" and you can instantly predict who will win/lose by their emotionality (if they are emotional, they will lose, if they are calm, they will win).
Foundation is basically the story of Seldon’s plan, and of the leaders trying to keep it on track while handling the turning points predicted by psychohistory (“Seldon crises”). I think Seldon just assumes or hopes that his advice and the leaders’ judgment will be enough to not derail the plan.
It’s like Asimov’s entire timeline, a series of visionaries steering the world in the direction they want. Except there’s an additional challenge, in that they have to act without derailing Seldon’s goals. I think the books do a great job of showing that conflict.
Edit: agreed about the battle of wits aspect, but that’s also just Asimov being himself.
It’s like Asimov’s entire timeline, a series of visionaries steering the world in the direction they want. Except there’s an additional challenge, in that they have to act without derailing Seldon’s goals. I think the books do a great job of showing that conflict.
Edit: agreed about the battle of wits aspect, but that’s also just Asimov being himself.
The prequels are pretty enjoyable (tracks the life of Seldon), but the sequels outside of the trilogy have been much more of a slog.
My headcannon honestly throws away the sequels. They are the first books in the timeline that felt like really soft sci-fi. Not actually bad books, just out of touch with the rest of the story.
I read this a long time ago. Psychohistory is just too hard to buy. Human history is way too chaotic for that sort of modelling to be creditable.
Life in London, or the day and night scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom in their rambles and sprees through the Metropolis by Pierce Egan.
I read this book for the second time this year, the two hundredth anniversary of its publication. It was a bestseller in the nineteenth century and led to many spinoffs, but nobody seems to read it anymore. A scan of an 1869 reprint is at [1]. The Wikipedia article is at [2].
I don’t know if this is a good book—the characters and plotting are thin, and the obsolete slang and topical humor make it difficult to read—but there seems to be a premodern masterpiece of postmodernism lurking in its self-referentiality and its dense, rambling prose. Even the footnotes have footnotes [3].
[1] https://archive.org/details/tomjerrylifeinlo00egan/page/n9/m...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_in_London_(novel)
[3] https://archive.org/details/tomjerrylifeinlo00egan/page/64/m...
I read this book for the second time this year, the two hundredth anniversary of its publication. It was a bestseller in the nineteenth century and led to many spinoffs, but nobody seems to read it anymore. A scan of an 1869 reprint is at [1]. The Wikipedia article is at [2].
I don’t know if this is a good book—the characters and plotting are thin, and the obsolete slang and topical humor make it difficult to read—but there seems to be a premodern masterpiece of postmodernism lurking in its self-referentiality and its dense, rambling prose. Even the footnotes have footnotes [3].
[1] https://archive.org/details/tomjerrylifeinlo00egan/page/n9/m...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_in_London_(novel)
[3] https://archive.org/details/tomjerrylifeinlo00egan/page/64/m...
If you’ve never read Three Men in a Boat or Tristram Shandy you might try those too.
Thanks. I have read Three Men in a Boat and I enjoyed it. I started reading Tristram Shandy a long time ago but couldn’t get into it; I should give it another try.
Speaking of unread books, this year I compiled a list of fifty nineteenth century novels that nobody seems to read anymore [1]. I’ve read a couple of them myself, and they were reasonably entertaining. Maybe others on the list are as well.
[1] https://blog.archive.org/2021/07/14/forgotten-novels-of-the-...
Speaking of unread books, this year I compiled a list of fifty nineteenth century novels that nobody seems to read anymore [1]. I’ve read a couple of them myself, and they were reasonably entertaining. Maybe others on the list are as well.
[1] https://blog.archive.org/2021/07/14/forgotten-novels-of-the-...
The movie with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon (with a cameo by the guy from Black Books whose name escapes me despite having seen him in person and I’m too proud to look up atm)
is a good skimming if not worthy of being called an abridged version.
NB: Dylan Moran
NB: Dylan Moran
I love 3 men in a boat, it’s my favorite book ever.
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi.
It's chock full of ideas that any technologist would find fascinating. A post-singularity society in which those who "got there first" ascended to technological godhood, and the rest mostly fight for comparative scraps. Those scraps are phenomenally interesting though, and the many ways the book assumes and implies generations of growth in technology make for some truly out-there settings and cultures. If you liked the part of Anathem where you had no idea what was going on at first, but slowly learned the ways of the world as you read on... you'd love this book.
It's chock full of ideas that any technologist would find fascinating. A post-singularity society in which those who "got there first" ascended to technological godhood, and the rest mostly fight for comparative scraps. Those scraps are phenomenally interesting though, and the many ways the book assumes and implies generations of growth in technology make for some truly out-there settings and cultures. If you liked the part of Anathem where you had no idea what was going on at first, but slowly learned the ways of the world as you read on... you'd love this book.
I had this for a year, reading the first paragraph and falling asleep, but once I finally made it to the second paragraph I loved it and inhaled the sequels, was really surprised to subsequently discover the French lupin stories
I almost got past this recommendation without having to read another sci-fi book but your Anathem pitch got me.
I’ve been stuck in sci-fi for 3 years straight and thought I was finally going to read something else before 2022.
Bah humbug!
I’ve been stuck in sci-fi for 3 years straight and thought I was finally going to read something else before 2022.
Bah humbug!
The new Graeber, Dawn of Everything
Completely tears apart recent trendy anthro books like Sapiens for ignoring both old and very new research and tries to set a new framework for understanding humanity’s potential
Completely tears apart recent trendy anthro books like Sapiens for ignoring both old and very new research and tries to set a new framework for understanding humanity’s potential
Currently reading it.
I recommend “Against the Grain” and also “Pre Industrial Societies.” They give a really good perspective on human life and the structures we create. One of my favourite quotes is: the hallmarks of a state: appropriation, inequality and hierarchy.
Grains are the only agricultural product that can grow an early state, because it can be easily taxed, it’s fungible so you can pay with it, and people can’t run off with their field and canals to somewhere else.
It’s kind of a wonderful point that without the taxman there would be no civilisation.
I recommend “Against the Grain” and also “Pre Industrial Societies.” They give a really good perspective on human life and the structures we create. One of my favourite quotes is: the hallmarks of a state: appropriation, inequality and hierarchy.
Grains are the only agricultural product that can grow an early state, because it can be easily taxed, it’s fungible so you can pay with it, and people can’t run off with their field and canals to somewhere else.
It’s kind of a wonderful point that without the taxman there would be no civilisation.
I'm looking forward to reading this. I listened to this excellent podcast with David Graber's coauthor, David Wengrow about the book and the fascinating discussion really hints that this will be a good read.
https://srslywrong.com/podcast/242-the-dawn-of-the-dawn-of-e...
https://srslywrong.com/podcast/242-the-dawn-of-the-dawn-of-e...
I'm interested in anything that tears Sapiens apart, partly because I loved that book so much and need something to temper my enthusiasm.
You will have a taste for it within the first 2-3 chapters, it engages with the colonialist legacy that led to Sapiens and other similar works from the start
Try Ridley’s The Rational Optimist, as I mentioned above.
This book is lovely.
It made me reflect on our current state of affairs.
Covid was and still is a test of the value systems of the so called "Western" or "first world" societies.
We have failed this test through and through.
On a local level, many people didn't care about their communities enough to mask and vaxx and in turn the communities had no way to pressure them. Many, many people have mental health problems -- and I only mean the pandemic induced ones -- and are suffering alone because we do not help each other. Parents were forced to navigate this modern life with kids suddenly at home trying to distance learn. And, again, there was no help.
On a global level, these richer countries didn't supply the poorer countries with vaccines and help to distribute them. More than 80% of the population of Africa is not vaccinated. As humanity, we didn't help each other.
Complete failure.
It made me reflect on our current state of affairs.
Covid was and still is a test of the value systems of the so called "Western" or "first world" societies.
We have failed this test through and through.
On a local level, many people didn't care about their communities enough to mask and vaxx and in turn the communities had no way to pressure them. Many, many people have mental health problems -- and I only mean the pandemic induced ones -- and are suffering alone because we do not help each other. Parents were forced to navigate this modern life with kids suddenly at home trying to distance learn. And, again, there was no help.
On a global level, these richer countries didn't supply the poorer countries with vaccines and help to distribute them. More than 80% of the population of Africa is not vaccinated. As humanity, we didn't help each other.
Complete failure.
+1 to the book even though I’m still 40% in.
> As humanity, we didn't help each other.
This was one of the aspects that has stuck with me. Where an indigenous leader visiting Europe comments on affairs of the French society. He says how can you (French) completely ignore the destitute sleeping on your city streets and call yourself a civilized society?
If I introspect, it’s clear that, at least in the cities, helping other humans has completely vanished. It’s literally every human for themselves. Community support has completely vanished.
> As humanity, we didn't help each other.
This was one of the aspects that has stuck with me. Where an indigenous leader visiting Europe comments on affairs of the French society. He says how can you (French) completely ignore the destitute sleeping on your city streets and call yourself a civilized society?
If I introspect, it’s clear that, at least in the cities, helping other humans has completely vanished. It’s literally every human for themselves. Community support has completely vanished.
I personally think our modern lack of community here in America is driven by two things:
1. The Suburban Experiment in America [0]
2. The decrease of church membership throughout America [1]
I can speak to my second point a bit more in depth. Churches historically were centers of communities and social places. And as time moves on we as a society are (rightly so) becoming very suspicious of religion and churches in our lives (I grew up _very_ religious but I no longer am).
In my eyes, modern 21st century Christianity is very very different than it was even before the 1960s. It seems the cultural ideologies have shifted from service oriented to worship oriented. In my evangelical church the focus was on putting Jesus (the symbol) higher than literally everything else in your life in order to achieve "eternal salvation" in heaven. The main focus was just believing that Jesus came back to life after being crucified was the only way to get to heaven. There was less focus on service, empathy, and equality. People are leaving in droves because of this. I can go on about more changes that I've noticed, but I'll spare details.
We need to build new in-person social centers that are not built on mythologies and symbolism but instead more focused on society itself like the churches of old were.
[0] https://www.strongtowns.org/curbside-chat-1/2015/12/14/ameri...
[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-s...
1. The Suburban Experiment in America [0]
2. The decrease of church membership throughout America [1]
I can speak to my second point a bit more in depth. Churches historically were centers of communities and social places. And as time moves on we as a society are (rightly so) becoming very suspicious of religion and churches in our lives (I grew up _very_ religious but I no longer am).
In my eyes, modern 21st century Christianity is very very different than it was even before the 1960s. It seems the cultural ideologies have shifted from service oriented to worship oriented. In my evangelical church the focus was on putting Jesus (the symbol) higher than literally everything else in your life in order to achieve "eternal salvation" in heaven. The main focus was just believing that Jesus came back to life after being crucified was the only way to get to heaven. There was less focus on service, empathy, and equality. People are leaving in droves because of this. I can go on about more changes that I've noticed, but I'll spare details.
We need to build new in-person social centers that are not built on mythologies and symbolism but instead more focused on society itself like the churches of old were.
[0] https://www.strongtowns.org/curbside-chat-1/2015/12/14/ameri...
[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-s...
Here are all books I read (this year so far I read 50 books):
https://books.j11g.com/search.php?log=3
Three books from 2021 stick out:
- If This Is a Man by Primo Levi. I would urge everyone to read this. This history should be known to everyone.
- Defying Hitler (the story of a German 1914 - 1933) by Sebastian Haffner. Masterfully written autobiography that explains the rise of nazi Germany more than any other history book I ever read.
And one more for the HN crowd:
- The hard thing about hard things by Ben Horowitz. Often tipped, but it really is an insightful book, and a fun read.
https://books.j11g.com/search.php?log=3
Three books from 2021 stick out:
- If This Is a Man by Primo Levi. I would urge everyone to read this. This history should be known to everyone.
- Defying Hitler (the story of a German 1914 - 1933) by Sebastian Haffner. Masterfully written autobiography that explains the rise of nazi Germany more than any other history book I ever read.
And one more for the HN crowd:
- The hard thing about hard things by Ben Horowitz. Often tipped, but it really is an insightful book, and a fun read.
I love your log and I'm inspired to build one for myself. I also read quite a bit but I have not been taking care to log my reading. I found the page describing the details of the application. Thanks so much!
How much time do you read per day? How long time to finish a book? I really should pick up reading more but there is so much that distracts me. This website for example.
I wrote about that last year: https://j11g.com/2020/07/01/how-i-read-52-books-in-a-year/
Long story short: read every day.
I notice my average is pretty steady, around 30 pages/day. So if I manage that, I’m good. But the thing is — with a good book — reading 30 pages is a breeze. And I often end up reading more. I also notice if I can’t read at least 30 pages in one sitting I probably don’t like the book very much.
Long story short: read every day.
I notice my average is pretty steady, around 30 pages/day. So if I manage that, I’m good. But the thing is — with a good book — reading 30 pages is a breeze. And I often end up reading more. I also notice if I can’t read at least 30 pages in one sitting I probably don’t like the book very much.
When I was in jail with (almost) zero distractions I read 100 books a year and 100s of magazines each year.
Since release 5 months ago I have read a total of zero, but I am getting back into it. The real world is distracting.
Since release 5 months ago I have read a total of zero, but I am getting back into it. The real world is distracting.
I often have a fantasy of long periods of uninterrupted time to be able to just read. But jail time is not part of that fantasy! You seemed to have made the best possible use of your time though. I read some of your previous comments, I would be very interested to read your story when you are ready to put it on paper.
While I was in jail I read in 1Q84 that the only place a man has time to read the whole of Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" is in jail. So I had it sent in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time (4,215 pages apparently)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1Q84
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time (4,215 pages apparently)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1Q84
I never used to be a "reader" but have built the habit through reading at least a section of a book everyday. I have had days where I rattled off 120 pages and days that I read 3 pages. With any habit it is about starting and building it.
I had to come back to this thread to say thank you for this recommendation. I just started reading “Defying Hitler”. What an amazing book! It is so well written that I could read it to my five-year-old. Really a deep dive into history from a first person perspective.
I am also reading JFK by Logeval, which describes the same events as seen (or unseen) from the outside of Germany. Being able to watch events unfold from those two perspectives is just fascinating.
I am also reading JFK by Logeval, which describes the same events as seen (or unseen) from the outside of Germany. Being able to watch events unfold from those two perspectives is just fascinating.
It looks like the English translation of Haffner's memoir is titled "Defying Hitler: A Memoir". Thanks for the recs!
Hands down, the most fascinating book I read in 2021 (and I will have read for a long time!) is "The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood" by James Gleick: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400096235
Those who have a computer science background will almost definitely love the book. It connects many dots that are previously seemingly unrelated. My jaw dropped for literally every few pages of most chapters.
Those who have a computer science background will almost definitely love the book. It connects many dots that are previously seemingly unrelated. My jaw dropped for literally every few pages of most chapters.
Claude Shannon had quite the mind.
"A Mind at Play" is a good book on Shannon's life and "The Bit Player" is a good partner movie to watch :)
"A Mathematical Theory of Communication" and "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits" paved the way for much of modern computing.
"A Mind at Play" is a good book on Shannon's life and "The Bit Player" is a good partner movie to watch :)
"A Mathematical Theory of Communication" and "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits" paved the way for much of modern computing.
A Mind At Play was fantastic. :)
I didn’t read it this year, but can confirm 10/10 would read again.
Fiction:
"The Lies of Locke Lamora"
I found this book because I just finished playing Dishonored 2 and I wanted to read a book with a dystopian steampunk alternative-Victorian vibe.
The events take place in a gritty, corrupt city of waterways and canals controlled by different factions. The factions represent either the legitimate nobility or the extensive underground criminal empire. A charismatic leader of a small young group of thieves and pickpockets comes up with an epic, layered con that will break sacred agreements and make him enemies with everyone - and pulls it off.
"The Lies of Locke Lamora"
I found this book because I just finished playing Dishonored 2 and I wanted to read a book with a dystopian steampunk alternative-Victorian vibe.
The events take place in a gritty, corrupt city of waterways and canals controlled by different factions. The factions represent either the legitimate nobility or the extensive underground criminal empire. A charismatic leader of a small young group of thieves and pickpockets comes up with an epic, layered con that will break sacred agreements and make him enemies with everyone - and pulls it off.
I found this disappointing - the moral position made no sense and that disconnected me from the characters. I enjoyed Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure a lot more in the same vein.
I just read this recently also, and I agree it’s a great book. “dystopian steampunk alternative-Victorian vibe” describes it well - it’s a society with advanced chemistry and materials (“elderglass”), but no gasoline, electricity, computers, etc.
This years best book is the brothers karamazov. An excellent book with a deeply human and philosophical viewpoint. This is the last bool I read from dostojewski and after crime and punishment his best work.
Atm I read „against the day“ from pynchon. Also very excellent and compared to gravitys rainbow sooo easy to read. That could be a good start to the pynchon universe for beginners.
Whish you all a good time at the end of the yeat
Atm I read „against the day“ from pynchon. Also very excellent and compared to gravitys rainbow sooo easy to read. That could be a good start to the pynchon universe for beginners.
Whish you all a good time at the end of the yeat
I have a deeply personal story about The Brothers Karamazov. I used to frequent a circulating library as a child (I was 8), and I met an old man on the way to it. He lived near the library and was always on his daily walk. I'd read on the road as I walked so he once spoke to me, and we formed a connection. I'd speak to him almost everyday for a few years, and in one of our conversations he asked me to read this book. He said it was his most favorite. I didn't know it but that comment has stayed with me for years. It's been over 15 years since I've seen the man, he was already 80 back then and I once learnt he had already passed before the library shut down.
I'll never forget him, my copy of The Brothers Karamazov is one of my most prized possessions.
I'll never forget him, my copy of The Brothers Karamazov is one of my most prized possessions.
What have you learned from the book?
As a PSA: this book is old enough to be public domain, the audiobook is (legally) available for free on LibriVox: https://librivox.org/the-brothers-karamazov-by-fyodor-dostoy... . The written version is available on Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28054 .
I listened to it while swimming laps. The readers have great, rhythmic pacing.
I listened to it while swimming laps. The readers have great, rhythmic pacing.
It's in podcast form, as well. I just searched for the name of the book in Pocket Casts and the author is listed as Loyal Books. Going to give it a try on my walk today. Thank you!
