
Ask HN: What is the greatest book you've ever read? - A0522
I am looking to buy some books for summer reading (Fiction and Non-fiction).
======
billturner
It's quite hard to pick the "greatest", but I recently re-read _A Confederacy
of Dunces_ by John Kennedy Toole, and it's still as wonderful as the first
time I read it.

~~~
dirkgadsden
Read it three years ago; entertaining, engaging, and quite deep in it's
development of characters within a relatively static environment. Definitely a
great.

------
masterzora
I'm sure there'll be plenty of sci-fi, fantasy, and tech- or entrepreneurship-
related non-fiction books mentioned, so I'm specifically trying to approach
from a different direction.

The two I've seriously got to recommend are East of Eden and The Count of
Monte Cristo. East of Eden is Steinbeck, of whom I'm usually not a fan, but it
was phenomenal and definitely made me rethink my approach to life (it was high
school, so this was easier to do, but it's still a nice feature in a book).
The Count of Monte Cristo is also a classic, and I'm sure I won't be the only
one to recommend it, but it's absolutely brilliant through and through. Make
sure you pick up the Robin Buss translation, though (unless you're comfortable
reading in French, of course).

~~~
peregrine
I too love East of Eden, I'm curious though what change did it cause you to
make?

------
argimenes
Sci-Fi: The Dune series. All of them. There is no excuse to give up after the
first one. Frank Herbert was a philosopher who worked in the medium of the
sci-fi novel.

Fantasy: "The Worm Ourobourous". If Christoper Marlowe had invented the
fantasy novel genre, this is what he would have written. The prose makes
modern fantasy look like milquetoast.

Criticism: "The Art and Craft of Drawing" by Vernon Blake. The best attempt to
capture the mental processes involved in drawing like the Masters. It was
written in the 1920s when artists could still draw like the Masters and knew
the tradition.

Programming: "Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming: Case Studies
in Common Lisp". A gymnasium for the programming mind.

~~~
petervandijck
But STAY AWAY from any Dune follow-up novels written by Herbert's son,
including the "final" one of the series. Just terrible, it breaks your heart.

------
colson04
Fiction: tie between Of Human Bondage by W.Somerset Maugham or The Brothers
Karamazov by Dostoevsky

Non-Fiction: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

Business: Rework by Jason Fried - one of the best in a long time

~~~
creativeone
I checked out Rework on Amazon and saw some really mixed reviews, now im not
sure about getting it. What do you like about it, and do you suggest anything
else?

~~~
colson04
I briefly checked out the first 20 or 30 reviews on Amazon and was not
surprised by the comments, but by the ratings. My take on the comments? True:
if you are a long time follower of the signal vs. noise blog then you will
have seen some of the material before. True: some of the advice is ambiguous,
but necessarily so - this is not a "how to start a web company" step-by-step
manual. It is an aid to seeing business from a total non-traditional platform.
True: the book is short on pages and word-count - you can easily read it in an
afternoon. Every other page is an illustration (no informational value) of
some kind taking away from actual information space - I did feel I was mislead
by this. True: They do use their own company as an example quite a lot which
took away credibility. Their biz is the extreme example in a few ways but it
is very interesting how they embrace obstacles that others run from i.e.
having globally spread employees.

I got over my own negativities when I read the book for the second time three
months later. The book is written in such a way that, to me, the message will
adapt and be meaningful regardless of the current situation. Kind of like the
bookd Who Moved My Cheese is still taught and changes meaning for each reader,
each time they read it.

In my opinion it's definitely worth reading - take that for what you will.

Other suggestions? I've got plenty if you want 'em. I read a book or two a
week. Here's two more of my fav business-type books.

Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin & The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber - a
classic

Here's a short cut to the best reading on business and entrepreneurship - take
the following links and cross reference. If a book is on both lists it's
usually very good.

<http://sivers.org/book>

<http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/>

------
gcv
King Lear (Shakespeare). Disgrace (Coetzee). The Brothers Karamazov
(Dostoevsky). Тихий Дон (Sholohov's name is on the cover; there are several
translations under various titles as Quiet Don or something like that).

------
jscore
Shantaram

[http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-
Roberts/...](http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-
Roberts/dp/0312330529)

------
pwang
Best overall: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and its less well-
known sequel, Lila

Best fantasy in terms of most imaginative and full of wonder: The Neverending
Story by Michael Ende. (I know, everyone saw the crappy movie; it simply does
not do the book justice.)

Best Scifi: The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

