Ask HN: What is the best book you have read with the greatest impact on you?
49 comments
I read Finite & Infinite Games by James P. Carse after coming across it in a comment on HN. It's one of those books that changes how you view interactions with others, and puts things into perspective.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is a close second. I read this when I was going through a particularly difficult time in life, and it has stuck with me since.
David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity definitely changed how I look at skepticism and pessimism in general (a weird take-away, I agree).
There's only one book that I often find myself going back to, which is Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. It's a very profound work IMO, and provides a sense of grounding to me.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is a close second. I read this when I was going through a particularly difficult time in life, and it has stuck with me since.
David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity definitely changed how I look at skepticism and pessimism in general (a weird take-away, I agree).
There's only one book that I often find myself going back to, which is Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. It's a very profound work IMO, and provides a sense of grounding to me.
The first 2 are my first 2 too, although I read The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek instead.
Infinite Games taught me to control jealousy, Man's Search for Meaning gave me direction in me trying to find meaning in my life (still on that journey)
I am reading The Beginning of Infinity (slowly)
Infinite Games taught me to control jealousy, Man's Search for Meaning gave me direction in me trying to find meaning in my life (still on that journey)
I am reading The Beginning of Infinity (slowly)
Perelandra (the second book in the "Space Trilogy") by C. S. Lewis is probably the most impactful book I've read in recent years. I read it once when I was in my early teens and it made no sense and was quite the slog, and I certainly didn't understand the underlying concepts at the time.
Re-reading it in my late 30s blew my mind. I wish I had the words to describe why. Best I can do is that it solidified (dare I say explained) many of the spiritual aspects I have been struggling with lately.
Re-reading it in my late 30s blew my mind. I wish I had the words to describe why. Best I can do is that it solidified (dare I say explained) many of the spiritual aspects I have been struggling with lately.
You might like Lewis's Till We Have Faces. It's a retelling of the myth of Psyche and is interesting because some parts were conceived before and some after his conversion, which gives extra depth to the characters' relationships with the gods.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel heavily informed my attitude to investment/savings and put to bed any dreams I had of magically day-trading my way to wealth in my spare time.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is just generally a really interesting book and impacted the way I view decision-making.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami really opened my eyes to unconventional plotlines and surrealist/magic realist themes, and in doing so greatly impacted my exploration and enjoyment of literature and other art.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is just generally a really interesting book and impacted the way I view decision-making.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami really opened my eyes to unconventional plotlines and surrealist/magic realist themes, and in doing so greatly impacted my exploration and enjoyment of literature and other art.
Haruki Murakami for me too. Hayao Miyazaki and Shigero Miyamoto probably complete the triumvirate. Moreso than any novel or the short stories in the New Yorker, it was Murakami simply writing himself as this Tokyo Drifter character re-discovering zen through jazz and surrealism ;)
I wouldn't say that The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle changed my life, but I've enjoyed the book three times now, one of my all-time favorites.
I don’t know the third one, but feel similarly about the first two. Excellent books.
Philip toshio sudo
The art of zen guitar
This is a book on how to learn anything and nothing really about guitar. It distills the zen approach to life in a very usable way. I made a major career shift to ML research using the lessons I learnt from this book
The Gita It helped me develop depersonalised thinking and to some extent the ability to view people equanimously. I feel it has helped me accept and become a lot more inclusive person than who i was before i read it
This is a book on how to learn anything and nothing really about guitar. It distills the zen approach to life in a very usable way. I made a major career shift to ML research using the lessons I learnt from this book
The Gita It helped me develop depersonalised thinking and to some extent the ability to view people equanimously. I feel it has helped me accept and become a lot more inclusive person than who i was before i read it
Can you please elaborate on the 'depersonalised thinking'?
Will look up the first book. Thanks.
Will look up the first book. Thanks.
Want to hear more about your career shift.
- A House for Mr Biswas by VS Naipaul: explores themes of belonging, ownership, home, independence, escape, freedom.
- Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: explores love in it's many forms.
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry: about love, the absurdity of life, beginnings and ends.
- Miles by Miles Davis, Quincy Troupe: about jazz and the life of it's greatest creator.
- Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson: ramblings of a pope.
- Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: explores love in it's many forms.
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry: about love, the absurdity of life, beginnings and ends.
- Miles by Miles Davis, Quincy Troupe: about jazz and the life of it's greatest creator.
- Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson: ramblings of a pope.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius was a really good one for me. There's a translation by Gregory Hays that's pretty easy to consume after you get through the first section. I think it's a unique perspective on how to react to the issues of life.
Yes! Gregory Hayes’ Meditations translation is definitely easier to approach than others I’ve seen. Would recommend as well.
I would also recommend A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine to get a good intro/overview of Stoicism in general.
I would also recommend A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine to get a good intro/overview of Stoicism in general.
Letters of a stoic by Seneca is a great addition too
The Science in Science Fiction, Peter Nicholls
I was given it at what seemed far too young an age (about seven i think) by a slightly crazy neighbour who had no idea what books would be suitable for me (a year later he gave me an adults book on space based weapons exploring the physics etc). Despite it being a stretch, i was mad about sci-fi films and the book made me start thinking about what i was seeing, and introduced me to huge range of ideas (FTL travel, time travel, parallel universes, genetics, terra forming, environmental concerns, computers, robotics) well before i would have encountered them otherwise and it was discussed in a serious considered way.
I was given it at what seemed far too young an age (about seven i think) by a slightly crazy neighbour who had no idea what books would be suitable for me (a year later he gave me an adults book on space based weapons exploring the physics etc). Despite it being a stretch, i was mad about sci-fi films and the book made me start thinking about what i was seeing, and introduced me to huge range of ideas (FTL travel, time travel, parallel universes, genetics, terra forming, environmental concerns, computers, robotics) well before i would have encountered them otherwise and it was discussed in a serious considered way.
Emerson's Essays: First and Second Series
I read in it about a thousand things I'd experienced but I'd thought were impossible to describe. It was written to inspire people, and inspired me daily for many years—nay, eternally! It—and Emerson's other writings, e.g. Representative Men, Conduct of Life, Nature, Addresses and Lectures etc—gave all the drops of my blood eyes that look upwards.
I read in it about a thousand things I'd experienced but I'd thought were impossible to describe. It was written to inspire people, and inspired me daily for many years—nay, eternally! It—and Emerson's other writings, e.g. Representative Men, Conduct of Life, Nature, Addresses and Lectures etc—gave all the drops of my blood eyes that look upwards.
The Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
In my mid twenties, this book helped me pay off all my student loans and build an emergency fund with 4-6 months of runway. It changed the way I think about money.
I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi.
This built on top of Dave Ramsey’s by helping me create a system to build my wealth through investing and still continue to save towards future goals/emergencies.
In my mid twenties, this book helped me pay off all my student loans and build an emergency fund with 4-6 months of runway. It changed the way I think about money.
I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi.
This built on top of Dave Ramsey’s by helping me create a system to build my wealth through investing and still continue to save towards future goals/emergencies.
Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover is my most life-changing book as well.
My life is much more peaceful now.
Often referenced in TTMM, is The Millionaire Next Door, which is also excellent. The common conception of millionaires completely wrong.
My life is much more peaceful now.
Often referenced in TTMM, is The Millionaire Next Door, which is also excellent. The common conception of millionaires completely wrong.
The findings in this book are a bit misleading because they don't account for base rates. Of course most millionaires live in suburbs and drive pickups. Most humans live in suburbs and pickups are the most common work vehicle in the US. Nassim Taleb did a good critique on this I believe.
Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World.
"Science is far from a perfect instrument of knowledge. It's just the best we have."
"Science is far from a perfect instrument of knowledge. It's just the best we have."
Books by Clayton Christensen such as the Innovator's Dilemma really helped me to realize something that is probably obvious to a lot of people which is the difference between correlation and causation; importance of understanding causal mechanism to get desired results.
His telling of the story of man's grappling to conquer flight really helped me to understand how I should approach grappling with my own challenges.
His telling of the story of man's grappling to conquer flight really helped me to understand how I should approach grappling with my own challenges.
Oh Look. Hacker News attacking my finances again. This is like the 5th book thread within a week and they're largely filled with _really_ good recommendations.