What headphones do you use while swimming? I've been looking into getting a pair for swimming, and am interested in recommendations.
They're called "SYRYN Swimbuds Flip and Waterproof MP3 Player". Just got them a few years ago as a quick, inexpensive Amazon purchase. Looks like they're a bit more expensive nowadays, but not too bad.
They work fine-- only ones I've ever had, so I have nothing to compare them to. I can confirm they've survived over 200 hours of lap swim, though.
They work fine-- only ones I've ever had, so I have nothing to compare them to. I can confirm they've survived over 200 hours of lap swim, though.
My favorite of the year was Anna Karenina. If you like Brothers Karamazov it would be right up your alley.
Anna Karenina jumped to the top as favorite novel; Brothers Karamazov as best novel...The difference between the two adjectives tells more about me than anything else. :-)
Yes that one is on my list to. I read war and peace once and it was an excellent novel. Still dostojewski is a bit more special to me :)
Good recs. I should get started on brothers karamazov, feel like it's required reading at this point.
Hands down The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't [0]. The subtitle might make you think this is a gotcha book about "wrong thinkers" but it's really a practical guide about how to improve your own thinking. Bought several copies for Christmas presents this year. I'd run across it a few times online and dismissed it (based on the title) as yet another Gladwell-style fluff piece, but Scott Alexander's review [1] sold me.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Scout-Mindset-People-Things-Clearly-e...
[1] https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/book-review-the-scout-...
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Scout-Mindset-People-Things-Clearly-e...
[1] https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/book-review-the-scout-...
Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin. Lincoln's cabinet was filled with representatives of the different wings of northern and border state politics, all of whom became key figures in the fight against the CSA. Very lovely book about Lincoln's genius as a master of men and of personalities, of being downright kind and truly listening to the people.
I did enjoy this tome too :) It's amazing how many well-researched and detailed biographies of US presidents are out there. The Rise of Theodor Roosevelt is another one, only managed to read the first book. What I find interesting is how the men behind the scenes have wielded much of the power even back then.
You also might want to read this:
https://harpers.org/archive/2013/02/team-america/
https://harpers.org/archive/2013/02/team-america/
> Nor is the “team of rivals” concept an innovation of the early 1860s, though Goodwin assures us it is.
What an odd critique: Lincoln did this great thing, but he didn't invent it, so who cares?
Beyond that being an odd critique, I've read that book twice and although Goodwin highly praises Lincoln's leadership style, I don't recall her assuring us that that was an "innovation" at all. Of course, like most book critics, this writer spent more time on snark than citations.
What an odd critique: Lincoln did this great thing, but he didn't invent it, so who cares?
Beyond that being an odd critique, I've read that book twice and although Goodwin highly praises Lincoln's leadership style, I don't recall her assuring us that that was an "innovation" at all. Of course, like most book critics, this writer spent more time on snark than citations.
Designing data intensive applications by Martin Klepmann. The best engineering design book I’ve read in my 20 yrs of experience.
I forgot I read this book since I read it in January, but you're absolutely right. It's hard to learn about large scale architectures since such scale isn't something every company gets to deal with. I like when a book teaches me a lot, but also makes me realize how much more there is that I don't know, and this book did that for sure.
I read it in preparation for an interview this year. A concise overview of scalability problems and their solutions.
seconded.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre (1923). Inspired by the life of stock trader Jesse Livermore in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The narrator starts trading in bucket shops (antique equivalent of Robinhood), makes and loses several fortunes through various (often less than honorable) financial escapades. Was inspired to read this by the GameStop situation and was not disappointed.
Blood Meridian (or The Evening Redness in the West) by Cormac McCarthy. Quickly became my favorite book after reading it a second time. I've never read a book with more effective language.
Listened to this as an audiobook, and recommend the format for this specific book. The language is amazing but the subject is so brutal. The audiobook relentlessly drives forward, delivering the language and imagery without pause. I think I might not have finished the text.
Second McCarthy’s “effective language” attribution.
I read The Road, and it was so sufficiently “effective” in its descriptions and it’s setting that I’m happy never reading another McCarthy book again. Glad I did once.
I will watch the movies though!
I read The Road, and it was so sufficiently “effective” in its descriptions and it’s setting that I’m happy never reading another McCarthy book again. Glad I did once.
I will watch the movies though!
I absolutely loved The Road, but I couldn't finish Blood Meridian ... I had no interest in the setting or the characters at all.
it's gruesome. I love westerns but in a way this is some kind of anti-western. Captivating however, in the same way 'Heart of Darkness' - Joseph Conrad , is.
I too read this (after putting it off for some time). It could be a bit hard going at times, but definitely worth it.
I went out and bought The Road but for some reason or another haven't yet started it (have watched the film though).
I went out and bought The Road but for some reason or another haven't yet started it (have watched the film though).
I’m reading his Outer Dark for the second time. That epic, almost Biblical style of his early books is unsurpassed.
What do you think happened in the jakes? I'm in the voluntary homosexual encounter hypothesis camp.
I second this, it’s incredible, so well crafted.
You never forget the Judge.
Since the last few years, I have made it a habit to write about the books[1] I read without trying to add my smart-a* comment but more as a way to come back later in life and read the articles. For this year, here are some of the books I liked (quite a few of them are re-reads);
- The Story of My Experiments with Truth, the autobiography of Mohandas K. Gandhi (English Version)
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
- Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
- The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
- Ego is the Enemy, Stillness Is the Key, and The Obstacle Is the Way; all 3 books by Ryan Holiday
- Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher[2]
1. https://brajeshwar.com/2021/books-of-2021/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reviving_Ophelia
- The Story of My Experiments with Truth, the autobiography of Mohandas K. Gandhi (English Version)
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
- Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
- The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
- Ego is the Enemy, Stillness Is the Key, and The Obstacle Is the Way; all 3 books by Ryan Holiday
- Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher[2]
1. https://brajeshwar.com/2021/books-of-2021/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reviving_Ophelia
How was the da Vinci biography? I’d be curious about the accuracy.
I like the story-telling. As for the accuracy, I have not tried to compared it to anything, so not much of a clue.
Probably "The Goal".
After reading "the Phoenix project" a couple of years ago a good deal of it was predictable but that doesn't prevent it from being very interesting.
(To be completely honest I listened to it instead of reading it myself, but I still think it counts.)
Another interesting audiobook is "The Minuteman" maybe only available through Audible. It is a story of part of the fight against nazism in America.
Only annoying thing about it is the author at a couple of places tries to equate that fight with todays antifa, which leaves a rather sour taste there and then but is forgotten a minute or to later because the book is otherwise really interesting and I enjoy stories of nazis getting punched and otherwise punished and people getting away with it.
After reading "the Phoenix project" a couple of years ago a good deal of it was predictable but that doesn't prevent it from being very interesting.
(To be completely honest I listened to it instead of reading it myself, but I still think it counts.)
Another interesting audiobook is "The Minuteman" maybe only available through Audible. It is a story of part of the fight against nazism in America.
Only annoying thing about it is the author at a couple of places tries to equate that fight with todays antifa, which leaves a rather sour taste there and then but is forgotten a minute or to later because the book is otherwise really interesting and I enjoy stories of nazis getting punched and otherwise punished and people getting away with it.
I didn’t read The Phoenix Project yet, but I got a sale on its sequel, The Unicorn Project. I got a couple chapters in and found it almost repulsive. At the start a “rockstar” developer gets blamed for something that isn’t her fault, and sent to a shit team. It then gushes about how amazing the rockstar is by highlighting what text editor she uses, and how she can back up a server while it’s on fire, and how she’s the most in-demand consultant in the world, along with a million other clichés. It’s the only book I have ever returned. It’s like a manager dreamt up the “perfect” employee cog and wrote a book about it.
I mostly bought the book because I had heard good things about TPP, but I was turned off after trying to read the sequel. Would you please elaborate on what you found valuable about it? I’d like to read it (I read a lot) if it’s actually useful, but I haven’t heard much about how or what was valuable about it. Just that people seem to enjoy it. I’d love to hear more about why, if you’re so inclined!
I mostly bought the book because I had heard good things about TPP, but I was turned off after trying to read the sequel. Would you please elaborate on what you found valuable about it? I’d like to read it (I read a lot) if it’s actually useful, but I haven’t heard much about how or what was valuable about it. Just that people seem to enjoy it. I’d love to hear more about why, if you’re so inclined!
The Goal was my gateway book into the literature of lean manufacturing. I recommend it.
An old one, but I read "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky. I was expecting it to be dense and difficult to read, but I found it incredibly engaging - easily the best book that I have read, ever.
I think my favorite was Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky is very good; I think the biggest challenge is just getting used to Russian names, which is exacerbated by the typically large number of characters. But if you're willing to brave that, I don't think I outright disliked anything of his I read.
Loved discussing this one as part of a book club, drew so many more insights out of the book by hearing what others gleaned from it.
+1 I recently read a The Idiot as well, another incredible work of his.
Sweet! Also, I think I follow you on Github! Your context tree weighting blog post is and has perfect depth. Thanks for writing it!
I try to broaden my horizons and get out of my tech bubble, so I like to learn how artists think. I don't think I could do any better than David Byrne "How Music Works" which is surprisingly and satisfyingly technical, along with musical, and Patti Smith's "Just Kids" about her time in New York City starting out with artist Robert Mapplethorpe at the Chelsea Hotel. Amusingly, she meets Alan Ginsburg when he tries to pick her up thinking she is a young man.
In the same vein, not books but documentaries, I learned a lot from three Andy Warhol documentaries on YouTube: "The Life of Andy Warhol", "Andy Warhol - The Complete Picture", and "BBC Modern Masters 1of4 - ANDY WARHOL"
From those I learned about the art business, how much Warhol loved money (he left an estate or around 400 million dollars) and how much of this applies to today's world of art related NFT speculation.
In the same vein, not books but documentaries, I learned a lot from three Andy Warhol documentaries on YouTube: "The Life of Andy Warhol", "Andy Warhol - The Complete Picture", and "BBC Modern Masters 1of4 - ANDY WARHOL"
From those I learned about the art business, how much Warhol loved money (he left an estate or around 400 million dollars) and how much of this applies to today's world of art related NFT speculation.
Looking back at the books I read, I read a lot I'm pretty lukewarm on. But a few that stuck out:
* Chronicles of My Life by Donald Keene. If you ever read much Japanese literature in translation (at least before a particular era) you'll recognize the name, and Keene's life was fascinating. Breezy, fun read.
* The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I was skeptical, and had unfavorable views of this book based on impressions I'd formed by reading reviews, but once I read it and gave it a try... she was totally right about nearly everything she wrote and it literally was "life-changing." I got rid of a ton of detritus and ultimately going through the process of purging my things gave me the boldness to accept a job offer on the other side of the country and take off. The process also drastically changed my shopping habits -- I simply buy much less than I used to, not out of a conscious desire to be "minimalist," but out of recognition that I don't necessarily really want things all that much (though thinking about how much trouble it was to throw things away doesn't hurt).
* California: A History by Kevin Starr. About all you could ask for from a one-volume history... nice little primer to my new home state.
* Chronicles of My Life by Donald Keene. If you ever read much Japanese literature in translation (at least before a particular era) you'll recognize the name, and Keene's life was fascinating. Breezy, fun read.
* The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I was skeptical, and had unfavorable views of this book based on impressions I'd formed by reading reviews, but once I read it and gave it a try... she was totally right about nearly everything she wrote and it literally was "life-changing." I got rid of a ton of detritus and ultimately going through the process of purging my things gave me the boldness to accept a job offer on the other side of the country and take off. The process also drastically changed my shopping habits -- I simply buy much less than I used to, not out of a conscious desire to be "minimalist," but out of recognition that I don't necessarily really want things all that much (though thinking about how much trouble it was to throw things away doesn't hurt).
* California: A History by Kevin Starr. About all you could ask for from a one-volume history... nice little primer to my new home state.
Children of Time and the sequel Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Best sci-fi I’ve read in a while.
I read both of these based on several independent recommendations here. The first was ok, and the second was barely readable.
Certainly not anywhere near as bad as the Three Body Problem, as far as HN recommended books go, but I think I’m still going to have to start avoiding books recommended here.
To answer the original question (and remain within sci-fi), then new Andy Weir book Project Hail Mary was pretty good. Not quite on the level of The Martian, but good enough to recommend to others.
Certainly not anywhere near as bad as the Three Body Problem, as far as HN recommended books go, but I think I’m still going to have to start avoiding books recommended here.
To answer the original question (and remain within sci-fi), then new Andy Weir book Project Hail Mary was pretty good. Not quite on the level of The Martian, but good enough to recommend to others.
Yeah for fantasy and sci fi both there is just a cast of about 20 authors that will be recommended in every thread that mentions a book. There are some gems in there but for the most part the fiction recs around here are fairly narrow and don't align with my preferences so I've learned to avoid them.
Really liked the first one. How is the second one? Sort of been avoiding it because of how much I liked the first, and not wanting to be disappointed.
Not OP, but I read both of them too. The second is not as good as the first, got a little too weird (already a weird setup as you can assume from the first book). It's enjoyable but filled with a lot of tropes, compared to the first one which was quite original IMO.
Yeah I agree with this, it gets more into the sci-fi horror genre which some people might like and others not. I would say though that it’s still a very good book and if you liked the first I would definitely recommend.
Thanks! Appreciate that. I may skip it then.
More of what makes the first one good. Def read if you liked the first. Not as good in terms of how attached you get to the characters. The ending of the first was brilliant IMO, and the ending of the second was a bit of a let down. I think it almost would have been better if he left the Chekhov's gun introduced towards the end up to the reader's imagination, instead of going into it explicitly.
I love the second one, it leaps about more, but I really enjoyed the way the ideas of the first book are expanded in multiple strange directions
Prisoners of Geography.
It's an insightful book into geopolitics, looking at the present through analysis of the past and the geography that influences it. In much the same way, it discusses the future and what might come next. If you're already engrossed in geopolitics literature you might not learn much, but if not - and you're interested - I recommend it. It gives a level of analysis that news reports don't go anywhere near, and it's given me a much wider perspective of the world and more nuanced view of current events. Its also well written.
It's an insightful book into geopolitics, looking at the present through analysis of the past and the geography that influences it. In much the same way, it discusses the future and what might come next. If you're already engrossed in geopolitics literature you might not learn much, but if not - and you're interested - I recommend it. It gives a level of analysis that news reports don't go anywhere near, and it's given me a much wider perspective of the world and more nuanced view of current events. Its also well written.
It's a pretty good book, and I very much enjoyed reading it. This and the other book by Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Steel) together account for a lot of the current state of world affairs.
I'm just finishing Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor and I have enjoyed it immensely.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48890486-breath
I have previously taken courses in the Wim Hof Method and marvelled at the dramatic increase in energy that it gave me, not to mention an increased ability to be warm when I want to be and to tolerate the cold, something which being a relatively stationary software developer has negatively affected over the years.
This book touches on Wim Hof but covers the approaches and results of many other practitioners as well as traditional methods, blending together science writing and reporting of results with engaging storytelling, making it a fun, light and quick read.
As someone who likes to experiment with this kind of thing I went ahead and tried things like lightly taping my mouth shut while sleeping and was amazed to feel the difference when I didn't do it. Meanwhile I've experimented with only breathing through my nose when exercising (including exhaling) and have observed that my heart rate has stayed lower and my thinking clearer when under pressure in a jiu-jitsu class.
In the same week that I started reading the book I had a grading, and the instructors repeated again and again the reminder to breathe in through the nose, advice echoed in the book. To them it is common sense that if you start panting (breathing hard in and out using your mouth) that you won't be able to perform well in that kind of high-pressure scenario.
If you are looking for a light read over the holidays and are interested in health/wellness then I can thoroughly recommend this book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48890486-breath
I have previously taken courses in the Wim Hof Method and marvelled at the dramatic increase in energy that it gave me, not to mention an increased ability to be warm when I want to be and to tolerate the cold, something which being a relatively stationary software developer has negatively affected over the years.
This book touches on Wim Hof but covers the approaches and results of many other practitioners as well as traditional methods, blending together science writing and reporting of results with engaging storytelling, making it a fun, light and quick read.
As someone who likes to experiment with this kind of thing I went ahead and tried things like lightly taping my mouth shut while sleeping and was amazed to feel the difference when I didn't do it. Meanwhile I've experimented with only breathing through my nose when exercising (including exhaling) and have observed that my heart rate has stayed lower and my thinking clearer when under pressure in a jiu-jitsu class.
In the same week that I started reading the book I had a grading, and the instructors repeated again and again the reminder to breathe in through the nose, advice echoed in the book. To them it is common sense that if you start panting (breathing hard in and out using your mouth) that you won't be able to perform well in that kind of high-pressure scenario.
If you are looking for a light read over the holidays and are interested in health/wellness then I can thoroughly recommend this book.
Maybe i need to give it another go but I couldn't finish this book; found it tiresome due to all the "personal anecdotes/narratives" forming the backdrop for the book. It could also be that i am somewhat well-read on this subject due to my interest in traditional Yoga/Pranayama/Martial Arts and hence felt underwhelmed. What i had hoped to find in the book was a catalog of techniques (based on tradition or modern) from "Western Scientific Research" showing actual measurable results in terms of Human physiological parameters. But whatever was mentioned was never clearly explained with actionable steps. However the webpage for the book's bibliography is a treasure trove of pointers to papers and reading for further research.
Since you are also interested in the same subjects as me, do you have any other specific suggestions for what i am looking for?
Since you are also interested in the same subjects as me, do you have any other specific suggestions for what i am looking for?
Ah, I can completely see why you would find it frustrating—I enjoyed the anecdotes and it made for very light holiday reading, but then it was indeed light on detail.
If you go to the end of the book, just before the Notes section there is a short chapter which lays out the basics of most of the breathing techniques. I've found that to be enough to experiment a little and while brief it's enough as a starting point.
Sadly I don't have any recommendations for breathing techniques outside of those espoused by Wim Hof, which are based in part on Tummo.
Given that this book (Breath) has been published and the recent increase in popularity the topic is seeing I am hopeful that we will see some follow-on works (if they don't exist already) that will break these techniques down in more detail. As it stands it feels necessary to piece together elements from different books to get a more complete picture regarding how these techniques work and what is possible. I would certainly be interested to see a collation of results seen in athletes.