~~~
latch
Didn't you find Endymion and The Rise of Endymion brutally painful?

~~~
pwang
Actually, I rather liked them... :)

------
tokenadult
Best novel about growing up is The Chosen by Chaim Potok.

[http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Chaim-Penguin-Modern-
Classics/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Chaim-Penguin-Modern-
Classics/dp/0141040777/)

I got a LOT out of that when I reread it at least thirty years after reading
it the first time.

Best nonfiction book full of amazing facts and insights into the human
condition I didn't know before I read the book is The Nature of Paleolithic
Art by R. Dale Guthrie.

[http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Paleolithic-Art-Dale-
Guthrie/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Paleolithic-Art-Dale-
Guthrie/dp/0226311260/)

There are bunch of others I could remember, but these two in particular took
me by surprise by being much better than I would have guessed they would be
when I first picked them up.

------
pitchups
Gödel, Escher, Bach - the best book ever hands down!

~~~
whackedspinach
I have this book sitting next to me, but I never read past the first chapter.
Could you tell my why I should read it over the dozens of other books on my
reading list? It just looks so dense.

~~~
pitchups
Yes, it is dense, and difficult in parts - but take your time. It took me a
long time and several attempts too - but was well worth it. I still go back
and read sections again to get a better understanding of some of the concepts.
It is very unique and original synthesis of many diverse topics weaved
together - logic, computer science, genetics, philosophy, intelligence and
consciousness - around a central idea. The central idea is about self-
reference and strange loops - as in logic with Godel's theorem, in music - as
in Bach's fugues which curl and twist, and Escher - whose drawings such as two
hands drawing each other - capture the surreal nature of these strange loops.
If you are a programmer, or ever had an interest in Artificial Intelligence
this book presents some compelling ideas on how intelligence or even
consciousness may emerge out of these strange loops. Even if you are not a
programmer, this book will change the way you think about thinking!

~~~
pitchups
Here are some more favorites (they may not qualify as the best books ever, but
great books with original and useful ideas):

\- Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven
Johnson

\- The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at
Work and at Home by Dan Ariely

\- Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath, Dan Heath

------
iqster
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I'd also strongly recommend
Terry P's Going Postal and Making Money.

I have a long list of non-fiction books I've read and enjoyed. Most recently,
I read Paul Graham's Hackers and Painters. Would definitely recommend it!

------
jaz
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Some translations are better than others, but
I have found The Emperor's Handbook[1] to be the best so far.

[1] <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743233832/>

------
jcallahan
Read something REALLY fun, enlightening and TRUE: Surely you're joking Mr.
Feynman! (Adventures of a curious character) _and_ What do you care what other
people think (Further adventures of a curious character)

ObAmazon: [http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-
Think/dp/039332...](http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-
Think/dp/0393320928)

ObAmazon: [http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-
Char...](http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-
Character/dp/0393316041)