I haven't read it in a while, but Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, resonated with me a lot and I (used to) read it every so often to stay humble and focus less on winning life and more on enjoying it. It's a short read and I recommend it often.
I haven't read it in a while, but Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, resonated with me a lot and I (used to) read it every so often to stay humble and focus less on winning life and more on enjoying it. It's a short read and I recommend it often.
The Greatest Show on Earth, The Selfish Gene, The Sixth Extinction, and now The Origin of Species have/are shaping the way I interpret my surroundings and how they evolve over type.
The Elements of Typographic Style, though I'm yet to finish it, has helped inform my view of text layout in every day life.
Never Split the Difference will definitely continue to be useful in terms of negotiating all kinds of situations in life.
The Elements of Typographic Style, though I'm yet to finish it, has helped inform my view of text layout in every day life.
Never Split the Difference will definitely continue to be useful in terms of negotiating all kinds of situations in life.
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
I'm still working my way back in time, but so far these three are great!
Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
I'm still working my way back in time, but so far these three are great!
Outwitting the devil by napoleon hill. Reading this book when I was 18-19 just made me realise so many things about how people just do what they have been doing and that people older are not necessarily worth listening too, and that I should be super conscious of what I am doing everyday so that I dont end up living life in auto pilot mode.
Grapes of Wrath solified my empathy for the poor amd the difficulties they face.
How to Win Friends and Influence People taught me that negotiation is not adversarial, and that most businesses is about mutual respect.
Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman made me want to be more curious and more adventurous. Not to be successful, but to have an interesting life.
How to Win Friends and Influence People taught me that negotiation is not adversarial, and that most businesses is about mutual respect.
Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman made me want to be more curious and more adventurous. Not to be successful, but to have an interesting life.
Ender's Game, at around age 13, made me realize books could be just as gripping and thrilling as movies.
- The 4-hour work week- Tim Ferris
- How not to diet- Dr. Michael Greger
- The Iliad- Homer
- Norwegian Wood- Haruki Maurakami
- Kein - Jose Saramago
- Dark Matter and the dinosaurs- Lisa Randall
Consilience by E.O Wilson.
Small book, small words, short sentences but separates the wheat from the chaff of thinking and understanding. If you're fond of horoscopes, this is not the book for you.
Small book, small words, short sentences but separates the wheat from the chaff of thinking and understanding. If you're fond of horoscopes, this is not the book for you.
Honestly I think it's "1984" by George Orwell. I read it when I was quite young so it stuck with me. Otherwise I think "Just for fun" by Linus Torvalds and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond.
There are other books like anything by H.P. Lovecraft, Kevin Mitnick's books and "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll that has also stuck with me and changed how I think about things.
There are other books like anything by H.P. Lovecraft, Kevin Mitnick's books and "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll that has also stuck with me and changed how I think about things.
Sapiens by Yuval Harari was a life-changing book for me.
Still working on it but I think 'Sometimes a Great Notion' by Ken Kesey will meet this criteria when I am finished with it.
I often envy people who get to read these great books for the first time - I promise you that you will not be disappointed. If you have not read Lonesome Dove I would recommend that in the near future. For some reason they remind me of one of another.
Thanks for suggestion! Certainly looking for more books in this vein and added it to my book list.
So far it has blown my brain a couple times - some of the most illustrative prose I've read.
So far it has blown my brain a couple times - some of the most illustrative prose I've read.
Yes Man by Danny Wallace.
Not only was it a terrific read, it changed my life for the better and I believe it has made be a better, happier person.
Not only was it a terrific read, it changed my life for the better and I believe it has made be a better, happier person.
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
The Global Empire by Alexander Bard & Jan Söderqvist.
The Global Empire by Alexander Bard & Jan Söderqvist.
The Bible, Dune by Frank Herbert, Walden by Thoreau.
For my work "Inspired" from Marty Cagan has been such an eye opener!
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins propelled my interest in AI.
The Disappearance of the Universe, by Gary Renard
Rage Against The System by A.P. Hovsepian
The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene
Dhammapada for me.
You can name multiple books though if that is the case with you.