If you go to the end of the book, just before the Notes section there is a short chapter which lays out the basics of most of the breathing techniques. I've found that to be enough to experiment a little and while brief it's enough as a starting point.
Sadly I don't have any recommendations for breathing techniques outside of those espoused by Wim Hof, which are based in part on Tummo.
Given that this book (Breath) has been published and the recent increase in popularity the topic is seeing I am hopeful that we will see some follow-on works (if they don't exist already) that will break these techniques down in more detail. As it stands it feels necessary to piece together elements from different books to get a more complete picture regarding how these techniques work and what is possible. I would certainly be interested to see a collation of results seen in athletes.
"My Struggle" series by Karl Ove Knausgård [1]. The whole series is 3600 pages in six books, and I read four of them this year. Why on earth am I reading ridiculously detailed reports on some Norwegian guy's personal life, I thought. His divorce, parenting struggles, creative aspirations as a writer, sexual aspirations as an adolescent, in-depth descriptions on how his dad became an alcoholic, etc. Why am I reading this?
And yet, I did. Whenever I had a free moment, a household issue I didn't want to solve, etc, I grabbed after this book to simply get lost.
I'm not sure if one can consider it a literary masterpiece, but it sure was impossible to put down. In one of the back-cover blurbs, a critic said something like that: this series makes it clear that a person's life is actually by no means a story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Struggle_(Knausg%C3%A5rd_no...
And yet, I did. Whenever I had a free moment, a household issue I didn't want to solve, etc, I grabbed after this book to simply get lost.
I'm not sure if one can consider it a literary masterpiece, but it sure was impossible to put down. In one of the back-cover blurbs, a critic said something like that: this series makes it clear that a person's life is actually by no means a story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Struggle_(Knausg%C3%A5rd_no...
Sunk cost fallacy [1]? Or was there something actually interesting in the book?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost
Ha, great parallel, thanks for pointing to this, but I think not. More likely, since I've had literary ambitions myself, I was really curios to find out what exactly keeps me immersed in this book. Technically, how does the author accomplish this? I have some clues: simple, casual language with occasional to-the-point metaphors, lots of dialogues, then stream-of consciousness-sections and philosophical cross-references out of the blue, hundreds and hundres of pages with no chapters, etc. Knausgård sure knows how to keep a strong pace. It's somewhat a mashup of all sorts of things, and so is life, isn't it?
In a way, it's like the Perl programming language, lol: often times impossible to read, and often times impossible to not read. Easy to get immersed in all that mess.
But I'm not entirely satisfied with that answer.
(Though, wow, man, grabbing in Perl -- this sure has to be the best ever metaphor used to describe the style of Knausgård's book.)
In a way, it's like the Perl programming language, lol: often times impossible to read, and often times impossible to not read. Easy to get immersed in all that mess.
But I'm not entirely satisfied with that answer.
(Though, wow, man, grabbing in Perl -- this sure has to be the best ever metaphor used to describe the style of Knausgård's book.)
Comparing a book with a programming language is such a wonderful metaphor
I'm finishing up volume 5 soon and in addition to marttt's description of how well it's written, I think I enjoy it simply because it resonates so deeply with my own experiences. Loss, self harm, substance abuse, complex relationships with family, making mistakes and having to live with them, talking about music, making friends and love, aimlessness. It's an existentially entertaining read for me, the stuff of life as I know it. He derives insights from even banal events. And still, plenty of surprises, shocks and laughs. It's all presented with clarity and bravery.
I'm looking forward to reading some of his fiction–I'm interested to see what it's like to read the work of someone I already feel like I know so much about. Received The Morning Star as a gift this holiday season. I'm honestly a bit afraid it won't live up to what I've already read by him.
The original reason I picked up his autobiography was simply that I saw a book review about it and it filled a spot in a larger goal I have: to read a book by an author from every country. I hadn't read Norway yet, and I also was on an autobiography kick.
I'm looking forward to reading some of his fiction–I'm interested to see what it's like to read the work of someone I already feel like I know so much about. Received The Morning Star as a gift this holiday season. I'm honestly a bit afraid it won't live up to what I've already read by him.
The original reason I picked up his autobiography was simply that I saw a book review about it and it filled a spot in a larger goal I have: to read a book by an author from every country. I hadn't read Norway yet, and I also was on an autobiography kick.
I have not had time to read a lot of books, one (475 page) book I read is "Androids" by Chet Haase. Haase was on the Android team and interviewed most of the programmers who wrote the initial Android versions. I program Android and find it fascinating. It gives you an idea of how such a successful project from somewhat recent times comes together. Android was originally going to be an operating system for cameras written in Javascript.
It covers a big team, and jumps from chapter to chapter on how the Java virtual machine was written, to how the SD card code was written, to how notifications were implemented. Thus it does not have the compelling narrative drive of something like Masters of Doom, which is another good book which follows a much smaller group from id software. But Androids is a very informative book on how something like Android is put together.
Also, some books of this type are for the lay person and are breezy and talk about personalities and not much about technical matters. A lay person could probably read this, but it does dive into technical decisions, which I appreciated. For example, I knew Android has a process called zygote which handles the initialization of each Android application, but this book explains why such a process exists, which illuminates things for me beyond me simply knowing that it does exist.
Also interesting is how the teams from Danger, Palmsource, and WebTV came in with various ideas of how a device should be built, which all culminated in Android.
If you are interested in great prose or a narrative drive, read another book. If you are interested in how the folks from Danger (and Palmsource, and WebTV) had great success at their second swing at bat, in creating a technology that has become ubiquitous worldwide in the past decade with three billion active Android devices - it is an interesting read.
It covers a big team, and jumps from chapter to chapter on how the Java virtual machine was written, to how the SD card code was written, to how notifications were implemented. Thus it does not have the compelling narrative drive of something like Masters of Doom, which is another good book which follows a much smaller group from id software. But Androids is a very informative book on how something like Android is put together.
Also, some books of this type are for the lay person and are breezy and talk about personalities and not much about technical matters. A lay person could probably read this, but it does dive into technical decisions, which I appreciated. For example, I knew Android has a process called zygote which handles the initialization of each Android application, but this book explains why such a process exists, which illuminates things for me beyond me simply knowing that it does exist.
Also interesting is how the teams from Danger, Palmsource, and WebTV came in with various ideas of how a device should be built, which all culminated in Android.
If you are interested in great prose or a narrative drive, read another book. If you are interested in how the folks from Danger (and Palmsource, and WebTV) had great success at their second swing at bat, in creating a technology that has become ubiquitous worldwide in the past decade with three billion active Android devices - it is an interesting read.
"Code" from Charles Petzold as well. Gave me solid, primary intuition on how to understand what a computer is.
This is probably my favorite nonfiction book of all time. I've found nothing else like it. I always suggest everyone in our field read it.
Where is My Flying Car? by J. Storrs Hall.
The flying car is both literal and metaphorical. If you’ve ever wondered why technology has stagnated, this is the book for you. If you doubt technology has stagnated, this book will challenge that view. If you’ve ever wondered why literal flying cars have taken so long to appear, this book is for you.
The flying car is both literal and metaphorical. If you’ve ever wondered why technology has stagnated, this is the book for you. If you doubt technology has stagnated, this book will challenge that view. If you’ve ever wondered why literal flying cars have taken so long to appear, this book is for you.
Classified under: Aerospace Propulsion Technology
https://www.amazon.com/Where-Flying-Car-Storrs-Hall/dp/19539...
Looks like he covers why nuclear energy is so expensive today.
I’ve wondered why we have 100 nuclear power plants but can’t build any more.
https://www.amazon.com/Where-Flying-Car-Storrs-Hall/dp/19539...
Looks like he covers why nuclear energy is so expensive today.
I’ve wondered why we have 100 nuclear power plants but can’t build any more.
I just finished this one so it might just be fresh in my memory, but I really enjoyed Kiril Yeskov's "The Last Ringbearer". It's a sequel/retelling of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" written from the Mordorian perspective and based on the premise that LOTR is "a history written by the victors".
It has a completely different feel than Tolkien's writing, and sort of stuffs something resembling Cold War politics into Middle Earth. It's obsurd, but somehow makes perfect sense.
I originally saw it recommended on hn, so thank you whoever you were!
It has a completely different feel than Tolkien's writing, and sort of stuffs something resembling Cold War politics into Middle Earth. It's obsurd, but somehow makes perfect sense.
I originally saw it recommended on hn, so thank you whoever you were!
You might enjoy Jacqueline Carey's duology The Sundering. It's sort of LoTR told from the side of the "bad" guys, though it's set in its own original world, and the story isn't an actual retelling of LoTR.
mary gentle's "grunts" is another lovely book in that tradition. not to mention it starts with the Last Battle Between Good and Evil.
I can't see any links to buy this in the UK either on Amazon UK or physical stores - is it out of print?
I haven't read it, though it's on my list. It wasn't commercially published in English out of concern for running afoul of Tolkien's estate. Instead, it's available for free as an ebook:. https://ymarkov.livejournal.com/280578.html
I read this a few years back and even as a die-hard Tolkien fan I also thought it was brilliantly done.
Recommended!
Recommended!
I read this probably 6 or 7 years ago- thanks for the reminder! I should read it again.
A few books I enjoyed:
- The Case against Education by Bryan Caplan, discussing the merits of signalling theory (the point of education is to signal your intelligence and conscientiousness) as opposed to human capital theory (education genuinely makes you a better worker with more skills). Didn't find it totally convincing but it was a fun and interesting read.
- The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality by Kathryn Harden, a wonderful book on how hereditary IQ is, and why that is a good case for redistribution, given that IQ is so predictive of wealth/income
- The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, a biography of Jennifer Doudna, the woman who founded CRISPR and won the Nobel prize. Great read, thrilling.
- My Struggle book 1, by Karl Ove Knausgård. Haven't finished this yet, just started it a few days ago - about 300 pages in. Great, great novel, one of the best I've read in a while.
- The Case against Education by Bryan Caplan, discussing the merits of signalling theory (the point of education is to signal your intelligence and conscientiousness) as opposed to human capital theory (education genuinely makes you a better worker with more skills). Didn't find it totally convincing but it was a fun and interesting read.
- The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality by Kathryn Harden, a wonderful book on how hereditary IQ is, and why that is a good case for redistribution, given that IQ is so predictive of wealth/income
- The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, a biography of Jennifer Doudna, the woman who founded CRISPR and won the Nobel prize. Great read, thrilling.
- My Struggle book 1, by Karl Ove Knausgård. Haven't finished this yet, just started it a few days ago - about 300 pages in. Great, great novel, one of the best I've read in a while.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I had an itch for some good epic world-building after finishing the Game of Thrones books and giving up on the next ones being released. Was not disappointed.
Structurally, Hyperion is a play on Canterbury Tales, but it weaves in hefty amounts of sci-fi, fantasy, philosophy, history and theology. Lots of WTF moments, and a great balance of humor and truly dark shit.
Structurally, Hyperion is a play on Canterbury Tales, but it weaves in hefty amounts of sci-fi, fantasy, philosophy, history and theology. Lots of WTF moments, and a great balance of humor and truly dark shit.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster - by billg
From my level of background knowledge, it was really well-written. He talks about how to think about emissions, and breaks down global emissions into its biggest categories (eg. transportation, electricity generation, etc). As well as promising methods for decreasing emissions in each of these classes. I think the style would really suit a HN audience.
From my level of background knowledge, it was really well-written. He talks about how to think about emissions, and breaks down global emissions into its biggest categories (eg. transportation, electricity generation, etc). As well as promising methods for decreasing emissions in each of these classes. I think the style would really suit a HN audience.
Can also recommend. It provides a great overview of the climate change problem and all the components of the solution we have, the economics of them, and what is still missing. This gets you up to speed on what will change in your life in the future. I believe it also provides a nice insight into Bill Gates' investment portfolio, quite a few of the startups working on solutions to the climate crisis are part of it.
Nonfiction: "Rationality: From AI to Zombies" by Eliezer Yudkowsky. It was a fantastic deep-dive into the topic, and despite being extremely long was very readable.
Fiction: "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. I've read other Steinbeck before this one, but this stands out as a clear masterpiece. I especially enjoyed the way he blended the experiences of specific individuals with the experiences of a general population - the narration style was very enjoyable.
Fiction: "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. I've read other Steinbeck before this one, but this stands out as a clear masterpiece. I especially enjoyed the way he blended the experiences of specific individuals with the experiences of a general population - the narration style was very enjoyable.
"Rationality: From AI to Zombies" is a very influential books. This is one to pick if you want something impactful to your system of belief. I would also recommend a book I think is very similar to this (if for some reason Yudkowsky prose throws you off) "The Big Picture" from Sean Carroll, I think he introduces much of the same ideas in a very different manner.
I read the foundation series by Asimov. Its title of the best sci-fi series of all times isn’t a hyperbole.
I read a couple of the series about 15 years back and found the writing style and characterizations so dated, that I really had trouble getting anything enjoyable or insightful out of it. I feel the same amount most Golden age SciFi, with Dune being a notable exception.
He's a brilliant author, but his characters are not well developed (esp. The older stuff). If that's what you need in fiction you're probably better off reading something else.
I remember reading an interview where Asimov is asked why the books of the Foundation trilogy are so different.
The short answer is that the first book was inspired by an idea he had while talking to a professor about the rise and fall of civilizations.
The others were inspired by pressure by publishers to repeat success, and so he tried to improve and continue the story. This lead him to try and carry the story with characters, which was ironically not why people liked the first book.
The Mule was alright though, even if a little forced.
The short answer is that the first book was inspired by an idea he had while talking to a professor about the rise and fall of civilizations.
The others were inspired by pressure by publishers to repeat success, and so he tried to improve and continue the story. This lead him to try and carry the story with characters, which was ironically not why people liked the first book.
The Mule was alright though, even if a little forced.
I read the first and was incredibly unimpressed. Does it get better? I love the premise, love many other sci-fi authors & series, I thought this was going to be an obviously good one.
I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much enjoyment out of the series (including the 2 sequels after the trilogy) if I hadn't read Asimov's Robot Series. I know that the whole "you don't get it because you haven't read these other books" thing is kind of cliché, but I really do think that the majority of the joy I got from Foundation was because of how it connected with the Robot Series.
But of course, part of the enjoyment should come from the book itself. I'd say that the book does get better as new threats to the Foundation appear, but the premise largely stays the same throughout the trilogy: will the Seldon Plan succeed?
(NOTE) The reading sequence for me went something like: 1. Caves of Steel 2. Naked Sun 3. I, Robot 4. Robots of Dawn 5. Foundation Trilogy
EDIT: remove redundant last paragraph
But of course, part of the enjoyment should come from the book itself. I'd say that the book does get better as new threats to the Foundation appear, but the premise largely stays the same throughout the trilogy: will the Seldon Plan succeed?
(NOTE) The reading sequence for me went something like: 1. Caves of Steel 2. Naked Sun 3. I, Robot 4. Robots of Dawn 5. Foundation Trilogy
EDIT: remove redundant last paragraph
Interesting, maybe I'll try the Robot series and see how that goes, thanks!
read it for the 3rd time this year and it was just as good if not better. wow!
The sci-fi novel "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. Captivating, and a lot of fun.
Yeah, I really like how the characters unveiled - and the overall arc of the story.
Bit of feels near the end.
Bit of feels near the end.
You might like The Apollo Murders if you enjoyed PHM
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
Written by an AI researcher, the book explores HP as if he was a very rational and intelligent agent, rather than someone who immediately accepts all aspects of magic.
It’s not just interesting, but includes real theories of rationality that made me consider how I immediately accept many things myself.
Written by an AI researcher, the book explores HP as if he was a very rational and intelligent agent, rather than someone who immediately accepts all aspects of magic.
It’s not just interesting, but includes real theories of rationality that made me consider how I immediately accept many things myself.
Give this book 5 minutes of time at [0] where it is released. It's a great story and drives home a lot of points about cognitive biases. I found out about this book here on HN when it was being released as a web serial. I had never read any Harry Potter books before this but I immediately got sucked in. One of my favorite books.
[0] http://www.hpmor.com/
[0] http://www.hpmor.com/
Elizier Yudkowsky is just a really good author. can’t speak for HPMOR, but i love his other series, The Sequences, which per my understanding communicates the same ideas via more succinct, nonfiction writing.
https://www.readthesequences.com/ or the paperbacks are on Amazon.
https://www.readthesequences.com/ or the paperbacks are on Amazon.
> by an AI researcher
EY is an AI researcher the same way Elon Musk is an aeronautical engineer.
EY is an AI researcher the same way Elon Musk is an aeronautical engineer.
That would have to be One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. What a profoundly human book. The kind of book that is very difficult to describe in any meaningful way, but which I unreservedly recommend to anybody.
This is a fantastic book though I read it 15 years or so ago now. I should re-read it. I also have 'Love in the Time of Cholera' but haven't read it yet. It was the first magical realism book I had and have read. I found the family tree at the beginning or the book essential as the names are all very similar and it's easy to lose track.
Highly seconded.
Highly seconded.
I read (more accurately listened to) this book a couple of years back. The story itself was engaging and I remember I liked the way everything was described. Once I finished the book though I didn't feel like I took away anything from it. I kind of enjoyed the story, but I have always wondered whether I missed something. Was I supposed to get some understanding of something that was "between the lines"? Did I miss some underlying concept or thread? It's a mystery to me, I just saw it as a well said story. Anyone have any tips on how to "understand the meaning" of the book?
Well, books do not have to have any meaning, just like paintings or songs, but in this case it helps a lot to be latin-american. Garcia Marquez used to say that the Caribbean is not a geographical region but a cultural one. It goes from the south of the US to the north of Brazil, with many cultural and historical elements in common.
This is a book about the Colombian Caribbean, but also the whole country and the region. At the end it is a book about life. I have always noticed that Anglo readers get too caught up on minor details (the number of Aurelianos, who did this or that) but that is missing the point, this is about the flow of life, the absurdity of human struggles, the magic and terror of being alive, love, senseless violence, hope, all of that expressed in a brilliant prose.
I could continue but this short youtube review has pretty animations and touches some other points: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2zhLYz4pYo
This is a book about the Colombian Caribbean, but also the whole country and the region. At the end it is a book about life. I have always noticed that Anglo readers get too caught up on minor details (the number of Aurelianos, who did this or that) but that is missing the point, this is about the flow of life, the absurdity of human struggles, the magic and terror of being alive, love, senseless violence, hope, all of that expressed in a brilliant prose.
