3 ms·

There's always another book to read. But the books that I remember years later, the real gems, are few and far between. If I had some even marginally better pro

There's always another book to read. But the books that I remember years later, the real gems, are few and far between. If I had some even marginally better process for finding those than dumb luck, I'd be thrilled.

jmstfv 9y ago
Out of curiosity, which books?
- bradleyjg 9y ago
  I don't have a full list, but some that I thought of when I was trying out this website were Foucault's Pendulum; East of Eden; Sometimes a Great Notion; A Man in Full; I, Claudius; and Anathem.
- edraferi 9y ago
  > Out of curiosity, which books? There were two great discussions about this on HN last week: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14486657 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14486657 Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14477851 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14477851
aaachilless 9y ago
There must be some fundamental difference between the way you and I read, because I feel like I'm wading through a sea of gems when it comes to choosing books. Every once in a while I come upon a dud, but not often at all. And the duds are basically always very specific to my personal taste. For example, you mentioned Anathem as a gem, and I love Neal Stephenson and have read most of his work, but reading Anathem a couple weeks ago I was bored out of my mind. Google search and Amazon reviews are actually excellent book-finding tools and I don't believe there's much value to be squeezed out of what they leave on the table.
- fouc 9y ago
  Did you finish Anathem? It was a brutal start for me, I didn't get into it until after the first 300 pages. Then it was fantastic. (I basically hate the overly descriptive setup because I don't really like wasting my time trying to visualize what the author is describing).
  - aaachilless 9y ago
    I didn't and for essentially the reason you described. The minutiae of the setting kept getting in the way of enjoying the story and the characters. Maybe I'll give it another go. Still, 300 pages is quite the hurdle.
    - noufalibrahim 9y ago
      I loved Anathem. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I heard about the Long Now foundation and their work at roughly the same time. Stephenson's wanderings into tangential topics is annoying at times but I stopped judging and just read it like a stream of consciousness kind of thing and it worked out quite well. Everyone I've recommended the book to has either been overwhelmed because of the size or bored because of the length.
- bradleyjg 9y ago
  I hesitated to include Anathem on the list because it isn't like the others. I didn't love it because it a masterpiece of the novel form, but rather because I found so many ideas in it fascinating. Perhaps if I had a more comprehensive background in a couple of areas (math, philosophy) I would have already been exposed to many of them and wouldn't have enjoyed the book so much. But as it turns out I didn't and I did.

jmstfv 9y ago

Out of curiosity, which books?

bradleyjg 9y ago
I don't have a full list, but some that I thought of when I was trying out this website were Foucault's Pendulum; East of Eden; Sometimes a Great Notion; A Man in Full; I, Claudius; and Anathem.
edraferi 9y ago
> Out of curiosity, which books? There were two great discussions about this on HN last week: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14486657 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14486657 Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14477851 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14477851

aaachilless 9y ago

There must be some fundamental difference between the way you and I read, because I feel like I'm wading through a sea of gems when it comes to choosing books. Every once in a while I come upon a dud, but not often at all. And the duds are basically always very specific to my personal taste. For example, you mentioned Anathem as a gem, and I love Neal Stephenson and have read most of his work, but reading Anathem a couple weeks ago I was bored out of my mind. Google search and Amazon reviews are actually excellent book-finding tools and I don't believe there's much value to be squeezed out of what they leave on the table.

fouc 9y ago
Did you finish Anathem? It was a brutal start for me, I didn't get into it until after the first 300 pages. Then it was fantastic. (I basically hate the overly descriptive setup because I don't really like wasting my time trying to visualize what the author is describing).
- aaachilless 9y ago
  I didn't and for essentially the reason you described. The minutiae of the setting kept getting in the way of enjoying the story and the characters. Maybe I'll give it another go. Still, 300 pages is quite the hurdle.
  - noufalibrahim 9y ago
    I loved Anathem. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I heard about the Long Now foundation and their work at roughly the same time. Stephenson's wanderings into tangential topics is annoying at times but I stopped judging and just read it like a stream of consciousness kind of thing and it worked out quite well. Everyone I've recommended the book to has either been overwhelmed because of the size or bored because of the length.
bradleyjg 9y ago
I hesitated to include Anathem on the list because it isn't like the others. I didn't love it because it a masterpiece of the novel form, but rather because I found so many ideas in it fascinating. Perhaps if I had a more comprehensive background in a couple of areas (math, philosophy) I would have already been exposed to many of them and wouldn't have enjoyed the book so much. But as it turns out I didn't and I did.