10 ms·

Ask HN: What are your greatest books?

33 points by whyandhow 10y ago

any book that changed your lifestyle, career, or financial status quo...

ethn 10y ago
"Things hidden since the foundation of the world" by Rene Girard. Changed literally everything.
jjude 10y ago
"7 habits" by Steven Covey. Read it 20 years back. Amazed how it is still useful.
- bogdansolga 10y ago
  +1. Still the most 'foundational' book I have ever read.
Kaibeezy 10y ago
"Meditations", Marcus Aurelius - chill, the answer is there
galfarragem 10y ago
"The Prince" -- Niccolò Machiavelli "The little Prince" -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- miguelrochefort 10y ago
  I sense a thematic.
ai_ia 10y ago
The Art of Living by William Hart
hex20 10y ago
"Nairn Bus to Baghdad" - J.S. Tullett
TheAlchemist 10y ago
"The Alchemist" - Paulo Coelho
bogdansolga 10y ago
"Essentialism", by Greg McKeown. Reading it right now, have already learned a lot from it.
- blabla_blublu 10y ago
  Looks interesting - does it cover minimalistic ideas for living or is it more on the lines of information consumption ?
mindcrime 10y ago
The Four Steps To The Epiphany - Steve Blank The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand The Art Of The Start - Guy Kawasaki The World Is Flat - Thomas Friedman
- tiatia 10y ago
  "The World Is Flat - Thomas Friedman" A terrible book. Looks like he made a talk he gave or a paper into a book. Says nothing in several hundred pages that he could not say in a few. Many things are actually wrong. If the world would be flat, geopolitics would be meaningless.
  - mindcrime 10y ago
    If the world would be flat, geopolitics would be meaningless. I think it's pretty clear that it's a metaphor and that qualifiers apply. Nonetheless, the book inspired me and I gained a new appreciation for a lot of things from reading it. For all its flaws, I would advocate reading it to everyone. shrug
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
sogen 10y ago
The Innovator's Dilemma.
jurgenwerk 10y ago
The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell. What an enlightenment!
- peller 10y ago
  Lots of gold in this book. Even though it was published in 1930, just like with The Prince mentioned elsewhere in this thread, human nature changes so very slowly - if at all - that these works are only substantiated by the test of time. Definitely a must read.
blabla_blublu 10y ago
Fiction : * Lolita by Vladmir Nabakov ; an absolute master class. * The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling ; one for the memories! Non Fiction : * Letters of Note by Shawn Usher; a compendium of wonderful letters from the past. Highly recommended. https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Note-Collection-Correspondence-Deserving/dp/1452134251/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482110200&sr=8-1&keywords=Letters+of+note https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Note-Collection-Correspondenc... * Deep work by Cal Newport ; very applicable to the modern day distracted soul.
Jugurtha 10y ago
There's a set of books I picked right in freshman year that marked me: "Pensées" - Blaise Pascal: It showed me the clarity of thought a human being could have with a brain that functions correctly. Reading this is humbling. It is often reduced to a "theological" book and this is what you often see it described as. "The Prince" - Niccolo Machiavelli: Shrewd but so much more nuanced than what 99% of the people who quote him would let believe. Practically every famous quote was taken out of context in a pathetic way. "The Wealth of Nation": I skimmed over a few chapters on a few volumes, haven't read it cover to cover, but the parts I've read were eye opening. "Meditations", Marcus Aurelius: This was surprising. The writing style was so... fresh, for lack of a better word. A few books from "La Comédie Humaine" collection: Honoré de Balzac. I haven't read the whole collection, but it's "Le Père Goriot" that got me into reading a few ones. The great thing about these is the fact they're intertwined (which I didn't know until I saw a character from one novel appear in the other. This was an amazing feeling..). Balzac also knows his humans and describes the human traits and the things you don't expect characters to do or say. All the little unflattering internal thoughts.. When a character gives you goose bumps, the author is doing something right. "How the Steel Was Tempered", by Nikolaï Ostrovski: relates the adventures of Pavka Korchagin, a kid warrior during the Russian Revolution. "On the Genealogy of Morality", Friedrich Nietzsche. I found it in a library and I had just enough money to buy it, so I did and walked 5 miles home. I was asked by a beggar for the equivalent of a dollar, and it made me laugh. Except for Ostrovski, Balzac, and Pascal which we had at home, the others were from a Canadian university's website. You can't order just any book you want here, so finding this was like finding the door to a new galaxy. [0]: http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/ http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/
coldshower 10y ago
Read the Book of Mormon. It's the closest thing to having a personal one to one conversation with God the Son.
- anexprogrammer 10y ago
  In the interests of balance you should read up on the life of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, and his history of fraud. You could follow up with Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell: https://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html https://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html It's pretty short.
  - coldshower 10y ago
    I know all about Joseph Smith. I'll leave it at that. However, my initial comment still stands.
    - anexprogrammer 10y ago
      Was more offering a counterpoint for the OP than trying to get argumentative. :) I found his life fascinating, not least as it's very much one that would be too remarkable for the biopic!
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - coldshower 10y ago
        Glad you brought it up. The Joseph Smith controversy is the most interesting and perplexing story never told. Despite the sensation and spectacle, the Book of Mormon continues to blow my mind. Nothing compares.
algebrax 10y ago
Deep Work Rework Zero to One E-myth

33 points by whyandhow 10y ago

any book that changed your lifestyle, career, or financial status quo...

ethn 10y ago

"Things hidden since the foundation of the world" by Rene Girard. Changed literally everything.

jjude 10y ago

"7 habits" by Steven Covey. Read it 20 years back. Amazed how it is still useful.

bogdansolga 10y ago
+1. Still the most 'foundational' book I have ever read.