I could continue but this short youtube review has pretty animations and touches some other points: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2zhLYz4pYo
Isn't this one of the prominent showcases for the "magical realism" genre?
The amazing video game "Kentucky Route Zero" is impossible to describe, but it touches on this genre in video game form and poverty in America with many references to this novel with characters named "Marquez" and so on. What an experience.
The amazing video game "Kentucky Route Zero" is impossible to describe, but it touches on this genre in video game form and poverty in America with many references to this novel with characters named "Marquez" and so on. What an experience.
I'm currently learning Spanish and got the original version my first month in. My plan was too ambitious - I didn't get very far on my first try. I look forward to my next one once I'm more proficient.
If you don’t want to wait, Marquez said that he thought Rabassa’s translation was better than the original!
I will second this recommendation. Some books simply have it all.
I really really enjoyed "The Comanche Empire" https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300151176/comanche-empir...
It took a long time to get through (very dense, academic) but was a sprawling look at a powerful indigenous culture that I knew nothing about.
Plus, it was enlightening and a bit foreboding to learn how an empire could be at the very height of its power and then, through circumstance, climate, demographics, and imperial expansion be exhausted and destroyed in essentially a decade.
It took a long time to get through (very dense, academic) but was a sprawling look at a powerful indigenous culture that I knew nothing about.
Plus, it was enlightening and a bit foreboding to learn how an empire could be at the very height of its power and then, through circumstance, climate, demographics, and imperial expansion be exhausted and destroyed in essentially a decade.
For a broader look at the same subject (on the continental scale), I recommend 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann.
Yes, I enjoyed both "1491" and "1493", both great books in the same vein as "Guns, Germs and Steel". I have a soft spot for food so especially loved the caloric analysis (the sweet potato was a game changer, IIRC).
Any idea how it compares to Empire of the Summer Moon?
My library has that one not, your suggestion.
My library has that one not, your suggestion.
I actually read "Empire of the Summer Moon" first. It's a nice intro to the same topic, and far more readable (weaves a couple of stories together, rather than being an academic work). If you are interested in the topic at all, it's a worthy read.
I haven't had a lot of time for reading this year, but one I got most of the way through that was the most beneficial to me was Delivered From Distraction. There was a "Hey, do you guys experience this?" post I saw on HN several months ago, and it echoed my experiences so much it almost felt as if I had written it. So many people suggested getting an ADHD evaluation and gave all sorts of resources (books, videos, etc) and Delivered From Distraction was one that came up again and again. It was a great book because I saw SO much of myself and my struggles over the years reflected in its pages, and thanks to the post, discussion, the book, and so many of the other resources, I was able to get an evaluation a couple of weeks ago and will have the results in the next couple of months.
Ah, found the post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27593462
If you read any of that and think it feels really familiar, I can't suggest Delivered From Distraction enough.
Ah, found the post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27593462
If you read any of that and think it feels really familiar, I can't suggest Delivered From Distraction enough.
- Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smill - May be a bit dense sometimes in raw data but overall provides an awesome overview of how humanity has used and continues to use energy, from a historical, economical and physical perspective.
- The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee - A very well written narrative of medicine's fight against cancer (though the author also goes into detail into other aspects of pre-modern medicine) that really executes on explaining how modern day cancer treatment came to be and what are the probable next steps towards a cure.
- The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee - A very well written narrative of medicine's fight against cancer (though the author also goes into detail into other aspects of pre-modern medicine) that really executes on explaining how modern day cancer treatment came to be and what are the probable next steps towards a cure.
Humankind by Rutger Bregman. It shows an optimistic view of the world through history, he mentions with facts why we trust, why this was/is our most valuable asset to survive and why the biggest advantage of humanity is friendliness even today. He shows many stories about how we are good by nature. A must have book if you want to see the world from a positive angle.
The Overstory by Richard Powers. A few touching stories about trees and Americans. One of the best things I've read this decade, perhaps this lifetime.
Same! I typically struggle with long books, and especially those written in such rich language, but wowee this book was a phenomenonal punch to the stomach
I totally agree, this was my best read of the year too.
So beautiful but so morbid. I had to pause it as I started getting depressed.
That would be either 'Red Rising' by Pierce Brown, or 'All Systems Red' by Martha Wells. Though I have to add a cautionary remark: I found the books in Wells' "Murderbot Diaries" to be short enough and gripping enough that it is very hard not to trade a night of sleep for finishing them in one setting.
Red Rising is great, I love the whole capture-the-flag esque storyline - it might be my most favorite out of the whole series.
I agree! One of the few books I picked up and knew after the first few pages that I'd like it a lot.
“The First Salute” by Barbara Tuchman, her last book. It’s a deep dive into the politics, personalities and execution of the American revolution. The author is adept at finding the crucial stupid choices that lead to strategic collapse, often driven by pettiness and blindly following orthodoxy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/03945533...
I hadn't read that, but it reminds me of her first book (I think) "The Guns of August" which describes the first few months of WWI, and which I enjoyed very much.
I’ve read her WWI trilogy The Zimmerman Telegram, The Proud Tower, and The Guns of August. The Zimmerman Telegram and The Guns of August were both amazing, and The Zimmerman Telegram is short, to me it read better than any Tom Clancy novel. The Proud Tower is good but didn’t seem great. Nicolas and Alexandra by Robert Massie also occurs during that period and is worth picking up.
Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller
Lulu Miller, a host of the Invisibilia podcast, turns what at first is a simple story about an obsessive taxonomist, David Starr Jordan, into a deeply personal and poignant exploration of the chaos that rules are lives. This part-historical non-fiction, part memoir brilliantly sets itself up for a grand reveal at the end that will stick with you long after you finish. By far my favorite of the 62 books that I read and one of the best books that I have ever read.
Lulu Miller, a host of the Invisibilia podcast, turns what at first is a simple story about an obsessive taxonomist, David Starr Jordan, into a deeply personal and poignant exploration of the chaos that rules are lives. This part-historical non-fiction, part memoir brilliantly sets itself up for a grand reveal at the end that will stick with you long after you finish. By far my favorite of the 62 books that I read and one of the best books that I have ever read.
The Book of Why by Judea Pearl was good, and informative, and left me wanting to find a good textbook on the subject with practice problems so I can apply the concepts in my real life causality problems. Unfortunately it seems the textbooks on causal inference aren't quite designed that way, and I may need to learn R before proceeding.
It's already a well regarded title, so perhaps you've read it already, but Never Split the Difference was a pretty good book on negotiation, focused on navigating the emotional barriers to a mutual agreement. I'd put off reading it because the title sounded trite: "focus on win-win situations!" but really the book is about defusing conflict, and persuading people to agree to things already in their best interest, not brainstorming outside-the-box solutions to things.
It's already a well regarded title, so perhaps you've read it already, but Never Split the Difference was a pretty good book on negotiation, focused on navigating the emotional barriers to a mutual agreement. I'd put off reading it because the title sounded trite: "focus on win-win situations!" but really the book is about defusing conflict, and persuading people to agree to things already in their best interest, not brainstorming outside-the-box solutions to things.
1941, picked up a copy when visiting Pearl Harbor in October. Made me realize nation states will take suicidal decisions knowingly, politics and institutions can lead to insane burden the populace will have to take over. Projecting to today, it makes me think a war with the east is not improbable.
The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber.
I was searching for the meaning of happiness, what makes me happy and how to maintain it.
Before reading the book, my mind was wired that programming is my passion (as I've been doing it for 20+ years now). While reading and reflecting, I discovered that DIY is my passion! I love create things and programming was the tool that allowed me to enjoy that satisfaction.
I was searching for the meaning of happiness, what makes me happy and how to maintain it.
Before reading the book, my mind was wired that programming is my passion (as I've been doing it for 20+ years now). While reading and reflecting, I discovered that DIY is my passion! I love create things and programming was the tool that allowed me to enjoy that satisfaction.
"Born a crime" by Trevor Noah. It is about his experiences growing up as the 'product' of an illegal liason between a black woman and a white man in aparatheid South African. Warm, funny and shocking in equal measure.
Currently still reading, but will finish tomorrow: "Clear and Simple as the Truth" by Francis-Noël Thomas and Mark Turner.
This is the only book I know that discusses that there are several styles of writing and that exhibits one particular style that the authors call "classic style".
They also discuss differences from other styles ("practical style" as taught by Joseph Williams – my other favorite book about writing, that I like even more).
The book is split into three parts: an essay part that talks about the style, "The Museum" with examples of the style from other publications, and "The Studio" with practical tips and exercises.
This is the only book I know that discusses that there are several styles of writing and that exhibits one particular style that the authors call "classic style".
They also discuss differences from other styles ("practical style" as taught by Joseph Williams – my other favorite book about writing, that I like even more).
The book is split into three parts: an essay part that talks about the style, "The Museum" with examples of the style from other publications, and "The Studio" with practical tips and exercises.
My goodness, "Clear and Simple as the Truth" is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. They also lay out a theory about what writing actually is (how thought is translated to language) as well as providing an appeal about why one should write in classic style. It contains many wonderful paragraphs of writers such as Pascal, Descartes, and Borges.
The Library at Mount Char came from a Reddit recommendation for weird/bizarre fiction, and it did not disappoint. It's about kids who were abducted by a very powerful person, and that's all I'll say about it. If you like house of leaves or some of the strange chuck palahniuk stuff, you'll like this.
I also read The Library at Mount Char this year. I picked this up off the shelf at the library somewhat randomly. I didn't know anything about the book and so I was a bit skeptical. It took me a while to crack it. But wow, once I did...this is one of the strangest books I've ever read. Super messed up. But it was hard to put down.
+1 wish there were a sequel.
Ready Player Two. I kid, skip it unless you really liked Ready Player One.
Dune, to prepare for the movie, I love this book but I could see some of the flaws now that I'm older. The book's recognition that politics is an art and cam be studied, mastered and manipulated brought some of recent history into sharp relief.
Dune, to prepare for the movie, I love this book but I could see some of the flaws now that I'm older. The book's recognition that politics is an art and cam be studied, mastered and manipulated brought some of recent history into sharp relief.
Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality by Frank Wilczek
Great intro to particle physics even for an ordinary, non-science person. Blew my head by the very basics of reality is literally a simple formula. Like a codebase.
Great intro to particle physics even for an ordinary, non-science person. Blew my head by the very basics of reality is literally a simple formula. Like a codebase.
Abraham Heschel, "The Sabbath" (1951)
“Gallantly, ceaselessly, quietly, man must fight for inner liberty” to remain independent of the enslavement of the material world. “Inner liberty depends upon being exempt from domination of things as well as from domination of people. There are many who have acquired a high degree of political and social liberty, but only very few are not enslaved to things. This is our constant problem—how to live with people and remain free, how to live with things and remain independent.”
“Gallantly, ceaselessly, quietly, man must fight for inner liberty” to remain independent of the enslavement of the material world. “Inner liberty depends upon being exempt from domination of things as well as from domination of people. There are many who have acquired a high degree of political and social liberty, but only very few are not enslaved to things. This is our constant problem—how to live with people and remain free, how to live with things and remain independent.”
"This, then, is the answer to the problem of civilization: not to flee from the realm of space; to work with things of space but to be in love with eternity. Things are our tools; eternity, the Sabbath, is our mate. Israel is engaged to eternity. Even if they dedicate six days of the week to worldly pursuits, their soul is claimed by the seventh day."
"Why greatness cannot be planned" by Kenneth Stanley
It's a bit depressing that academia works the way it does, but in a twisted way it gives me hope that I could make a significant contribution somewhere by just tinkering or following what feels interesting. Even if there are tens of thousands of people working in an area like AI, most of them are just making incremental improvements to what already exists, so there could be an opening for independent people to do something interesting still.
It's a bit depressing that academia works the way it does, but in a twisted way it gives me hope that I could make a significant contribution somewhere by just tinkering or following what feels interesting. Even if there are tens of thousands of people working in an area like AI, most of them are just making incremental improvements to what already exists, so there could be an opening for independent people to do something interesting still.
I've also read this book, but unfortunately I found that whenever the authors talk about things beyond their immediate research - it gets bad.
The good parts are the descriptions of their research and discussion of the findings as far as it directly interacts with their research. Fortunately you don't have to read the whole book to get to the good parts. There is a 40 minute presentation/talk on YouTube that covers the good parts. [1] This talk is what originally got me to read the book.
The bad parts are where the authors take their AI algorithm quirks and jump to insane conclusions, going as far as to claim that setting goals for your own life is a bad idea. The fundamental misstep that the authors take is that they conflate goals with measurement of goals. They keep giving examples of naive ways one could measure progress towards goals - basically the functions they write for their AI program. These functions suck. Instead of just admiting that the functions they wrote suck, the authors conclude that one shouldn't have goals at all, because they couldn't come up with a good way to measure progress.
--
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQPL9GooyI
The good parts are the descriptions of their research and discussion of the findings as far as it directly interacts with their research. Fortunately you don't have to read the whole book to get to the good parts. There is a 40 minute presentation/talk on YouTube that covers the good parts. [1] This talk is what originally got me to read the book.
The bad parts are where the authors take their AI algorithm quirks and jump to insane conclusions, going as far as to claim that setting goals for your own life is a bad idea. The fundamental misstep that the authors take is that they conflate goals with measurement of goals. They keep giving examples of naive ways one could measure progress towards goals - basically the functions they write for their AI program. These functions suck. Instead of just admiting that the functions they wrote suck, the authors conclude that one shouldn't have goals at all, because they couldn't come up with a good way to measure progress.
--
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQPL9GooyI
White Guilt, by Shelby Steele. Gave me the conceptual tools to actually understand the political dynamics of racism in the US, rather than mere activist propaganda (as offered by other, similarly titled books). Plus it’s really well-written, and enjoyable to read.
I would also recommend The Color of Law. Its about how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation. The content can be a little dry at time, but lots of interesting data and history.
I've acquired a taste for book reviews. It's sort of meta, since they describe the book but also try very hard to provide context at the same time. Given that I've loved Andrew Gelman's very back-of-the-envelope style reviews, this new preference is probably no surprise.
In any case, I've read "Mantel Pieces" which is a collection of Hillary Mantel's reviews for the London Review of Books, and it's an insane display of powerful language. Mantel has a brutal clarity coupled with restrained playfulness that just blows me away.
Take this picture of what it must feel like to be a small child:
> “For some time now you have been able to take your eyes off your own feet without the general danger of falling over; that’s the stage of walking you are up to.”
or
> “I’m sticking by my joke. I know it’s ridiculous, but it’s the only joke I’ve got.”
or on Robbespierre:
> “For most people, the era of selfless risk-taking is a phase. It irritates their elders while it lasts; though sometimes, in political movements, those elders find a way to exploit it. But then, if young persons survive their ideals, something happens which surprises them: they learn a trade, they develop ambitions, they fall in love, they get a stake in life. Or simply time passes, and middle age beckons, with its shoddy compromises. But for the Incorruptible, idealism was not a phase. He kept his vision carefully in his head through his twenties and carried it carefully to Versailles, where he arrived a few days before his 31st birthday.”
In any case, I've read "Mantel Pieces" which is a collection of Hillary Mantel's reviews for the London Review of Books, and it's an insane display of powerful language. Mantel has a brutal clarity coupled with restrained playfulness that just blows me away.
Take this picture of what it must feel like to be a small child:
> “For some time now you have been able to take your eyes off your own feet without the general danger of falling over; that’s the stage of walking you are up to.”
or
> “I’m sticking by my joke. I know it’s ridiculous, but it’s the only joke I’ve got.”
or on Robbespierre:
> “For most people, the era of selfless risk-taking is a phase. It irritates their elders while it lasts; though sometimes, in political movements, those elders find a way to exploit it. But then, if young persons survive their ideals, something happens which surprises them: they learn a trade, they develop ambitions, they fall in love, they get a stake in life. Or simply time passes, and middle age beckons, with its shoddy compromises. But for the Incorruptible, idealism was not a phase. He kept his vision carefully in his head through his twenties and carried it carefully to Versailles, where he arrived a few days before his 31st birthday.”
“Crime and Punishment” was by far the best book I’ve read this year. Not that I necessarily agree with all the ideas presented by the author, but I found it to be written so well that I couldn’t put it down. Really didn’t expect that for classical literature.
I don't mean this in a cynical way, but how come you didn't expect a literary classic to be well-written?
I think a lot of americans enter adulthood only exposed to "classics" as older english-language works. The prose and especially dialog in those doesn't flow naturally to contemporary english speakers so feels a little difficult or stilted. Familiarity with it needs to be earned before making confident aesthetic judgements.
For the russian classics the translation trend for decades has been a little more terse and less ornate sentence-by-sentence. Which I think flows naturally and makes it feel more modern to contemporary english speakers. This often surprises people! But the russian classics can be a more fun, modern-feeling read than the english ones.
It's one of the advantages of translated works. They can be continually retranslated into the target language as its vernacular and cadence changes. Same-language works are stuck forever with the dialect of the time, and "paraphrases" into modern vernacular are met with much more skepticism than new translations are.
For the russian classics the translation trend for decades has been a little more terse and less ornate sentence-by-sentence. Which I think flows naturally and makes it feel more modern to contemporary english speakers. This often surprises people! But the russian classics can be a more fun, modern-feeling read than the english ones.
It's one of the advantages of translated works. They can be continually retranslated into the target language as its vernacular and cadence changes. Same-language works are stuck forever with the dialect of the time, and "paraphrases" into modern vernacular are met with much more skepticism than new translations are.
I didn’t say I didn’t think it would be well written, I just didn’t expect it to be as good as I found it to be. I had just been reading “Paradise Lost” and found “Crime and Punishment” written so well (not that PL isn’t) and in such an approachable way (PL certainly isn’t very approachable) that I couldn’t stop. Often with classic literature I get bogged down with flowery language, what seems like over emphasis on points, or dialogues that seem to stretch for eternity. Especially classic European literature with their “classic” translations. Often I push through those points and am rewarded by that, but with “Crime and Punishment” I felt almost no friction while reading, which was a surprise to me because I often do feel that friction with classic literature. I hope that answers your question.
