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Ask HN: What is your comfort book?
The book you read over and over for whatever reason. Mine is "Money: A Suicide Note" by Martin Amis, a book I listened to and re-read several times.
- maneesh 8y agoAntifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- l5870uoo9y 8y ago> Taleb introduces the book as follows: "Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it antifragile. Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better". Hormesis is an example of mild antifragility, where the stressor is a poisonous substance and the antifragile becomes better overall from a small dose of the stressor. This is different from robustness or resilience in that the Antifragile system improves with, not withstands, stressors, where the stressors are neither too large or small. The larger point, according to Taleb, is that depriving systems of vital stressors is not necessarily a good thing and can be downright harmful. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile It is an interesting observation.
- godelmachine 8y agoBarking up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker
- knight-errantry 8y agoLetters to a Young Contrarian by Christopher Hitchens
- beobab 8y agoThe Complete Robot by Issac Azimov. Well actually, I couldn't decide between "I-Robot" and "The rest of the robots", but luckily there's a compendium with them both in.
- zgniatacz 8y agoA Canticle for Leibowitz
- hardlianotion 8y agoI keep coming back this book and I think it's wonderful, but calling this a comfort book seems wrong somehow. I think I would say Consider Phlebas. Flamboyant space opera.
- arethuza 8y agoWhat is the term for something you keep revisiting because you find it profoundly disturbing? Threads and A Colder War both belong to this category for me.
- eb0la 8y agoThe First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest by PO Bronson. About the beginning of something very similar to java. Hope you enjoy it.
- ljw1001 8y agoTravels with Charlie, Blue Highways, The Little Prince.
- harperlee 8y agoFicciones from Jorge Luis Borges
- whoelseismwr 8y agoEgil's Saga
- zuzuleinen 8y agoMeditations, Marcus Aurelius
- mrtonypino 8y agoCouldn't agree more. 99% of the time I feel blocked, frustrated, etc - I pick it up and read (almost at random) and it also helps reset mindset. This in particular is one of my favorite passages: "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."
- gerikson 8y agoUsed to be the Swallows and Amazon series (when I was much younger). Then it was the 2 memoirs by Patrick Leigh Fermor: "A Time of Gifts" and "Between the Woods and the Water". Lately it's the Aubrey-Maturin by Patrick O'Brian series which I have re-read multiple times.
- spieglt 8y agoThe Zhuangzi
- xevb3k 8y agoCurrently Anatham. Couldn’t tell why exactly but there’s something about the society described in the novel that I find very comforting.
- yoodenvranx 8y agoFor me it is Zodiac, Snow Crash and Diamond Age.
- arethuza 8y agoMy hardback copy of Anathem self destructed through continual re-reading of favourite parts. However, I now also have it on Audible so I can listen to it on my jeejah... ;-)
- prepend 8y agoI think about the Hylaean theorem world every few days. I’m afraid to reread it because it will consume so much time.
- zrail 8y agoThe Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson.
- IanCal 8y agoPratchett discworld series. Started when I was young and I still enjoy rereading them all, still spot some new things in them now and again too.
- akhilrex 8y agoCurrently at 33rd book. Couldn't agree more.
- ColinWright 8y agoI've read them all multiple times, and go back to them again and again. As with you, I still occasionally spot new things, or get taken afresh by a turn-of-phrase. I still laugh out loud at some points.
- veddox 8y agoPratchett is a very special author! Though not my absolute favourite, he does manage to combine brilliant humour with an incredibly observant social satire and deep, likeable characters. BTW, if you like Pratchett, do you know the Discworld MUD? (http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/ http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/)
- drivingmenuts 8y agoI think I've read the entire series at least two times. Now I tend to pick and choose - the Death books and the Watch books are my favorites.
- 3rdAccount 8y agoNot a single book, but The Dresden Files series is really good. The first few books are a little on the weak side, but the author gets better and better and the world building is very deep. There's gotta be a zillion characters interacting to a point where it feels real. Good arc going on too. It's a wizard detective series set in modern times.
- 0b01 8y agoTo Stay Alive by Michel Houellebecq
- deepaksurti 8y agoThe Gospel of Selfless Action
- imdhmd 8y agothe prophet by khalil gibran
- ColinWright 8y agoThe Princess Bride, by William Goldman. I found the book after I saw the film, and it was a revelation that even the action sequences are better in the book.
- dri_ft 8y agoPoetry's always nice for familiarity and rereadability. Perhaps Shakespeare's Sonnets.
