Ask HN: What was a book that changed your life?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25530700

by amerf1 • 6 years ago

84 138 6 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

If there was one book you’d recommend for everyone to read over the Christmas break. What book would that be?

amrb• 6 years ago

The first Dune book.

woleium2• 6 years ago

Same :)

dave_sid• 6 years ago

Refactoring to Patterns by Joshua Kerievsky

ojnabieoot• 6 years ago

Rudolf Carnap - An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science

Maybe it didn’t “change my life” but as a physics/math student this was probably the single book that most affected my internal ideology, by simply raising so many questions I hadn’t ever considered (or if I had, it was clumsy and inadequate).

Exuma• 6 years ago

6 pillars of self esteem

tech_tuna• 6 years ago

The Moral Animal

underseacables3• 6 years ago

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I have not received a ticket for a driving infraction since.

simonebrunozzi4• 6 years ago

I've read the book many years ago but can't make the connection - could you explain?

underseacables3• 6 years ago

In the book, Gladwell examined how police officers made decisions. He looked at multiple scenarios and broke them down into thin slice moments. I’ve been pulled over seven times since reading that book. I know better about what the police officer may be anticipating , and more about their training. So when they approached my vehicle I watch their body language very carefully, and I remain “as calm as a Hindu cow.” For whatever reason, being extremely calm, and saying nothing unless I’m asked the question, throws them off so much that you can see this doubt come across their face. Like, did I pull the right car over? Did I read that wrong? Basically, teaching me to be extremely aware of the police officers behavior and body language has helped me positively navigate seven traffic stops

roundfly• 6 years ago

Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

simonebrunozzi4• 6 years ago

I've read "the lord of the rings" when I was 12, over the course of 3 days. Eat, sleep, go to bathroom, and read.

Probably the biggest impact a book ever had on me.

fsflover2• 6 years ago

Also Silmarillion adds a lot of depth to it.

ComputerGuru• 6 years ago

I was probably the same age the first time I read it but I definitely wouldn’t say it changed my life. How did it impact yours?

simonebrunozzi4• 6 years ago

I think it was the first time I really went through an "epic" story and digged every emotion about it. Almost like a coming of age.

woleium2• 6 years ago

Same! Also Herbert's Dune

rabidrat• 6 years ago

I guess it would have had an even greater impact if you didn't go to the bathroom.

benlieb• 6 years ago

Non Violent Communication, a language of life - Marshal Rosenberg

thebillywayne• 6 years ago

Aion by Carl Jung

danoloan• 6 years ago

Structured Programming notes by Dijkstra

oh and The Bible

gdx• 6 years ago

Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman

OneFunFellow• 6 years ago

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin

The premise was simple: In 1959 a white reporter used makeup to make himself have black skin. He then traveled around the southern USA. Even as a child it was easy to see how people treated him differently even though he was a white man underneath. The racism was undeniable.

Animal Farm, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 gave me even more reasons to question authority.

justinz• 6 years ago

the Bible

fsflover2• 6 years ago

Ask HN: What was a book that changed your life?

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