I am not being cynical either, but have you read this thread? Or any thread on books on this site? 90% are SF/fantasy or books about CS (90% written by American/British authors), most (not all) people in tech have very mediocre taste in literature and in non-fiction books outside of technology. You rarely would see here people recommending Orhan Pamuk,Javier Marias, Dino Buzzati,Amos Oz,WG Sebald or Naguib Mahfouz, just to give examples of very famous novelists totally ignored here. For every 100 mentions of total mediocrities like Mark Manson, Ryan Holiday or Simon Sinek you would be lucky to find 1 mention of people like Ha-Joon Chang,Leszek Kolakowski or Peter Sloterdijk.
In my case I mostly listen to audiobooks and take notes. My top 3 favourites based on the amount of notes taken for this year:
Creativity Inc: Fun read about the conception of Pixar Studios and why having a different process amd focus than other studios have led them to create so many award winning films. Ties in to some other books on adapting the process in order to generate better/more creative outcomes that have influenced me.
Immune: With everything going on this year it felt appropriate. Explains to a layperson how your immune system functions and who the main players are. I had to take quite a bit of notes and read up/look at quite a few pictures/train using flashcards in order to make this info stick. I'd highly recommend anyone considering this book to get the physical book rather than the audiobook.
How to avoid a climate disaster: Bill Gates explains the key metrics a layperson should keep in mind when climate policy is discussed. I recommend creating a cheat sheet to remember it better. While it felt informative I dont really like the fact that Bill Gates is the author rather than some climate scientist. I tried to reduce my bias by reading some more climate change related books written by subject experts after this one.
Creativity Inc: Fun read about the conception of Pixar Studios and why having a different process amd focus than other studios have led them to create so many award winning films. Ties in to some other books on adapting the process in order to generate better/more creative outcomes that have influenced me.
Immune: With everything going on this year it felt appropriate. Explains to a layperson how your immune system functions and who the main players are. I had to take quite a bit of notes and read up/look at quite a few pictures/train using flashcards in order to make this info stick. I'd highly recommend anyone considering this book to get the physical book rather than the audiobook.
How to avoid a climate disaster: Bill Gates explains the key metrics a layperson should keep in mind when climate policy is discussed. I recommend creating a cheat sheet to remember it better. While it felt informative I dont really like the fact that Bill Gates is the author rather than some climate scientist. I tried to reduce my bias by reading some more climate change related books written by subject experts after this one.
Who's the author for Immune? There seem to be quite a few books with that title.
Just read “LaserWriter II” and it was a surprisingly fun read. All about the characters in an old Apple repair shop in the ‘90s. The writing style is really unique, and the nostalgia was high. Discovered it while eavesdropping on someone recommending books in a bookstore.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56269270
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56269270
Loved this, and glad to have it recommended by someone for whom Tekserve was just "an old Apple repair shop" ツ
Tekserve was the nexus of the NYC personal computing community spanning the desktop-publishing and Internet revolutions; when I started an ISP a couple of blocks away my partner and many of our employees were ex-Teks, two of whom are mentioned by name in this book. Good times.
Tekserve was the nexus of the NYC personal computing community spanning the desktop-publishing and Internet revolutions; when I started an ISP a couple of blocks away my partner and many of our employees were ex-Teks, two of whom are mentioned by name in this book. Good times.
I just heard about this book on the radio (maybe?) and just the title instantly transported me back to the 1990s. Thanks for recommendation, I will check it out.
"Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" was the most impactful book I read this year. It explores dying and illness and how we can treat the terminally ill and dying better and more compassionately.
The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku. It’s a cool look at lesser known side of Western civilization, namely estatic spiritual experiences.
Even if you don’t agree with the author’s conclusions, it’s very well researched and a fun read.
Even if you don’t agree with the author’s conclusions, it’s very well researched and a fun read.
Dune - I loved it so much I’m avoiding watching the film in case it doesn’t live up to the book.
Never split the difference by Chris Voss - it’s a classic on negotiation. I’ve learned a lot of practical tips and tricks from it.
Never split the difference by Chris Voss - it’s a classic on negotiation. I’ve learned a lot of practical tips and tricks from it.
The new film does live up to the book, in my experience and after re-watching the original Lynch film, it wasn't even as bad as I remember. The new film fits the atmosphere perfectly, hoping the sequel doesn't end up like the matrix sequels (although I'll probably watch matrix 4 too!)
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. The firs impression is it seems to be a sci-fi novel, but it is actually much more about humans than robots or future. Started slow but easy to get through. A great read.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (father of behavioral psychology) was incredibly impactful.
A few notable runner ups: - The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick Mckeown (as fitness enthusiast this was a giant gap in my knowledge
- Principles by Ray Dalio (this is incredible and I need to go through it again)
- Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green (best book on investing I've read in quite a while)
A few notable runner ups: - The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick Mckeown (as fitness enthusiast this was a giant gap in my knowledge
- Principles by Ray Dalio (this is incredible and I need to go through it again)
- Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green (best book on investing I've read in quite a while)
The Anubis Gates, extremely entertaining time travel story by Tim Powers. It's not very "sci" sci-fi, actually there's magic in the mix, but totally recommended anyway.
I really enjoyed this book. Probably my favorite of his books I've read so far. If you haven't read On Stranger Tides, check that out, it's great as well.
Late here. I read tons of fiction, some standounts:
Piranesi - Susanna Clark
This feels like a lightweight version of House of Leaves, which is probably a double complement. It's got gorgeous prose, and a completely ethereal, mysterious feel the whole way. Themes of memory, life and death, reality, mental illness, etc.
Notes From the Burning Age - Claire North
Solarpunk thriller set upon a backdrop of Overstory-like prose that praises and exalts natural beauty. Its a neat concept, though slow and very tense. Some content warnings.
Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno Garcia
A modern approach to gothic horror, where gaslighting is part of the horror, but the character knows that some of the gaslighting isn't gaslighting, it's mysterious things happening. Really tense also.
The Night Watchman - Louise Erdrich
This year's Pulizer, historical fiction based on the Turtle Mountain Native American tribe's attempt to maintain their status as an independent nation in the 1950s, magical realism and a story of community and persistence.
Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse
Medium fantasy set in a really neat mixed Native Central/North American setting. The characters are fantastic, and this book was tense enough that I had to put it down because I was worried about two of the characters I really liked.
Middlegame - Seanan McGuire
This was really fantastic sort of situational horror. It very clearly horror, but mostly not gore-y. There's bits of implied stuff, but its mostly just like the horror of controlling the lives of a pair of magical soulmates in cruel ways, and also their journey of discovery of what they are and what they can do (which is also horrifying!). I also felt that this book had perhaps the best use of pre-chapter quotes that I've ever seen in a novel, and it invents a whole fake early 20th century childrens book as part of the worldbuilding. That book, "Over the Woodward Wall" has also been published, although I haven't read it.
I also read tons of Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin, and I can't recommend them enough (especially reading Butler and then Jemisin, as their writings are thematically similar, but approach similar topics from different directions). As well as tons of stuff by Anne Leckie, Becky Chambers, and Martha Wells, which are all great if you want space operas.
Piranesi - Susanna Clark
This feels like a lightweight version of House of Leaves, which is probably a double complement. It's got gorgeous prose, and a completely ethereal, mysterious feel the whole way. Themes of memory, life and death, reality, mental illness, etc.
Notes From the Burning Age - Claire North
Solarpunk thriller set upon a backdrop of Overstory-like prose that praises and exalts natural beauty. Its a neat concept, though slow and very tense. Some content warnings.
Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno Garcia
A modern approach to gothic horror, where gaslighting is part of the horror, but the character knows that some of the gaslighting isn't gaslighting, it's mysterious things happening. Really tense also.
The Night Watchman - Louise Erdrich
This year's Pulizer, historical fiction based on the Turtle Mountain Native American tribe's attempt to maintain their status as an independent nation in the 1950s, magical realism and a story of community and persistence.
Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse
Medium fantasy set in a really neat mixed Native Central/North American setting. The characters are fantastic, and this book was tense enough that I had to put it down because I was worried about two of the characters I really liked.
Middlegame - Seanan McGuire
This was really fantastic sort of situational horror. It very clearly horror, but mostly not gore-y. There's bits of implied stuff, but its mostly just like the horror of controlling the lives of a pair of magical soulmates in cruel ways, and also their journey of discovery of what they are and what they can do (which is also horrifying!). I also felt that this book had perhaps the best use of pre-chapter quotes that I've ever seen in a novel, and it invents a whole fake early 20th century childrens book as part of the worldbuilding. That book, "Over the Woodward Wall" has also been published, although I haven't read it.
I also read tons of Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin, and I can't recommend them enough (especially reading Butler and then Jemisin, as their writings are thematically similar, but approach similar topics from different directions). As well as tons of stuff by Anne Leckie, Becky Chambers, and Martha Wells, which are all great if you want space operas.
Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson presents a best case scenario for our future.
Really love this book too. Feel like some of the ideas outlined here could make a difference for the climate future. Hard to see them being politically palatable though.
Die Wise by Stephen Jenkinson is a masterpiece. I thought I had a pretty good relationship with death until I read this book. It starts out slow because that’s the thesis of the book: go slow and pay attention; be curious and feel emotions deeply without hurrying. He gently and convincingly shakes down concepts that seems beyond reproach like “hope”. Seriously he makes a killer argument against hope. Not that it’s all bad, but rather that it must earn it’s place at the table. Hope, he argues, is like a mortgage. You pay today with a goal of owning a piece of happiness in the future. (Eg Today’s bad because I’ve been told that I’m dying but I hope that I’ll get better with experimental therapy. 99% do not, so it’s better not to mortgage your future on a promise that’s unlikely.) I can’t do the book justice here, but I hope someone reads it because of this recommendation!
The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook by Davis, et al.
I was so stressed out to a point of collapsing, needing transfusions, and then being physically disabled for a month this year. Startup trouble, new baby complications, first child sleep regression, etc. all happening within weeks.
This book, with its practical, actionable suggestions, saved my sanity.
I was so stressed out to a point of collapsing, needing transfusions, and then being physically disabled for a month this year. Startup trouble, new baby complications, first child sleep regression, etc. all happening within weeks.
This book, with its practical, actionable suggestions, saved my sanity.
Fiction:
Attack Surface - Cory Doctorow
Non-Fiction:
Engineering General Intelligence Vol 2 - Ben Goertzel
Honorable Mention - Fiction
Daemon - Daniel Suarez
Freedom - Daniel Suarez
Billy Summers - Stephen King
Elsewhere - Dean Koontz
Honorable Mention - Non-Fiction:
We See It All - Jon Fasman
Integrating Rules and Connectionism for Robust Commonsense Reasoning - Ron Sun
Talking Nets: An Oral History of Neural Networks - James A. Anderson
The Soar Cognitive Architecture - John Laird
Attack Surface - Cory Doctorow
Non-Fiction:
Engineering General Intelligence Vol 2 - Ben Goertzel
Honorable Mention - Fiction
Daemon - Daniel Suarez
Freedom - Daniel Suarez
Billy Summers - Stephen King
Elsewhere - Dean Koontz
Honorable Mention - Non-Fiction:
We See It All - Jon Fasman
Integrating Rules and Connectionism for Robust Commonsense Reasoning - Ron Sun
Talking Nets: An Oral History of Neural Networks - James A. Anderson
The Soar Cognitive Architecture - John Laird
When We Cease to Understand the World
by Benjamín Labatut, translated from the Spanish by Adrian Nathan West
https://www.nyrb.com/products/when-we-cease-to-understand-th...
https://www.nyrb.com/products/when-we-cease-to-understand-th...
seconding this, it is an absolutely wonderful book.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. It's a great read, and I learned a lot about the early years of the US. It's also the book that Lin-Manuel Miranda used as a reference for the musical, so I watched the musical for the first time after reading the book, and it blew me away.
>Lin-Manuel Miranda used as a reference for the musical
I have to admit - this is a mention of a topic I would not have expected to see on this site in a million years, but yes, this musical is fantastically entertaining, even with a complete ignorance of American history.
I have to admit - this is a mention of a topic I would not have expected to see on this site in a million years, but yes, this musical is fantastically entertaining, even with a complete ignorance of American history.
At least in the US, which is overrepresented here, it's one of the most visible and successful pieces of middlebrow art in living memory. Why would you not expect to see it mentioned here.
Fiction: Berserk. Not a book, but a long-running manga that began in 1989 by then-22-year-old Kentaro Miura, and which was ongoing until his tragic death this year in May. It is a fantasy; some parts are grim, some immensely tragic, but at its core it is human and uplifting, and we see moments of incredible beauty and deep emotion. On top of this, the art is absolutely gorgeous and is in a class of its own. If you're interested in Berserk, I recommend reading the original manga, but the 1997 anime is excellent as well.
Nonfiction: To Pixar And Beyond. The former CFO of Pixar, Lawrence Levy, tells the story of Pixar's IPO and the making of Toy Story. Very interesting reading for anyone interesting in Steve Jobs, Pixar, or the business of movies and tech.
Nonfiction: To Pixar And Beyond. The former CFO of Pixar, Lawrence Levy, tells the story of Pixar's IPO and the making of Toy Story. Very interesting reading for anyone interesting in Steve Jobs, Pixar, or the business of movies and tech.
Creativity, Inc is also a great read if you're still left wanting some more Pixar stories!
This is an excellent book on shared creativity too
I'm pretty sure Beserk is a book.
Been reading A Gentleman in Moscow for a while. Haven’t finished yet, but I find it thorougly enjoyable.
This was perhaps the most beautiful book I read this year. Thanks for reminding me. The main character's take on life was inspiring.
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer [0], because it brought the concept of reciprocity to the fore for me this year, and nudged me towards Finding the Mother Tree (Suzanne Simard), Eat Like a Fish (Bren Smith), and The Wayfinders (Wade Davis), all about ways of life that embrace diversity towards resilience in the face of the hyperobject of climate change.
The life stories of the authors has been helpful in my personal development to be a better parent to my child, and a better spouse, so that we’re better-able to adapt to and shape change.
[0] https://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=braidi...
[0] https://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=braidi...
I’ll go with Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr.
I really enjoyed Piranesi as well. Easy to read and a lot of fun.
Thirding Piranesi. Finished it in a longer sitting than it felt like.
Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke. Inventive, well-written, and compelling.
Everything she writes is great.
Published in 2021 -- 'Perhaps the Stars' The last installment of the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer.
It's SF. But written in a conversation with Enlightenment era philosophy and plenty of bits of mythology. Lots of exploration of what could be and what should be, and the interplay of politics and war and ambition and murder.
(A note though, if the style and language of the first chapter put you off, then ... You're not going to like the rest of it)
I went into the last book with two questions:
It's SF. But written in a conversation with Enlightenment era philosophy and plenty of bits of mythology. Lots of exploration of what could be and what should be, and the interplay of politics and war and ambition and murder.
(A note though, if the style and language of the first chapter put you off, then ... You're not going to like the rest of it)
I went into the last book with two questions:
* Who is on Who's side?
* Who _is_ Mycroft Canner?
Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, Roger Scruton
So far I never understood what conservatism is, but Scruton changed it entirely, especially it felt fulfilling after reading Burke's Reflections on Recent France Revolution.
So far I never understood what conservatism is, but Scruton changed it entirely, especially it felt fulfilling after reading Burke's Reflections on Recent France Revolution.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I spent a lot of the year in isolation, only seeing a few people and this book felt like an appropriate analogy. It was also very heartwarming when I really needed something to lift me up.
For me it was "How to Take Smart Notes" by Sönke Ahrens. This may be a little cliche answer, but to me it was very surprising to discover a person who reached such high productivity in Academic Publishing with the help of a smart system.
I have started to implement the Zettelkasten system in my own life. Hope that will use that system to publish more work on my website.
I published my thoughts, learning and notes on this book -> https://rasulkireev.com/how-to-take-smart-notes/
I have started to implement the Zettelkasten system in my own life. Hope that will use that system to publish more work on my website.
I published my thoughts, learning and notes on this book -> https://rasulkireev.com/how-to-take-smart-notes/
Fantasy nerd.
Rhythm of War, book 4 in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Love most stuff by this author.
And in response to Amazon making a Wheel of Time tv show, rereading that. Pleasant experience, very nice to get immersed in this huge universe.
Rhythm of War, book 4 in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Love most stuff by this author.
And in response to Amazon making a Wheel of Time tv show, rereading that. Pleasant experience, very nice to get immersed in this huge universe.
Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology.
It's like a master class in historical political relations all in a single (large) book.
It's like a master class in historical political relations all in a single (large) book.
I found The First Law books to be fantastic: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/944073.The_Blade_Itself
(You can tell The Blade Itself is a first novel — but the following novels are A+.)
I had given up on fiction for a few years, but tried it out after coming across a thread on Reddit. The audiobooks in the series are incredibly good — in fact, I've recently just been reading anything that the narrator (Steven Pacey) has done in the past.
(You can tell The Blade Itself is a first novel — but the following novels are A+.)
I had given up on fiction for a few years, but tried it out after coming across a thread on Reddit. The audiobooks in the series are incredibly good — in fact, I've recently just been reading anything that the narrator (Steven Pacey) has done in the past.
Try Patrick Rothfuss. Fair warning though, he hasn’t ever written the last part of the trilogy.
The Blacktongue Thief is also good.
The Blacktongue Thief is also good.
Non-Fiction: The Pyramid Principle - Logic in Writing and Thinking.
Although the writing techniques the author presents sound obvious in hindsight, having them all-in one place as an comprehensive framework you can follow helped me a lot for the writing and research in my work
Fiction: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries
A curated and annotated collection of locked-room mystery stories. All the stories are accompagnied by a small introduction into the author and the main character written by the curator. His enthousiasm shows in these small introductions, making the stories themselves even better.
Although the writing techniques the author presents sound obvious in hindsight, having them all-in one place as an comprehensive framework you can follow helped me a lot for the writing and research in my work
Fiction: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries
A curated and annotated collection of locked-room mystery stories. All the stories are accompagnied by a small introduction into the author and the main character written by the curator. His enthousiasm shows in these small introductions, making the stories themselves even better.
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson
Essentially a book on how the best in the world structured their learning to master their skill, and how you can incorporate to what you want to master.
Essentially a book on how the best in the world structured their learning to master their skill, and how you can incorporate to what you want to master.