- criddell 8y agoWhat was your entry into poetry? Because Shakespeare was always presented as something you should read because it's good for you, not because you enjoy it when I was in high school, I don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy it.
- arethuza 8y agoShakespeare and Robert Burns were both blighted for me by being inflicted at high school. Ironically I found that I really like A Midsummer Night's Dream by watching a movie version with my son who was performing in it at school.
- dri_ft 8y agoI got into it relatively recently, way after high school. I think I got my start mostly with Victorians like Christina Rosetti, maybe some of the Romantics. Far away enough in time to be interestingly different, but close enough that the language is comprehensible. And prior to all that modernist experimentation which moved poetry away from poetry as I understand it. (I don't denigrate that stuff but it isn't a good entry point.) Shakespeare's sonnets are a bit more accessible than his plays insofar as each one is a small, manageable, bite-sized chunk. Nonetheless, they do require fairly slow, relaxed attention in an edition with good notes to get the most out of them. (When I was reading them, I would read a couple very slowly over breakfast every day. I miss being able to do that!)
- veddox 8y agoI always enjoyed writing poetry myself, but I only discovered I liked reading it when I read some of the Romantics. Their themes and style resonated with me, so I read more of them and started to get a taste for it. The more I learnt to appreciate poetry, the more I found that Romantics weren't the only good poets, so I expanded to the Realists, the Metaphysical poets, the fin-de-siecle, etc. And, yes, Shakespeare too ;-) (He takes practice to read and you can't read a lot of him in one sitting, but he really deserves his reputation as an amazing author and poet.)
- robinhoodexe 8y agoDouglas Adams "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". I think I've read it 4 times the last 7 years, which may not be that often, but it definitely has a special place in my heart.
- peter3731 8y agobros. karamazov
- asafira 8y agoFantasy Books by Brandon Sanderson.
- auslegung 8y agoThe Bible, Hobbit, LOTR series, Narnia, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, Papa Hemingway, these are all books that I’ve had to buy multiple times because they fall apart over the years. Never realized until just now how many comfort books I have...
- Y_Y 8y agoI was wondering how comforting reading The Bible (as a cultural catholic) could be, so I dipped in to the first book which came to mind: --- Satan Takes Job's Property and Children 13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants[c] with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. --- I'm not sure how that made me feel, but I bet this is more effective if you pick specific passages you like.
- veddox 8y agoYeah, you chose one of the absolute worst passages for that ;-) I read the Bible every day, a habit that is very important to me. But I don't just "pick specific passages I like", I take a book and read it through sequentially, then move on to the next. I find much of it intensely practical and applicable to my life; it challenges, comforts and teaches me. Of course, some parts are of a more historical interest, yet others (like the one you quote) can be really tough to make sense of. But I believe that the Bible is one of the main ways in which God communicates with people, so I want to read and think about all of it.
- golergka 8y agoAsimov's Foundation series. I find a story spanning centuries, different eras and characters to be deeply calming; there's a strange sense of purpose and meaningfullness when you consider events in a historic perspective.
- stratosgear 8y ago"Nine princes in Amber", by Roger Zelazny. Read the whole series multiple teams and the Corwin Cycle some more...
- formatkaka 8y agoHarry potter. First and the last part
- ratsimihah 8y agoAs A Man Thinketh
- cjoelrun 8y agoThe Count of Monte Cristo.
- shpx 8y agoI was hoping someone would mention this book. I think the less you know about it before you read it the better. It's free to read on Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1184/1184-h/1184-h.htm#linkC2HCH0001 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1184/1184-h/1184-h.htm#linkC...
- ranic 8y agoEither Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.
- EvanKnowles 8y agoIllusions, by Richard Bach.
- naturapath009 8y agoPapillion - Henri Charrière
- RickJWagner 8y agoThe Holy Bible. Especially in times of stress, bereavement, worry, etc.
- mks 8y agoFeynman: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - great inspiration for regaining playfulness. Particularly this quote applicable to many burnt out developers I believe: Physics disgusts me a little bit now, but I used to enjoy doing physics. Why did I enjoy it? I used to play with it. ... So I got this new attitude. Now that I am burned out and I'll never accomplish anything,...I'm going to play with physics whenever I want to, without worrying about any importance whatsoever.
- eddd 8y agoWiedźmin (The Witcher)
- yread 8y agoThe Good Soldier Švejk
- FranzFerdiNaN 8y agoPride & Prejudice. There is something extremely silly about the squabbles of nineteenth century British upper class people.