Kaibeezy 10y ago

"Meditations", Marcus Aurelius - chill, the answer is there

galfarragem 10y ago

"The Prince" -- Niccolò Machiavelli "The little Prince" -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

miguelrochefort 10y ago
I sense a thematic.

ai_ia 10y ago

The Art of Living by William Hart

hex20 10y ago

"Nairn Bus to Baghdad" - J.S. Tullett

TheAlchemist 10y ago

"The Alchemist" - Paulo Coelho

bogdansolga 10y ago

"Essentialism", by Greg McKeown. Reading it right now, have already learned a lot from it.

blabla_blublu 10y ago
Looks interesting - does it cover minimalistic ideas for living or is it more on the lines of information consumption ?

mindcrime 10y ago

The Four Steps To The Epiphany - Steve Blank The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand The Art Of The Start - Guy Kawasaki The World Is Flat - Thomas Friedman

tiatia 10y ago
"The World Is Flat - Thomas Friedman" A terrible book. Looks like he made a talk he gave or a paper into a book. Says nothing in several hundred pages that he could not say in a few. Many things are actually wrong. If the world would be flat, geopolitics would be meaningless.
- mindcrime 10y ago
  If the world would be flat, geopolitics would be meaningless. I think it's pretty clear that it's a metaphor and that qualifiers apply. Nonetheless, the book inspired me and I gained a new appreciation for a lot of things from reading it. For all its flaws, I would advocate reading it to everyone. shrug

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

sogen 10y ago

The Innovator's Dilemma.

jurgenwerk 10y ago

The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell. What an enlightenment!

peller 10y ago
Lots of gold in this book. Even though it was published in 1930, just like with The Prince mentioned elsewhere in this thread, human nature changes so very slowly - if at all - that these works are only substantiated by the test of time. Definitely a must read.

blabla_blublu 10y ago

Fiction : * Lolita by Vladmir Nabakov ; an absolute master class. * The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling ; one for the memories! Non Fiction : * Letters of Note by Shawn Usher; a compendium of wonderful letters from the past. Highly recommended. https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Note-Collection-Correspondence-Deserving/dp/1452134251/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482110200&sr=8-1&keywords=Letters+of+note https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Note-Collection-Correspondenc... * Deep work by Cal Newport ; very applicable to the modern day distracted soul.

Jugurtha 10y ago

There's a set of books I picked right in freshman year that marked me: "Pensées" - Blaise Pascal: It showed me the clarity of thought a human being could have with a brain that functions correctly. Reading this is humbling. It is often reduced to a "theological" book and this is what you often see it described as. "The Prince" - Niccolo Machiavelli: Shrewd but so much more nuanced than what 99% of the people who quote him would let believe. Practically every famous quote was taken out of context in a pathetic way. "The Wealth of Nation": I skimmed over a few chapters on a few volumes, haven't read it cover to cover, but the parts I've read were eye opening. "Meditations", Marcus Aurelius: This was surprising. The writing style was so... fresh, for lack of a better word. A few books from "La Comédie Humaine" collection: Honoré de Balzac. I haven't read the whole collection, but it's "Le Père Goriot" that got me into reading a few ones. The great thing about these is the fact they're intertwined (which I didn't know until I saw a character from one novel appear in the other. This was an amazing feeling..). Balzac also knows his humans and describes the human traits and the things you don't expect characters to do or say. All the little unflattering internal thoughts.. When a character gives you goose bumps, the author is doing something right. "How the Steel Was Tempered", by Nikolaï Ostrovski: relates the adventures of Pavka Korchagin, a kid warrior during the Russian Revolution. "On the Genealogy of Morality", Friedrich Nietzsche. I found it in a library and I had just enough money to buy it, so I did and walked 5 miles home. I was asked by a beggar for the equivalent of a dollar, and it made me laugh. Except for Ostrovski, Balzac, and Pascal which we had at home, the others were from a Canadian university's website. You can't order just any book you want here, so finding this was like finding the door to a new galaxy. [0]: http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/ http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/

coldshower 10y ago

Read the Book of Mormon. It's the closest thing to having a personal one to one conversation with God the Son.

anexprogrammer 10y ago
In the interests of balance you should read up on the life of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, and his history of fraud. You could follow up with Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell: https://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html https://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html It's pretty short.
- coldshower 10y ago
  I know all about Joseph Smith. I'll leave it at that. However, my initial comment still stands.
  - anexprogrammer 10y ago
    Was more offering a counterpoint for the OP than trying to get argumentative. :) I found his life fascinating, not least as it's very much one that would be too remarkable for the biopic!
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - coldshower 10y ago
      Glad you brought it up. The Joseph Smith controversy is the most interesting and perplexing story never told. Despite the sensation and spectacle, the Book of Mormon continues to blow my mind. Nothing compares.

algebrax 10y ago

Deep Work Rework Zero to One E-myth