Throughout the overwhelming majority of the year, I wasn't in a position where I had a lot of "sit down with a good book and a good drink" reading time, but I've gotten some in during the winters at each end. I think best overall was one of the ones I read way early in the year, Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche. I had been saving The Pale King by David Foster Wallace for an "in case of emergency break glass" book because I couldn't bear to finish all his writing and I just had to break the glass recently. I've been enjoying that thoroughly and should finish before the year is up; it may win out.
I know this probably paints a bad picture of my reading habits because of the present public perception of those (previously publicly praiseworthy) authors, so I feel the urge to get in front of that and (1) insist I have eclectic tastes and this year had a small sample size, (2) insist those books (well, many parts of those books) really ARE excellent, and (3) provide one more suggestion even though this is already a wordy comment: why's (poignant) Guide to Ruby. Someone shared a link to the web version on HN earlier this year, maybe it was even in a deep, 1-upvoted comment, I don't recall - but that was what occupied the whole next part of my day, and I quite liked it (having already known Ruby from some ancient rusty Rails experience).
I know this probably paints a bad picture of my reading habits because of the present public perception of those (previously publicly praiseworthy) authors, so I feel the urge to get in front of that and (1) insist I have eclectic tastes and this year had a small sample size, (2) insist those books (well, many parts of those books) really ARE excellent, and (3) provide one more suggestion even though this is already a wordy comment: why's (poignant) Guide to Ruby. Someone shared a link to the web version on HN earlier this year, maybe it was even in a deep, 1-upvoted comment, I don't recall - but that was what occupied the whole next part of my day, and I quite liked it (having already known Ruby from some ancient rusty Rails experience).
[deleted]
When you are time-constrained, you really have to pick the best books. Love the "in case of emergency break glass" category.
Politics is for Power by Eitan Hersh. He argues that the nationalization and "hobby"-ization has caused the political dysfunction we see today and argues that individuals should pursue politics exclusively to gain more power for what they believe in. One handy distinction he makes is the difference between politics as a noun: something you know about like current events (which is a waste of time) and politics as a verb: something you do in your community to gain more power.
The Book of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe.
Yes, its fiction and its even science fiction to some extent but what a ride! It's probably not for everyone but it has a cult following.
Yes, its fiction and its even science fiction to some extent but what a ride! It's probably not for everyone but it has a cult following.
The moment where the key insight (spoiler) that you need to really grasp what's going on happens is extremely satisfying. I think that feeling is part of why it has such longevity, despite some of the flaws in Wolfe's writing.
1. "Helgoland: The world of quantum theory" It's relatively light on physics but I loved the philosophical mixin.
2. "Seed of knowledge, stone of plenty". Mostly about the electromagnetic properties of ancient monuments and how electromagnetic fields can impact seed fertility. I can not believe how this is such an invisible book.
3. "Humankind. A hopeful history". I thoroughly enjoyed this fact based retelling of human history.
2. "Seed of knowledge, stone of plenty". Mostly about the electromagnetic properties of ancient monuments and how electromagnetic fields can impact seed fertility. I can not believe how this is such an invisible book.
3. "Humankind. A hopeful history". I thoroughly enjoyed this fact based retelling of human history.
Not exactly a book but just read the "The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness" and it's full of great quotes and entries by Naval who is an entrepreneur now turned philosopher. Gives sound logic on how to find wealth, contentment and purpose in todays busy world.
It's also free in ebook form. https://www.navalmanack.com
It's also free in ebook form. https://www.navalmanack.com
I took me a year to read "Seeing That Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising", but it was fascinating. It guides the reader into exploring their minds through meditation. But you learn to explore beyond your mind. It's hard to put into words, because I'm barely wrapping my mind around it. I'd say it's mostly about questioning the reality that surrounds us (and inside us).
I didn't read as much as I normally do, mostly due to school, but I really enjoyed "The Midnight Library" and "Recursion" for fiction.
I am mostly done with Antifragile, and it's pulling me between political and philosophical sides. Don't know which side I'll land on, or how long I'll stay there.
As a side note, I've found "Deep Learning: A Visual Approach" to be very instructive.
I am mostly done with Antifragile, and it's pulling me between political and philosophical sides. Don't know which side I'll land on, or how long I'll stay there.
As a side note, I've found "Deep Learning: A Visual Approach" to be very instructive.
‘The Magus’, by John Fowles. Masterful.
I have only read a few chapters but I highly recommend ‘The Beginning of Infinity’ by David Deutsch, it’s just so interesting!
I have only read a few chapters but I highly recommend ‘The Beginning of Infinity’ by David Deutsch, it’s just so interesting!
I think 'The Magus' may be my favourite book of all time. And it's the only Fowles I've read. I did lend it to someone that hated it however ! :)
Secret History by Donna Tart also recommended.
Secret History by Donna Tart also recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Talk-Evolutionary-Evolution/dp...
It goes a bit slow and with too much details about hypotheses that are eventually rejected but really interesting insights into language. Relevant to computer languages too probably.
It goes a bit slow and with too much details about hypotheses that are eventually rejected but really interesting insights into language. Relevant to computer languages too probably.
My favorite non-fiction book of the year was Isabel Wilkerson's "Caste" but I tried to spend some time reading some high quality fiction this year and stumbled upon Kristin Hannah's "The Four Winds." This says a lot since I read some classics this year including "Anna Karenina", "All the Light We Cannot See", and "Where the Crawdads Sing." I enjoyed "The Four Winds" the most. So beautifully written and so much emotion. I managed to read 50 books this year which was huge because I have never considered myself a "reader" but I received several books for Christmas because my family considers the "reader" of the family. For my fellow ADHD friends skip the Kindle and get the actual book. Then use your finger to read. Life-changing. Happy New Year!
I re-read my favorite book, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, but this time, I read it aloud to my kids (albeit with occasional censoring of some parts).
I'm prone to bursting into laughter with that book, and my kids quickly found it very funny as well. They could almost immediately divine the next contradiction in the narrative.
I'm prone to bursting into laughter with that book, and my kids quickly found it very funny as well. They could almost immediately divine the next contradiction in the narrative.
I only read two books this year but they were amazing!
The first one is Dune : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44767458-dune. It needs no introduction to HN, I think. Best Sci-fi book I have read so far.
The second one is American Kingpin : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpi... . It is about Silk Road (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)), the online darkweb market place. It's very well written.
The first one is Dune : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44767458-dune. It needs no introduction to HN, I think. Best Sci-fi book I have read so far.
The second one is American Kingpin : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpi... . It is about Silk Road (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)), the online darkweb market place. It's very well written.
I read American Kingpin and liked it a lot. There’s also Silk Road by Eileen Ormsby. Less entertaining but I remember learning something new that I hadn’t picked up about the case elsewhere.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/205587.The_Seasons_of...
Found it in my late parents’ library while clearing it out.
Haven’t quite finished it yet but my therapist is eager for me to follow through and discuss it.
Essentially it’s about realizing (I guess it’s less controversial today than it was when the book was published, although I did meet people that led me to believe they didn’t quite agree) that men - and women, there’s a sequel book dedicated fo women too - don’t plateau and stay the same once they exit post-adolescence.
There are legitimate passages later in life, that don’t necessarily mean crises or failures to resign to one’s fate, that need to be lived through rather than dismissed.
Found it in my late parents’ library while clearing it out.
Haven’t quite finished it yet but my therapist is eager for me to follow through and discuss it.
Essentially it’s about realizing (I guess it’s less controversial today than it was when the book was published, although I did meet people that led me to believe they didn’t quite agree) that men - and women, there’s a sequel book dedicated fo women too - don’t plateau and stay the same once they exit post-adolescence.
There are legitimate passages later in life, that don’t necessarily mean crises or failures to resign to one’s fate, that need to be lived through rather than dismissed.
Children of time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a scifi novel so much.
Make sure to read the sequal: Children of Ruin.
I will surely do it, I have it in queue
All three foundation books. I read them before watching the series and they were incredibly good. Although you can watch the series first if you want, the TV series and the books cross over about as much as the Harry Potter books and LOTR do, there’s wizards and baddies, that’s about it
I reread the first one and was struck by how much smoking was included. (H. Beam Piper too) Between that and the nucleics, it really felt like 50's era SF, admittedly one that held up better than the bulk of them.
The Social Construction of Reality[1]. This book helped me in my personal life coming to terms with my identity. But it also helped me understand the art of discourse much more deeply. It gives the tools to easily and quickly identify implicit assumptions in arguments and drill down into why and how they are made. It also makes it very clear that people in general construct very poor arguments. You may already believe this, but just how poor they are is almost unbelievable.
1. Berger, Luckmannn1966 ISBN 978-0-385-05898-8 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-38...
1. Berger, Luckmannn1966 ISBN 978-0-385-05898-8 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-38...
You would probably also be interested in The Construction of Social Reality by John Searle (1997), which is not exactly a reply to or an extension of Berger and Luckmann but a parallel work rooted in philosophy rather than sociology.
Thank you for the recommendation. I've also recently read Ásta's Categories We Live By which references Searle quite a bit. So it definitely tracks with the line I've been going down :)
The Tyranny of Merit by Michael J. Sandel. Whether you agree with him or not, it gives you a lot to think about in terms of how to organise society in a way that helps people flourish. Also contains some deep insights into some of society's current problems.
With the year I’ve had the books I think I’ve most enjoyed are the old Gotrek & Felix novels set in the Warhammer universe. I love short stories and they’re written in a very serialised style. They’re wry and charming and don’t go full grimdark. Great escapism.
I didn't do it on purpose, but I read "You look like a thing and I love you"[0] followed by "I, Robot"[1] and that combination was really fun.
The ideas Isaac Asimov put forward in I, Robot (written in the 1940/50s!) juxtaposed with a factual description of the current use of AI and the unusual side effects was really cool.
0: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44286534-you-look-like-a...
1: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41804.I_Robot
The ideas Isaac Asimov put forward in I, Robot (written in the 1940/50s!) juxtaposed with a factual description of the current use of AI and the unusual side effects was really cool.
0: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44286534-you-look-like-a...
1: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41804.I_Robot
Veronica decides to die.
Amazing book about what it means to be crazy. How to live an authentic life. Written in a funny and easy to read way. And it has the most important quality of any book IL really like. It's short and to the point haha
Amazing book about what it means to be crazy. How to live an authentic life. Written in a funny and easy to read way. And it has the most important quality of any book IL really like. It's short and to the point haha
If you liked Veronica you'll probably also like other Paulo Coelho novels. Specifically, I can recommend "Eleven Minutes" and "By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept".
hehe I am halfway through Eleven Minutes. Really like it. Also I have read the Alchemist, but didn't like it too much. Do you have further recommendations ?:)
I didn't read much this year, but Norm Macdonald's death was a bit much for me, so I picked up a copy of his book 'Based On A True Story.' It's not for everyone but if you were a fan, a great read.
That's rich...
IF that were a memoir, he would have put juicy things in there from his own life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7K-kaelQEs
It has been the only celebrity death to get me as well. I was on the tail end of one of my regular Norm video binges when it happened, and like most, I had no idea he was even sick. He was such a complex man, it's hard to look away.
IF that were a memoir, he would have put juicy things in there from his own life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7K-kaelQEs
It has been the only celebrity death to get me as well. I was on the tail end of one of my regular Norm video binges when it happened, and like most, I had no idea he was even sick. He was such a complex man, it's hard to look away.
> I had no idea he was even sick.
Unsure if I'm being 'whooshed', but coincidentally that's one of his most famous jokes as well - https://youtu.be/SVswkvCK6_0
Complex he was. Always full of deep thoughts and just kinda shooting from the hip, in that he seemed able to listen to reason and explore new ideas when challenged.
Back on the death topic, he had a lot of really deep thoughts on that as well, if you hadn't seen - https://youtu.be/WWpRCN46mi8
I think his death being a surprise is exactly what he wanted. RIP Norm.
Unsure if I'm being 'whooshed', but coincidentally that's one of his most famous jokes as well - https://youtu.be/SVswkvCK6_0
Complex he was. Always full of deep thoughts and just kinda shooting from the hip, in that he seemed able to listen to reason and explore new ideas when challenged.
Back on the death topic, he had a lot of really deep thoughts on that as well, if you hadn't seen - https://youtu.be/WWpRCN46mi8
I think his death being a surprise is exactly what he wanted. RIP Norm.
This year I revisited "A Cultural History of Physics" quite a tremendous book. It goes to the entire history of physics while parallelly highlighting cultural events with emphasis on how one influenced the other.
I solely read non-fiction and try to break out of the coding/business book bubble :D
A few of my favorites this year:
- Immune: A book about how our Immune system works..amazing to learn about it
- Calling Bullshit: A book about how to lie with data. (has quite some overlap with thinking fast, thinking slow)
- Quiet: Figured out due to this book that introvert/extrovert is no black/white scale and that I indeed have introvert tendencies in me
---
Shameless self plug: Most of the books I read are covered in my (german) book podcast: https://www.swpodcast.de/
A few of my favorites this year:
- Immune: A book about how our Immune system works..amazing to learn about it
- Calling Bullshit: A book about how to lie with data. (has quite some overlap with thinking fast, thinking slow)
- Quiet: Figured out due to this book that introvert/extrovert is no black/white scale and that I indeed have introvert tendencies in me
---
Shameless self plug: Most of the books I read are covered in my (german) book podcast: https://www.swpodcast.de/
The Fault in Our Stars
Okay, I know it's young adult, but it really effected me. I don't know that I've ever read a more honest discussion of death. I don't read much fiction though. Maybe I should read more.
Okay, I know it's young adult, but it really effected me. I don't know that I've ever read a more honest discussion of death. I don't read much fiction though. Maybe I should read more.
YA has been one of the more innovative genres of fiction for a good couple decades now. No shame in appreciating it for its evident qualities; you place yourself in good company by so doing.
Fiction:
- the blacktongue thief ; if you love rothfuss, then you’ll love this.
- between two fires ; same author. Really great book about the Black Death but also demons.
- hench ; a normie uses Zersetzung against the alter egos of superheroes. It’s great
- five decembers ; great read, and a clever take on the traditional noir genre
- against the grain
- pre industrial societies
- the other face of battle
[deleted]
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg.
Its an older book i read kind of randomly but really liked. It is a novel about a telepath who is slowly losing his ability, delving deeply into the character.
Its an older book i read kind of randomly but really liked. It is a novel about a telepath who is slowly losing his ability, delving deeply into the character.
My favorite of Silverberg's books. The writing style grows more distant and cold as the hero involuntarily withdraws from life. Much overlooked, IMO.
nonfiction: Beauty in Photography by Robert Adams. I re-read it for the third or fourth time this year. It's probably the most important book to me.
Some excerpts:
- "Making photographs has to be, then, a personal matter; when it is not, the results are not persuasive. Only the artist's presence in the work can convince us that its affirmation resulted from and has been tested by human experience."
- The best criticism comes from "the deepest commitment to sharing the picture with others. Anything less than that means defeat, calling attention not to the picture but to the critic."
- "When we are young, we want art that is filled with the bitter facts, because we believe that evil can be overcome if we face it; when we grow older and begin to doubt this optimistic belief, we want art that does not simply reinforce the pain of our disillusionment. In pictures like those by Hine the requirements of young and old are both met; the photographs urge reform, but seem to suggest that the need for it is not the most important thing to be said of life."
- "Contrary to popular expectations, many of the best nature pictures – often the truest and finally most reassuring – do contain people and their works."
fiction: Slaughterhouse-Five. I love repetition, and Vonnegut uses to great effect. I read most of it in an evening.
Some excerpts:
- "Making photographs has to be, then, a personal matter; when it is not, the results are not persuasive. Only the artist's presence in the work can convince us that its affirmation resulted from and has been tested by human experience."
- The best criticism comes from "the deepest commitment to sharing the picture with others. Anything less than that means defeat, calling attention not to the picture but to the critic."
- "When we are young, we want art that is filled with the bitter facts, because we believe that evil can be overcome if we face it; when we grow older and begin to doubt this optimistic belief, we want art that does not simply reinforce the pain of our disillusionment. In pictures like those by Hine the requirements of young and old are both met; the photographs urge reform, but seem to suggest that the need for it is not the most important thing to be said of life."
- "Contrary to popular expectations, many of the best nature pictures – often the truest and finally most reassuring – do contain people and their works."
fiction: Slaughterhouse-Five. I love repetition, and Vonnegut uses to great effect. I read most of it in an evening.
Liftoff by Eric Berger. SpaceX early days from more of the perspective of the employees. Really entertaining, well written and learned a lot about rocketry. Highly recommend
"A CONSTITUTION FOR LIVINGS - Buddhist principles for a fruitful and harmonious life"
download free pdf here
There is also the English version
https://www.watnyanaves.net/th/book_detail/211
The divided into 4 well structured sections that co-related to people life
Section One: People and Society Section Two: People and Life Section Three: People and People Section Four: People and the Way
download free pdf here
There is also the English version
https://www.watnyanaves.net/th/book_detail/211
The divided into 4 well structured sections that co-related to people life
Section One: People and Society Section Two: People and Life Section Three: People and People Section Four: People and the Way
The medieval origins of the legal profession: canonists, civilians, and courts by Brundage
The origins of reasonable doubt: theological roots of the criminal trial by Whitman
The origins of reasonable doubt: theological roots of the criminal trial by Whitman
Ilium and Olympos by Dan Simmons. Fantastic blend of sci-fi and (alternate) ancient history. Give it a try if you like grand world-building and a really fun imagination.
I haven't seen these mentioned, so:
- The WEIRDest people in the world: on why societies evolved differently, and why the renaissance happened where it did. A completely new (for me) framework of thought
- The Anomaly: ideal for people on Hacker News!
My complete list of what I read this year is here: http://shrirang.karandikar.org/reading-in-2021/
My complete list of what I read this year is here: http://shrirang.karandikar.org/reading-in-2021/
I have a great answer to this, I think.
The best book is the one you haven't read yet (yes, there's still a few days left in 2021). Meaning: read more. Reading more is most likely going to have a very positive impact on your life. Play less videogames, read one more book. Watch less TV series on Netflix, read one more book. Etc.
By the way, I'm writing this as advice for you, but it's really advice for me (I don't play videogames, but I watch some Netflix).