- chatmasta 8y agoI’m surprised only one other comment mentions Harry Potter, which is definitely my answer. I was part of that “Harry Potter” generation that was right around his “age.” Those books really were incredible for spurring reading in children, and they definitely stimulated my imagination more than many activities in my childhood. Reading them now is comforting not because of the content of the book, but because of the feelings of nostalgia for and positive associations with my childhood that come with it.
- oh-moses 8y agoI'm also in the Harry Potter generation; I was 8 years old when the first book came out. I remember my grandma recommending it to me at the time. It sounded like "kid stuff", so I didn't pay much attention to it and went back to reading Asimov. I finally read this "kid stuff" years later, in my mid-twenties, and I liked it very much!
- oh-moses 8y agoI don't read fiction much anymore, but when I was a teenager, I reread both The Hitchhiker's Guide and Youth In Revolt a few times
- criddell 8y agoI don't think I've ever read a book twice. My to-read list is so long that re-reading something doesn't even tempt me. I'm the same with movies and tv shows. Music, for some reason, is different though. I play the same albums and artists over-and-over.
- minikomi 8y agoPinball 1973 by Murakami Haruki. It's written before he really consolidated his style, but has a clunky charm all of its own.
- andy_boot 8y agoCatch 22. - I can re-read that over and over laughing at the silliness of their situation. Also If you enjoyed Catch I recommend Vernon God Little
- lorenzo20002 8y agoIn a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
- murrayb 8y agoTerry Pratchett- I've re-read Thief of Time the most but they all work. For poetry, Mary Oliver.
- davidarkemp2 8y agoI bought Cormac McCarrthy's Border Trilogy on a whim (had seen and loved the film of No Country for Old Men before). I'm based in the UK, but it honestly takes you places you can never go. Read the whole three books four or five times nows. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6163.The_Border_Trilogy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6163.The_Border_Trilogy
- moretai 8y agoBlood Meridian is also worth a read. Very comforting.
- jyriand 8y agoVALIS by Philip K. Dick and Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
- veddox 8y ago"Anne of Green Gables" and its sequels. I love the simple, every-day stories LM Montgomery writes and her philosophy of life that shines through. The first reminds me of the way I grew up and the second has often inspired me. I also love the way she sees beauty in everything, and how she conveys that in her prose. These are the books I turn to when I am depressed or stressed or just fed up with life in general :-)
- el_cid 8y agoCS Lewis for me (his non fiction stuff) and Tolkien (LOTR).
- himom 8y agoA book? I can’t color between the lines on this one, maybe I can’t read between them either. Here’s 3: Collapse by Jared Diamond The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (English: A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies ) by Bartolomé de las Casas
- anotherevan 8y agoMy top three would be: Dune by Frank Herbert (only the first book, dislike the rest of the series) Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein The Crysalids by John Wyndham I've probably read these three books at least twice a decade since the 80s when I was a teenager. The Complete Robot from Isaac Asimov would be a close forth. The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher would be fifth on the list. Hadn't read since a teenager, but about ten years ago tracked down copies of them (and the prequel) and it was delightful to reread.
- hungerstrike 8y agoThe Bhagavad Gita translated by Jack Hawley
- ydnaclementine 8y agothe lion the witch and the wardrobe was recommended by my mom at a young age (1st grade?), read it a bunch of times in grade school (went to same school K-8 so had access to the same library). I should probably reread that whole series as an adult
- teilo 8y agoThe Dresden Files.
- shem73 8y agoAnything by PG Wodehouse. Perfect antidote to too much seriousness. Often in spring I read Dylan Thomas 's Under Milk Wood.
- veddox 8y agoPG Wodehouse is great. I first saw the "Jeeves & Wooster" TV series (with Fry and Laurie) and already loved that. Then I read the books, and discovered a whole new layer of humour in Wodehouse's prose language :D I remember literally weeping with laughter at some of the scenes...
- mindcrime 8y agoThere's a few: The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne False Memory by Dean Koontz Neuromancer by William Gibson
- pdxgene 8y agoI go back to "Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin once or twice a decade. It has an uncanny combination of page-turner pace and sheer stop-and-savor-it writing beauty that makes it a sheer joy every time.