------
evanwalsh
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

If you're on HN, you already know what this is. Probably.

~~~
whackedspinach
I'd seen it but never read it. After reading your comment I downloaded it and
enjoyed it. Thanks!

------
user24
without visible comment scores, this thread is not as useful as it could have
been.

For computer security fact-wrapped-up-as-fiction, the "Stealing the network'
books are very entertaining, realistic depictions of 'the perfect hack'.

For scifi, I enjoy collections of short stories such as the "new writings in
SF" anthologies. But they're hard to get hold of, so any "best SF" collection
of short stories will serve you well.

For postmodern fiction, Haruki Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End
of the World is a great read.

------
pedoh
Roots by Alex Haley. My copy is read, re-read, worn, and well loved.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley#Roots>

------
Abaddon
For fiction, I'd vote for the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
by Stephen Donaldson.

He's often mocked for deploying the less-visited corners of the OED, but some
people love that sort of joy in language. The antihero has never been done
better, and the inversion of the whole 'wake up in a fantasy land' trope is
brilliant and explored to its logical conclusions.

Give it to Book 2 of the First Chronicles ('The Illearth War') before you
decide whether you like them.

------
tpaddock
I was "forced" to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in school, and
it's still my favorite, forced or not. One of the best parts about that
school.

------
vinced
-All my friends are superheros -The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time -Outliers ... and other Malcolm Gladwel books -The Professor and the Madman

many more.

------
meatsock
The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual>

------
mfalcon
Happiness, by Riccard Mathieu[0]. He gave an introductory talk at google
too[1].

[0][http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Guide-Developing-Lifes-
Impor...](http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Guide-Developing-Lifes-
Important/dp/0316057835)

[1][http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1424079446171087119...](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1424079446171087119#)

------
blownd
History of the World - J. M. Roberts

[http://www.amazon.com/History-World-J-M-
Roberts/dp/019521043...](http://www.amazon.com/History-World-J-M-
Roberts/dp/0195210433)

This was my lunch time reading for many months whilst doing contract web
development. I was working with the most offensive tech lead I've ever met,
but he was also incredibly effective.

It kept me sane (I think).

------
shadytrees
Infinite Jest. It's hard to say anything about it that hasn't already been
said a million times, so I'll abbreviate the standard one: If you trust the
author for the first 100 pages and refuse to pass judgment, you will be
rewarded with some of the most beautiful, human characters ever put to paper.
(That being said, it's not easy reading.)

------
hoodoof
There's plenty of nerds here so I'm sure I won't be the last to nominate Lord
of the Rings and Dune.

------
frankiejr
Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

[http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Boiled-Wonderland-End-World-
Inter...](http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Boiled-Wonderland-End-World-
International/dp/0679743464/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1307677444&sr=1-1)

~~~
dbaugh
this book is the yin to neuromancers yang. instead of predicting the net it
predicts how networks change our thoughts. i can't recommend this enough.

------
MaysonL
_Adventures of a Bystander_ by Peter Drucker.

Jane Jacobs's three city books: _The Death and Life of Great American Cities_
, _The Economy of Cities_ , and _Cities and the Wealth of Nations_.

------
creativeone
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

------
dirkgadsden
Mastering Regular Expressions by Jeffrey Friedl, the first edition (a.k.a.
"The Perl Edition", <http://regex.info/> for more information about the book
and its editions)

It's my standard litmus test judging a programmer; if you haven't read or
don't care to read a book on regular expressions, then I probably don't want
to write code with you. It's also useful to remind people who think they're
nerds because they own a smartphone and can download "apps" that they're in a
league far below.

~~~
pasbesoin
I worked for a time in a Java (and some other stuff) shop, and I witnessed
people spending hours and iterations on code that could easily have been
substituted with some not too sophisticated pattern matching. Some of the
"senior developers" seemed to find the topic totally novel.

I think things have changed somewhat in the last 5 - 7 years, but I can
appreciate the parent's point.

------
sente
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

~~~
jeffreyg
also a great audiobook for a ~5 hr drive

------
cl3m
Musashi <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_%28novel%29>

------
zoowar
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

------
shadowhillway
I'm curious if anyone here is going to offer The Bible as the greatest book he
has ever read.

~~~
wmboy
I do.

The Bible has changed more lives than any other book, movie, or song you can
name.

------
foob
Goethe's Faust. It's more densely packed with brilliance than anything else
I've ever read.

~~~
FedericoElles
I second. For sure you also did read the original German version? :)

------
haysak
God Emperor of Dune from the Dune series. Work up to it. It's incredibly
rewarding.

------
fuzzmeister
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson.

------
dbaugh
These two books will be pure candy for anyone who reads this site:

Daemon Freedom T.M.

Daniel Suarez

------
systemtrigger
Don Quixote by Cervantes, or Shogun by Clavell.

------
trefn
The Dispossessed, by Ursula Le Guin

------
kentpalmer
Heidegger What is called Thinking.

------
clutchski
Suttree by Cormac McCarthy.

------
latch
Dune

------
richardw
Kane and Abel

------
pitdesi
Enchantment, by Orson Scott Card