The best book is the one you haven't read yet (yes, there's still a few days left in 2021). Meaning: read more. Reading more is most likely going to have a very positive impact on your life. Play less videogames, read one more book. Watch less TV series on Netflix, read one more book. Etc.
By the way, I'm writing this as advice for you, but it's really advice for me (I don't play videogames, but I watch some Netflix).
I love a good book thread and my 2022 reading list now has a lot new additions. Thank you all for the recommendations.
The best book I read this year was The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I think I got the recommendation from last year's HN list and picked it up completely blind and enjoyed it immensely. Zafon's prose is a pleasure to read and while the story starts out simple it just keeps building and building in a really satisfying way.
The best book I read this year was The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I think I got the recommendation from last year's HN list and picked it up completely blind and enjoyed it immensely. Zafon's prose is a pleasure to read and while the story starts out simple it just keeps building and building in a really satisfying way.
"All Of The Marvels" by Douglas Wolk – he read (or re-read) all 27,000+ comics in the main Marvel superhero storylines, and limns their distinct themes and narratives in a very lively style. And with a lot of footnotes!
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549063/all-of-the-m...
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549063/all-of-the-m...
My favourite this year was “The Ice Age: A Very Short Introduction”
It’s an incredibly fascinating book that runs through all the history, science and politics coming out of the most recent ice age. Highly recommend!
https://www.veryshortintroductions.com/view/10.1093/actrade/...
It’s an incredibly fascinating book that runs through all the history, science and politics coming out of the most recent ice age. Highly recommend!
https://www.veryshortintroductions.com/view/10.1093/actrade/...
438 days. A memoir of a Mexican fisherman that spent over a year drifting across the Pacific Ocean. I’m a sucker for a good survival story and finished it in a day.
Given you like survival stories, I'm guessing you've also read Unbroken. But on the off chance you haven't, definitely check it out!
Considering that both of you are who you are, I recommend "A miracle in the Andes".
Thanks for recommending "438 days" - I'm adding it to my list. And yes, I really enjoyed "Unbroken".
Thanks for recommending "438 days" - I'm adding it to my list. And yes, I really enjoyed "Unbroken".
Appreciate the recommendation, this has been on my wish list forever! Finally pulled the trigger and bought it after your comment.
You've likely already read it at this point, but "Endurance: Shackletons Incredible Voyage" by Lansing is an amazing survival story.
Skip the retelling and go straight to the source, South, by Ernest Shackleton.
Funny how we both gave disclaimers with our recommendations.
There’s also “Miracle In the Andes” by Nando X (forgot the surname). And “Adrift” by Callahan (forgot the first name).
The latter is one of the few books I read thrice over the years. Combines for me beauty, survival, appreciation for life and our humanness, philosophy and knowledge about our world.
The latter is one of the few books I read thrice over the years. Combines for me beauty, survival, appreciation for life and our humanness, philosophy and knowledge about our world.
"Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing" by Chris Bail. I have always had a difficult relation with social media. I hated them from the beginning and my discomfort has only grown over the years. This book was an eye opener to me and clearly explains why social media leads to polarizing and it's not what you expect. To me this was one of the most thought provoking books I read this year.
Still reading it actually, but definitely "The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the transition to the information age" by James Davidson and William Rees-Mogg (actually the father of current UK politician Jacob Rees-Mogg)
Its main thesis is that the main driver of megapolitical change are shifts in the risk/reward payoffs of violence. Was written in '97 but still talks about cryptocurrency and things like that. Interesting book.
Its main thesis is that the main driver of megapolitical change are shifts in the risk/reward payoffs of violence. Was written in '97 but still talks about cryptocurrency and things like that. Interesting book.
The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat
by Stephan Guyenet
Gives a good base to understand how we are tricked into consuming much more food that we need
Gives a good base to understand how we are tricked into consuming much more food that we need
Probably Reaper, by Will Wight. It’s not an insightful nonfiction book or a piece of high literature, but the whole Cradle series is very, very fun.
A tie between two well known books: "The making of the atomic bomb" and "Manufacturing consent". Both great in very different ways.
Manufacturing Consent is a good one -- the thesis sounds straightforward enough, but walking through it feels like having one's third eye opened.
Fiction: "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead
(now a well-reviewed series on Amazon) A fantastic book that lingered with me for weeks after reading it.
Non-fiction: "This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends" by Nicole Perlroth If you want to be shaken to your core by the past, present, and future of cyber-espionage and cyber-warfare, this is the book that will drop your jaw more than once.
Non-fiction: "This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends" by Nicole Perlroth If you want to be shaken to your core by the past, present, and future of cyber-espionage and cyber-warfare, this is the book that will drop your jaw more than once.
I'm almost finished with "The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century" by Walter Scheidel. It's a fascinating take on the global history of income inequality from the Stone Age to today; and the impact of major "leveling" events.
On the fiction side, I'm enjoying the "Merlin: The Lost Years" series by T.A. Barron.
On the fiction side, I'm enjoying the "Merlin: The Lost Years" series by T.A. Barron.
How does that first book compare to the recent one by Graeber? They both seem to tackle the same question.
Perhaps The Stars by Ada Palmer, the fourth and final book from The Terra Ignota series. It was such a beautiful and weird conclusion to the series!
Viktor Frankl man's search for meaning - great perspective I needed while going through an emotionally difficult breakup. Basically it's a story about a psychologist during the holocaust and his experience in concentration camps. How it changed people and the experiences he lived through.
The big question in the book he's trying to answer is why do some people give up while others Excell in life.
The big question in the book he's trying to answer is why do some people give up while others Excell in life.
"The Bitcoin Standard" was pretty good.
It is a long history of all the effects of monetary policy. And how Bitcoin could change the world in this regard.
It is a long history of all the effects of monetary policy. And how Bitcoin could change the world in this regard.
The Enlightenment - The Pursuit of Happiness by Ritchie Robertson (2020). Long but worth indulging in if you enjoy intellectual history.
Being You - A New Science of Consciousness by Anil Seth (2021). A clear and readable account of approaches to dissolving the hard problem of consciousness.
Open Society and its Enemies by Karl Popper (1945). Plato, totalitarianism, and why democracy is good.
These are available as audiobooks.
Being You - A New Science of Consciousness by Anil Seth (2021). A clear and readable account of approaches to dissolving the hard problem of consciousness.
Open Society and its Enemies by Karl Popper (1945). Plato, totalitarianism, and why democracy is good.
These are available as audiobooks.
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Best scifi I've read in awhile; a really nice one in the first-person-nonhuman genre.
Great series. Have you also read the Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir?
Rationality by Steven Pinker. As always, the polymath covers a lot of ground and illustrates the connections beautifully.
Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams.
I found this book via Hacker News, and I'm glad I did. So many things to do in 2022 :).
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22793146
I found this book via Hacker News, and I'm glad I did. So many things to do in 2022 :).
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22793146
Fantasy/adult romance: _His Secret Illuminations_ and _His Sacred Incantations_ by Scarlett Gale. Charming characters, original take on magic, dragons and evil sorcerers; but also sex. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BD5FKDT
It's a bit outside of what I regularly read, but I semi-accidentally read a romance novel called Paladin's Grace. You may or may not dig it, not sure how it stacks up against others in the genre but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs, by Tim Freke (Original scriptures by Hermes Trismegistus)
I've been through a lot in the past 40 years. It makes you see life through a different perspective. If you like reading about the deeper meaning of life, this may be something for you. This book is worth its weight in gold.
I've been through a lot in the past 40 years. It makes you see life through a different perspective. If you like reading about the deeper meaning of life, this may be something for you. This book is worth its weight in gold.
Immune by Phillipp Dettmer. It explains the second most complex system in the universe in enough detail to understand it.
"But how Do it Know?" by J. Clark Scott
Incredibly simple and elegant explanation of how computers work.
Posted on a previous thread
Flow mihaly csikszentmihalyi
Psycho cybernetics by Dr. Maltz. Helped me grapple with my midlife crisis and gave me true purpose- to achieve my goals on my own terms. No something set by the society’s concept of achievement. Highly recommend reading it and not audible listening
Interesting. The idea of "getting into flow" is one of the most powerful and imperative to understand. I'll add it to my list.
Speaker for the dead (second book in Enders game series). After many years first book I read in one sitting.
"Injustice for All: How Financial Incentives Corrupted and Can Fix the US Criminal Justice System"
Images of Organization by Garth Morgan.
I went in expecting a somewhat fluffy business book, but it is nothing of the sort. Every page is full of interesting anecdotes, analogies, and insights around not just corporate life, but life in general.
It was way more thorough and academic than I expected, very highly recommend it.
I went in expecting a somewhat fluffy business book, but it is nothing of the sort. Every page is full of interesting anecdotes, analogies, and insights around not just corporate life, but life in general.
It was way more thorough and academic than I expected, very highly recommend it.
Having worked more than 15 years in the industry and having completed several OB courses during my MBA, I cannot point to a better resource than this book that helps understand what actually drives organizations and how they function.
Being a new parent, I've read a lot of parenting books this year. One of my favorites was No Drama Discipline.
Having grown up in an authoritarian, Asian, tiger-parenting style, this book opened my eyes on a more gentler, warmer way to handle kids. I hope I can practice the methods in the book.
Having grown up in an authoritarian, Asian, tiger-parenting style, this book opened my eyes on a more gentler, warmer way to handle kids. I hope I can practice the methods in the book.
I read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother two years ago. Though the book has a bit of controversy around it, I really enjoyed seeing what Asian tiger-parenting looks like, and how it blew up in her face with her second daughter and how she had to adapt to a more American style of parenting. One of the interesting dilemmas was that when doing tiger-parenting in America, your children will eventually notice that their friends have parents who are way easier on them and that can lead to defying and undermining of authority. Whereas in China, because many parents adopt this style it is seen as normal.
Thanks for recommending No Drama Discipline, that sounds like a good read!
Thanks for recommending No Drama Discipline, that sounds like a good read!
That's interesting.
Anecdotal, but my younger brother turned out different from the tiger parenting. He was also more "Americanized" than me. "Defying and undermining of authority" sounds like him.
Anecdotal, but my younger brother turned out different from the tiger parenting. He was also more "Americanized" than me. "Defying and undermining of authority" sounds like him.
Dan Davies "Lying For Money".
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- Never Out of Season by Robb Dunn
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
- Test-Driven Development in Swift by Gio Lodi
- Never Out of Season by Robb Dunn
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
- Test-Driven Development in Swift by Gio Lodi
Started reading r/fantasy’s top self published fantasy list. Loved the Cradle series by Will Wight.
If you like that, you might like r/progressionfantasy. They really drill down on the hero’s journey genre.
It's an oldie, but The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox kept me from succumbing to stress during a particularly stressful period at work.
It's a great business book in the form of an ok novel, and everyone who cares about management or has consistent stress at work should read it.
It's a great business book in the form of an ok novel, and everyone who cares about management or has consistent stress at work should read it.
Lexicon by Max Barry. Excellent sci-fi novel. In fact I heard of the book from an HN comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28199207), checked it out, and loved it.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (1946).
A close runner up might be Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis (1989).
A close runner up might be Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis (1989).
> man’s search for meaning
Loved this book the first time I read it. Couldn’t finish it a second time. I think some of the darker parts were too much during an already difficult year.
Giving it as a gift to my nephew though.
Loved this book the first time I read it. Couldn’t finish it a second time. I think some of the darker parts were too much during an already difficult year.
Giving it as a gift to my nephew though.
I love Liar’s Poker!
Signed: BSD
Signed: BSD
In Search of Stupidity: Over Twenty Years of High Tech Marketing Disasters by Merrill R. Chapman. I came across this book upon one of the discussions here on HN and it provided me with historical insights about driving forces in our industry, which seem to be timeless.
"Blacklisted by History" (2009). Deep research using primary sources -- government records, declassified documents, transcripts of hearings, contemporaneous reporting -- to refute the myth that Joseph McCarthy was guilty of, well, "McCarythism."
Stronghold: One Man's Quest to Save the World's Wild Salmon
https://www.amazon.com/Stronghold-Mans-Quest-Worlds-Salmon/d...
https://www.amazon.com/Stronghold-Mans-Quest-Worlds-Salmon/d...
fiction: project hail mary -- just an all around amazing book.
non-fiction: an elegant puzzle: systems of engineering management -- i'm debating whether to change into management and this one really helped me understand a bit more what goes into engineering management.
non-fiction: an elegant puzzle: systems of engineering management -- i'm debating whether to change into management and this one really helped me understand a bit more what goes into engineering management.
If I have to pick only one: "How Asia Works" by Joe Studwell.
Is a bit old, but was super interesting.
Is a bit old, but was super interesting.
I haven't read much this year, but I would recommend the book I'm currently reading (or should I say working on): Latin for Beginners by Benjamin L. D'Ooge.
It's decent albeit old-fashioned. I think it would be better to use this accompanied by LLPSI.
It's decent albeit old-fashioned. I think it would be better to use this accompanied by LLPSI.
The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq - the writing is really beautiful. Like every sentence is poetic and the descriptions often these very original metaphors.
I read him for the first time immediately before the pandemic with A Balcony In the Forest, which is also great.
I read him for the first time immediately before the pandemic with A Balcony In the Forest, which is also great.
Did you read it in the original French, or as a translation? I tried reading the English translation and found it a bit....rough.
Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins - Konrad Lorenz
A book from 1973 but still actual and incredibly true.
A book from 1973 but still actual and incredibly true.
‘The Peacemaker’s Code’ is a fantastic sci-fi book. It is reminiscent of a business novel like ‘The Goal’, being written by a Harvard negotiation expert.
I can best describe it as a cross between ‘Arrival’, ‘The Three-Body Problem’, and ‘The Goal’
I can best describe it as a cross between ‘Arrival’, ‘The Three-Body Problem’, and ‘The Goal’
In extremis: The life and death of the war correspondent Marie Colvin, by Lindsey Hilsum
This year i didn't read as much as i wanted but between the two books i really liked* i choose to post the above.
* The other one is Digital minimalism by Cal newport.
This year i didn't read as much as i wanted but between the two books i really liked* i choose to post the above.
* The other one is Digital minimalism by Cal newport.
The Nemesis Effect by Michael Shotter . Great writing and fun adventure. Check out the YouTube review! https://youtu.be/qaIQgavJhBk
A Conflict of Visions, Thomas Sowell.
A good book regardless of what you think of Sowell’s politics.
A good book regardless of what you think of Sowell’s politics.
Mine would be "Black Rednecks and White Liberals". Illuminating to say the least.
Why, when describimg conservatives, always a disclaimer? There's nothing wrong with Thomas Sowell or his ideas. He is an intellectual powerhouse.
I personally find Sowell's extemporaneous political commentary off-putting, much in the same way I find Paul Krugman's. If I were commenting on Paul Krugman's work I would make the same disclaimer.
"The Goal: A process of ongoing improvement" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
An amazing introduction to the theory of constraints and the value in doing things in small, incremental improvements
"A universe from nothing" was also amazing!
An amazing introduction to the theory of constraints and the value in doing things in small, incremental improvements
"A universe from nothing" was also amazing!
I think The Goal is one of those books that has had a profound positive impact on my life. Another one is Freakonomics. There are no books that would teach us concepts such as Theory of constraints and economic incentives in the fun and simple way like these books.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. Very thoughtful and short read.
Two mostly anthropology books
#1 Under Cover: My Four Years in the Nazi Underworld of America (1943) by John Roy Carlson
Long out of print but relatively easy to find, this book is an incredible history of a populist split off of something called "the old right" (pre-JBS/Hayek/Russell Kirk) and hauntingly describes the modern populist right in a way that you check the copyright date and wonder if he's a time traveler.
I stopped about every page and went over to Wikipedia, Proquest, archive.org or LOC to find out more about the fascinating things the author was talking about. It took me months to work through and I probably read 10 or so books along with it (mostly books by the 1930s equivalent of qanon).
Seeing the through lines to the modern era is really stunning.
If someone is interested in the history of non-highbrow populist right, it's highly recommended.
#2 Weinberg's "The psychology of computer programming" (1971) Also mostly out of print but easy to find. This guy is also a time traveler in his insights
#1 Under Cover: My Four Years in the Nazi Underworld of America (1943) by John Roy Carlson
Long out of print but relatively easy to find, this book is an incredible history of a populist split off of something called "the old right" (pre-JBS/Hayek/Russell Kirk) and hauntingly describes the modern populist right in a way that you check the copyright date and wonder if he's a time traveler.
I stopped about every page and went over to Wikipedia, Proquest, archive.org or LOC to find out more about the fascinating things the author was talking about. It took me months to work through and I probably read 10 or so books along with it (mostly books by the 1930s equivalent of qanon).
Seeing the through lines to the modern era is really stunning.
If someone is interested in the history of non-highbrow populist right, it's highly recommended.
#2 Weinberg's "The psychology of computer programming" (1971) Also mostly out of print but easy to find. This guy is also a time traveler in his insights
"The Dawn of Everything" by David Graeber and David Wengrow, a radical take on human deep history. Extremely thought-provoking so far, though I'm not finished yet (it's massive)
Dishonesty is the Second Best Policy by David Mitchell.
I've long been a fan of David Mitchell, and his writing in this book and also Thinking About it Only Makes it Worse is utterly hysterical.
I've long been a fan of David Mitchell, and his writing in this book and also Thinking About it Only Makes it Worse is utterly hysterical.
I've re-read Spillover by David Quammen and would heartily recommend it to anybody interested in where these pandemics come from and why they are happening now.
On a lighter note: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman.
On a lighter note: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman.
Walter Isaacson's The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race. Reading about how the Crispr and mRNA vaccine development happened was gripping.
I like Walter Isaacson's books and this one was so timely. It was also fascinating to learn about the competition/cooperation in scientific research and how one discovery builds on top of others.
My dad was a scientist (an ecologist), and growing up I got second-hand exposure to the scientific community through his friends, cow-orkers and the stories he brought home. The weird, somehow collegial "you scratch my back and I'll stab you in yours" made sense to me, and Isaacson's book brought back memories of my parents discussing lab politics.
Wanting: The power of mimetic desire in everyday life by Luke Burgis
"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. It's a masterpiece.
The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II. Non-fiction. Harrowing. Was inspired to read it after seeing Beanpole.
Also really enjoyed Klara and the Sun.
Also really enjoyed Klara and the Sun.