- wildmindwriting 8y ago"Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. That book embodies so much: love, redemption, justice, perceived justice, human growth, rebellion, religion...it can be a hard slog of a read at times but Hugo really gives his characters space to develop and for you to care about. The Bishop, who is given a passing glance in both the musical and movies, is so much more in the book. Highly recommend to everyone. [edit: "revolution" -> "rebellion"]
- atndants_remote 8y agoEver wonder why mosts casinos have more “SLOT ATTENDANTS “ than cocktail service when it is rare to see a slot machine breaks or needed service and surely those attendants had no engineering degree or at least experience on fixing those computers.. Will I figured out the answer after years of observations, provocation,to gather specific outcome relating slot machine payout. casino players tend to focus only to the screen , would skip going to the bathroom hoping that somehow it will randomly pay some jockpot.. The Handheld Device equipped by the “slot machine attendants “ are designed to remotely control slot machine and it make sense for casino’s point of vantage bacause they not only have the advantage but they have TOTAL CONTROL of cashflaw acting like gods and the players sheeps .. floor supervisors / managers will orient/instruct attendants on their starts of shift to have a certain machines to patrol /covered and will be instructed to press a certain button for each active machine depending on BET the will also be instructed to write down machines # located at the top area near the remote receiver wich they have now built bigger more accurate. Slot attendants do not know exact functionality wich I think careless. They think they are above the law and things will not have a day in court ! I will subpoena their video recordings , slot attendants employment records, their job descriptions, and the ultimate proof of this immoral , dirty , currupted system is their sudden double / triple Revenues after Slot attendants and their handheld device where operational. Revenue’s should have decreased since they have to pay extra for hiring so many slot attendant . Casinos sure contribute generates tax , employed , and sometimes help some organization, individuals, But casinos creates more unemployment, foreclosures, divorces, tax revenues individuals before they where deceived go out to dine, go to stores and shops , spend money for auto repair, medical , and had a bank account . Once people learned how they been going to those damn casinos not knowing that they have zero chance and machines where remotely controlled .. I can’t imagine the implications . I hope it’s not too late. Too many lives destroyed victimized by this greedy , barbaric individuals that profit’s on other misfortunes this is worse than the Eslavary era. Section 10 on their compact agreement states that casinos should maintain a clean , honest gambling operation wich they have broken and will be questioned and challenge .. When I migrate to this country I have a big respect , belief, and admire the law , the rules, will I guess I was wrong I thought this only happens in third countries welcome to america. Populace are being feed constant fear about nuclear, North Korea, Russia, China, global warming bullshit. No one is talking about this damn casinos that is more distructive combined any other treats it put the country in jeopardy. They enemy are among us and already crossed the border they play their card very will and could be the victor..
- protonimitate 8y agoAmerican Gods by Neil Gaiman. Not the best book I've ever read. Not even my favorite book I've read. But it's the one I've read the most, and the one I always go back to. It reminds me of my childhood home, my time growing up there, as well as helps diminish my wanderlust when I'm feeling restless. It also helped me through times of depression and encouraged a love of reading.
- yairhaimo 8y agoTeach Yourself Turbo C++ Visual Edition for Windows in 21 Days
- vstuart 8y ago[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_...)
- spinchange 8y agoThe Odyssey
- G0NZO3 8y ago1. Burn down the night By Craig kee strete A fictional drug trip with Jim Morrison 2. Budding Prospects By T.C. Boyle A group of friends leave San Francisco in 1983 to start their own marijuana enterprise out in the country 3. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas By Hunter S. Thompson "when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"
- yesenadam 8y agoEmerson's Essays. SARK's first 4 or 5 books. The Sirens of Titan. Stevenson's essays.
- adamhepner 8y agoActually, the whole Dune series, and risking to be controversial - the extended universe with the abomination of books by Frank Herbert's son. Yes, they break the rules, yes, they are rushed and yes some explanations plain don't make sense, but ohmygod the additional tens of thousands of years added to the story just put on so much more grandure... But why I like it: I open random page, and I just enjoy falling back to the epic story and remembering small details, discovering new ones, pondering upon the small artificial quotes before the chapters. Those books have so much going on for them, and thanks to the time spans involved you can actually pretty much jump in at any moment. Other one is Stainless Steel Rat series by Harry Harrison, those are very funny and don't attempt to take themselves too seriously, and have the same principle - you can jump into the story at any moment and just enjoy rapid pace of events splashed with humorous commentary. Plus the protagonist is a very much self made man in a world where it doesn't come easily, so there's that bit of hope for you. Thirdly - Discworld. I guess it does not need comment, does it?