Exhalation and Stories of your life and others by Ted Chaing. These collections of short scifi stories are stunning, and particularly the stories Exhalation and Story of your Life. They combine detailed technical descriptions of the science fiction aspects with raw emotional beauty. The movie Arrival is based on Story of your life.
La Peau de Chagrin (The Wild Ass's Skin) - Balzac. Beautifully written novel about desire and health, with verbose descriptions that I personally loved. Some nice quotes here [0]
Ubik by Philip K. Dick - Pretty mindbending and interesting twist on the whole "(distorted) perception of reality (what even is reality?)" theme. (9/10) [scifi]
[0]: https://knowledge.uzpg.me/dataobj/2771/#quotes
La Peau de Chagrin (The Wild Ass's Skin) - Balzac. Beautifully written novel about desire and health, with verbose descriptions that I personally loved. Some nice quotes here [0]
Ubik by Philip K. Dick - Pretty mindbending and interesting twist on the whole "(distorted) perception of reality (what even is reality?)" theme. (9/10) [scifi]
[0]: https://knowledge.uzpg.me/dataobj/2771/#quotes
Haven't read a single book in years. I wish I had the time to just lean back and enjoy. If I'd to choose now, I'd be going for The Expanse by James S. A. Corey.
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. Extremely well written history of Sackler family detailing their involvement in the opioid epidemic and inner workings of FDA.
Bad blood by John Carreyrou.
Bad blood by John Carreyrou.
Bad Blood was a great one, though one that makes you feel like there's a deep rot at the heart of the American elite.
I haven't read that Keefe book but I really enjoyed The Snakehead.
I haven't read that Keefe book but I really enjoyed The Snakehead.
I'm not sure if best but certainly the most enjoyable and entertaining: For the love of physics. I absolutely envy people who have been in Walter Lewin's classes.
Ordinary Men. A great book about a bunch of ordinary men (50 year old police reservists, from Hamburg, of different socioeconomic classes and political leanings) and the atrocities they committed during WW2 in Poland ( mostly against Jews), why, and how they coped with it. There are some fascinating pieces of information there ( post-war interviews with the men form a big part of the narrative establishing what happened), and it really reinforced some of my already established opinions on "bad people", the Nazis, etc. There was nothing unique about them and such terrible things can happen again, which is why it's so important to teach and remember history - if you don't know how the Nazis convinced millions to do unspeakable things, you can more easily fall in the same trap.
The Odyssey, translation by EV Rieu. Made an effort to read a bunch of the Classics at the start of the year and the Illiad and Odyssey were very enjoyable.
I confess that I found the Iliad a bit ponderous, but the Odyssey is just a rollicking good time.
I've been trying to get into the Homer stuff, but procrastinating because translation quality make such a big difference. Thanks for mentioning the translator.
The Coddling of the American Mind was a good read for me.
- Existential Rationalism: Handling Hume's Fork (second edition)
- Living with the Himalayan Masters
- The Outsider
- Hirohito: Behind the Myth
The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch.
Turned me into an optimist.
Turned me into an optimist.
"The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War" by Ben Macintyre is an amazing story, very well written.
"Breaking Ground" by Philip and Freya Mulvey.
A soil scientist's take on climate change which ties together some pretty compelling points.
A soil scientist's take on climate change which ties together some pretty compelling points.
one of the few existing books helping understand the world we live in and somewhat explains what we've been going through in the last 2 years. Understand the Empire: Towards Global Governance or the Uprising of Nations? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B7QZG4C
During the pandemic, I got heavily into the "Revolutions" podcast, and I wondered about these "liberal nobles" who were always cropping up trying to push for civil rights. So I wanted to read something about the history of liberalism. The typical story is "John Locke, Adam Smith, America's founding fathers (rah rah), John Stuart Mill, etc."
But Helena Rosenblatt's "The Lost History of Liberalism" makes a really strong argument that this anglo-centric definition of liberalism is counter-historical, and liberalism as a named, coherent political ideology developed in France after the French Revolution.
But Helena Rosenblatt's "The Lost History of Liberalism" makes a really strong argument that this anglo-centric definition of liberalism is counter-historical, and liberalism as a named, coherent political ideology developed in France after the French Revolution.
So where does that leave Locke, Smith, et al?
She argues that it's inaccurate to call them liberals because the term didn't exist then (at least with the same meaning, "liberality" meant generous) and they wouldn't have any idea what you were talking about. Basically, Anglophones retcon'd a rights-based liberalism in the late 1800s.
Personally, I think she takes the argument a bit too far. She credits Constant and de Staël for formalizing liberalism in the aftermath of the Revolution, essentially trying to save the good parts from the wreckage. But, like, Thomas Jefferson helped write the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which laid out the key principles Constant was trying to salvage, and he was most certainly influenced by Locke.
Still, I think this book is well worth reading as a corrective to the Anglo-centric, individual rights-based history of liberalism I've been exposed to in the past. There's a lot more to the story.
Personally, I think she takes the argument a bit too far. She credits Constant and de Staël for formalizing liberalism in the aftermath of the Revolution, essentially trying to save the good parts from the wreckage. But, like, Thomas Jefferson helped write the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which laid out the key principles Constant was trying to salvage, and he was most certainly influenced by Locke.
Still, I think this book is well worth reading as a corrective to the Anglo-centric, individual rights-based history of liberalism I've been exposed to in the past. There's a lot more to the story.
But then, does she still acknowledge that they represent some sort of tradition or at least chain of thinking? Maybe it should be called something besides "liberalism" but it seems odd to say that you can't name a school of thought ex post facto.
This is perhaps just getting hung up on one part of what seems to be a more substantive corrective than that, though.
This is perhaps just getting hung up on one part of what seems to be a more substantive corrective than that, though.
She doesn't spend much time on English thinkers. The focus is on French and German thinkers who (she says) codified liberalism. The word was really rare (foreign) in English until well into the 1860s, IIRC. Anyway, it's one of the criticisms of the book e.g. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/what-they-meant-on-helen... (notably, this critic works for a libertarian think tank).
Anyone read a book that helps with headaches? I get lot of them and I meditate too. I sleep well, and eat well too.
Seen an optician lately? You should see a doctor after that. Take care of yourself.
Your question intrigued me so much that i searched for books on Amazon dealing with "Headache" and to my surprise, there is a whole lot. You might want to try a couple; the book Splitting: The inside story on Headaches by Amanda Ellison (https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/amanda-ellison/) seems promising.
Not a book, but I've had recent success with eating a diet high in omega 3 and low in omega 6.
Very much enjoying the classic "Utopia" by Thomas More, as well as "Faraday" by James Hamilton
Radical Focus by Christina Woldke
Great book on a different method of managing goals and time, both in and out of a company setting.
Great book on a different method of managing goals and time, both in and out of a company setting.
Not read whole yet but I really enjoyed "The metamorphosis of Prime Intellect" recommended by geohotz
Click here to kill everybody.
Number theory step by step.
Anyone tried The Real Anthony Fauci? Looks it's a bestseller of this year everywhere.
Number theory step by step.
Anyone tried The Real Anthony Fauci? Looks it's a bestseller of this year everywhere.
Outrage, fear mongering and conspiracies do play well with the American public.
House of Suns - sci-fi novel by Allastair Raymolds.
Beyond the Aquila Rift, short stories, also by him.
The world building is incredible.
The Expanse Series.
Impro! By Keith Johnstone
Beyond the Aquila Rift, short stories, also by him.
The world building is incredible.
The Expanse Series.
Impro! By Keith Johnstone
I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? back in June, and watched Blade Runner a month later. I loved them!
Ubik and Three Stigmata are amazing!
Almost done with it, but my favorite thus far: Allen Mandelbaum's translation of Virgil's Aeneid.
[deleted]
"The Hospital" by Brian Alexander
This book changed my thinking on so many different topics - the US healthcare economy, the rise of Trumpism, and the erosion of the industrial Mid-West. This book really opened by eyes to those communities that have never recovered from the Great Recession and explains so much of what we have seen politically since 2016, including the current left-right Covid split. Highly recommend for anyone who wants to get even more angry at the current state of our healthcare system.
This book changed my thinking on so many different topics - the US healthcare economy, the rise of Trumpism, and the erosion of the industrial Mid-West. This book really opened by eyes to those communities that have never recovered from the Great Recession and explains so much of what we have seen politically since 2016, including the current left-right Covid split. Highly recommend for anyone who wants to get even more angry at the current state of our healthcare system.
- Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The same book i read last year. “The Beginning of Infinity” By David Deutsch, changed everything.
Yep, “The Beginning of Infinity” is pretty much required reading at this point. It explains what an explanation even is (something that seems trivial, but turns out it's not.)
Crucial Conversations. It was actually recommended to me in an HN thread. Literally life changing
I’ve finally got around reading the 3 body problem trilogy. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Perhaps the War" by Ada Palmer. Incredibly good SG, what a mind she has!
Psychology of Money from Morgan Housel was a game-changer. Highly recommend.
"How to win friends and influence people"
by Dale Carnegie
Fiction: This is how you lose the time war
Nonfiction: Don't think of an elephant
Nonfiction: Don't think of an elephant
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
By far the best sci-fi book I have read in a long time
By far the best sci-fi book I have read in a long time
Shon Faye's 'The Transgender Issue'. Revolutionary.
Two years old, but This is How You Lose the Time War is fantastic.
The Poppy War trilogy is excellent albeit depressing.
Tuesdays with Morrie, thanks to a suggestion here on HN.
"The charterhouse of parma" by stendhal
Reread The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek.
"Book of the Long Sun" by Gene Wolfe.
The Coming of Neo-Feudalism by Joel Kotkin
Persieds and Other Stories
by Robert Charles Wilson
scifi
scifi
The Great Gospel of John - Jakob Lorber
The Coral Island, by R M Ballantyne
It was written a long time ago, and I read an abridged version as a kid. I got a copy to give away as a present, but got the unabridged version, which is not suitable for children. I decided to read it myself, and I am halfway through it.
It is going to be the best book I've read this year, because it is pure escapism in many ways, and this year has been strangely sucky despite the arrival of vaccines and a supposed return to normalcy.
Honorable mentions: - Night in the Solomons, Louis Lamour
- Bad Blood, John Carreyrou
It was written a long time ago, and I read an abridged version as a kid. I got a copy to give away as a present, but got the unabridged version, which is not suitable for children. I decided to read it myself, and I am halfway through it.
It is going to be the best book I've read this year, because it is pure escapism in many ways, and this year has been strangely sucky despite the arrival of vaccines and a supposed return to normalcy.
Honorable mentions: - Night in the Solomons, Louis Lamour
- Bad Blood, John Carreyrou
Maybe not best, but stands out:
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Colossus: The secrets of Bletchley Park's code-breaking computers. Describes the construction of the world's first electronic digital computer, used to break the Nazi's strategic-communications cipher (much more important and difficult than Enigma.)
[0] https://global.oup.com/academic/product/colossus-97801995781...
[0] https://global.oup.com/academic/product/colossus-97801995781...
"Who's the real Dr Fauci"
Eye opening.
Eye opening.
PERMANENT RECORD
by Ed Snowden
The apology of Socrates by Plato
Democracy: The god that failed
[deleted]
"Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar" by Simon Sebag Montefiore. It's honestly hard to tell if the narratives outlined in the book are real; it reads like fiction or a novel. It's backed by a mountain of sources, but I suppose that feeling of doubt is fitting for a subject like Stalin.
The Sixth Extinction
Blood Meridian
Quite a few here read this in 2021! It was a bit of a bleak read in 2021 though I'm very glad I read it as it's one of the best (if not hard going) books I've ever read.
democracy: the god that failed
Zero to Ond
Surrounded by psychopaths
How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey:
The worlds foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britains greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrians unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which hes been involved. A true engineering genius, even in adolescence Adrians thoughts naturally emerged in shape and form - he began sketching his own car designs at the age of 12 and took a welding course in his school summer holidays. From his early career in IndyCar racing and on to his unparalleled success in Formula One, we learn in comprehensive, engaging and highly entertaining detail how a car actually works. Adrian has designed for the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, always with a shark-like purity of purpose: to make the car go faster. And while his career has been marked by unbelievable triumphs, there have also been deep tragedies; most notably Ayrton Sennas death during his time at Williams in 1994. Beautifully illustrated with never-before-seen drawings, How to Build a Car encapsulates, through Adrians remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula One so thrilling - its potential for the total synchronicity of man and machine, the perfect combination of style, efficiency and speed.
The worlds foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britains greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrians unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which hes been involved. A true engineering genius, even in adolescence Adrians thoughts naturally emerged in shape and form - he began sketching his own car designs at the age of 12 and took a welding course in his school summer holidays. From his early career in IndyCar racing and on to his unparalleled success in Formula One, we learn in comprehensive, engaging and highly entertaining detail how a car actually works. Adrian has designed for the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, always with a shark-like purity of purpose: to make the car go faster. And while his career has been marked by unbelievable triumphs, there have also been deep tragedies; most notably Ayrton Sennas death during his time at Williams in 1994. Beautifully illustrated with never-before-seen drawings, How to Build a Car encapsulates, through Adrians remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula One so thrilling - its potential for the total synchronicity of man and machine, the perfect combination of style, efficiency and speed.
Fiction:
The City of Brass - epic fantasy based on the medieval Islamic world (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32718027-the-city-of-bra...)
Nonfiction: Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity in This Crisis (and the Next) - self-explanatory title (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54654726-mutual-aid)
Crying in H-Mart: memoir by Michelle Zauner (leader of the band Japanese Breakfast) about her mother and how food wove through their relationship (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54814676-crying-in-h-mar...)
Nonfiction: Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity in This Crisis (and the Next) - self-explanatory title (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54654726-mutual-aid)
Crying in H-Mart: memoir by Michelle Zauner (leader of the band Japanese Breakfast) about her mother and how food wove through their relationship (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54814676-crying-in-h-mar...)
I guess you mean in 2021. Same question was asked 3 days ago: (14 comments)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29634694
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29634694
Fixed now. Thanks!
Is there not a semi-official (de facto) account that creates these? They always strike me as 'karma farming' since it's just a race to create something formulaic and known to be popular. Maybe it's not a problem.
For some reason, this thread is a lot better than that one. Is it timing? The fact that OP has a few sentences? Maybe it's not a problem.
OP here, my sole intention was to get book recommendations. But I did think about two things: how I structured the description (books from previous years are OK for example) and the time I posted (good US time).
Project Hail Mary and The Murderbot diaries.
Both are irreverent, fun sci fi adventures.
Both are irreverent, fun sci fi adventures.
Atlas Shrugged: the danger of communism/socialism and how close we are to a collapse. It’s easy to see the excess of the right and capitalisms, not so easy to spot when it’s going too far left.
a hunter-gatherer’s guide to the 21st century: How the hyper-novel environment that we build for ourselves is not serving our physical and mental health. Very interesting to see how the downside to our technological progress. With the technology always accelerating, the side effects too are greater and greater.
a hunter-gatherer’s guide to the 21st century: How the hyper-novel environment that we build for ourselves is not serving our physical and mental health. Very interesting to see how the downside to our technological progress. With the technology always accelerating, the side effects too are greater and greater.
Teens often like Atlas Shrugged. Then most people grow out of that. Beware if you are not.
That seems like a cheap shot.
I live in a very socialist place (Québec) it’s everywhere and while it’s good for some things I think we are closer to a collapse than most people think.
we have close to 50% tax rate on income + 14% tax on consumption (that was supposed to be temporary 30years ago ) + municipal tax (those make more sense) + lots of other fees for employment
It’s very hard to start something productive without being tied with red tape. In a lot of cases those rules don’t make sense anymore but are just there forever.
People generally have a disdain for private enterprise, like it something dirty to make money, but that is what still feed and employ everyone.
If there is not a force to push in the other direction, it’s always more taxation, more laws, bigger government, less efficiency.
If we don’t do anything to push back at some point it become too top heavy and it collapse.
So this book provide some refreshing perspective and a way of thinking that is lost on most people today. That doesn’t mean that it contain all the solutions.
I live in a very socialist place (Québec) it’s everywhere and while it’s good for some things I think we are closer to a collapse than most people think.
we have close to 50% tax rate on income + 14% tax on consumption (that was supposed to be temporary 30years ago ) + municipal tax (those make more sense) + lots of other fees for employment
It’s very hard to start something productive without being tied with red tape. In a lot of cases those rules don’t make sense anymore but are just there forever.
People generally have a disdain for private enterprise, like it something dirty to make money, but that is what still feed and employ everyone.
If there is not a force to push in the other direction, it’s always more taxation, more laws, bigger government, less efficiency.
If we don’t do anything to push back at some point it become too top heavy and it collapse.
So this book provide some refreshing perspective and a way of thinking that is lost on most people today. That doesn’t mean that it contain all the solutions.
Else you become founder of Uber?
Uber, on one hand, is exploiting drivers naivety and funnel their money to the investors. If people calculated the amortization of their cars they would see how their real income is far below minimal wage -- there are many blog posts analyzing this.
On another hand by creating and valorizing "gig economy" it has become an excellent tool in furthering the rollback of everything organized labor have achieved in a hundred year plus.
Your point...?
On another hand by creating and valorizing "gig economy" it has become an excellent tool in furthering the rollback of everything organized labor have achieved in a hundred year plus.
Your point...?
Point was that Uber’s co-founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick named Ayn Rand as his favorite author. So I thought of him as an example for someone who has not “growing out of“ Rand’s “objectivism”.
I find it very fitting that is apparently has led him to the kind of one-sided success you are describing. And, if I remember correctly, his ousting from Uber started with him preaching the libertarian gospel to one of his company’s underpaid drivers.
It seems to me that is precisely what the other commentator was trying to say with “growing out of it“. Ayn Rands books are really good and revolutionary and one should read them, perhaps even multiple times. But one probably shouldn’t take them as the final answer to the questions of life.
I find it very fitting that is apparently has led him to the kind of one-sided success you are describing. And, if I remember correctly, his ousting from Uber started with him preaching the libertarian gospel to one of his company’s underpaid drivers.
It seems to me that is precisely what the other commentator was trying to say with “growing out of it“. Ayn Rands books are really good and revolutionary and one should read them, perhaps even multiple times. But one probably shouldn’t take them as the final answer to the questions of life.