Ask HN: What books have helped make who you are today?

17 points by hammmatt 14 years ago | 15 comments

I am currently reading a book that my brother found while browsing YC, "Life would be easier if it weren't for other people." I was also turned onto "G.E.B." by this community.

I was wondering what books really helped you develop into the person you are today. I'm really not after just books, but any sources of information that are really at the fundation of who you are as a person today.

Kind of a broad question, but I am hoping that a broad spectrum question will provide interesting, broad spectrum answers.

:) Thanks in advance.

lupatus 14 years ago |

_A Brief History of Time_ by Stephen Hawking

_The Way to Wealth_ by Benjamin Franklin

_The Book of Job_ by Job, from The Bible

_Meditations_ by Marcus Aurelius

_The Prince_ by Niccolo Machiavelli

_The Bill of Rights_ by James Madison

_The Gospel According to John_ by John, from The Bible

_The Gospel According to Luke_ by Luke, from The Bible

_The Acts of the Apostles_ by Luke, from The Bible

_The Song of Solomon_ by Solomon, from The Bible

_Heimskringla_ transcribed by Snorri Sturluson

These books have combined to make me the free-thinking, reactionary stoic that I am today. Most of them are old, but they contain much wisdom about life, work, politics, gender relations, spirtuality, and history. Please let me know if you have questions. :)

bartonfink 14 years ago |

Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse is a big one. Ecclesiastes is also excellent, and you shouldn't shy away just because it's in the Bible.

lupatus 14 years ago | |

_Siddhartha_ is my mother's favorite book. I find that Buddhist and Stoic philosophy deal with many of the same subjects, specifically, gaining peace with the trials of life. I, however, prefer the Stoic's emphasis on discipline and perseverance over the Buddhist's emphasis on acceptance and understanding. I don't think that one is qualitatively superior to the other, it is just that Stoicism works better for me.

eaton 14 years ago |

_The Myth of Certainty_ by Daniel Taylor

_Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing_ by Soren Kierkegaard

_The Invisible Computer_ by Donald Norman

_Death March_ by Edward Yourdon

_War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning_ by Chris Hedges

_What Do You Care What Other People Think?_ by Richard P. Feynman

lupatus 14 years ago | |

Do you have any recommendations on what to read first in order to be introduced to Kierkegaard's writings/thoughts?

bediger 14 years ago |

The C Programming Language

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Lord of the Rings

1984

starter 14 years ago |

_The Ecclesiastes_ by Solomon, from The Bible

_Start From Scratch_ by Wes Moss

_The Facebook Effect_ by David Kirkpatrick

_The Millionaire Mind_by Thomas J. Stanley

_Secrets of the Millionaire Mind_T. Harv Eker

blendergasket 14 years ago |

Inner Experience by George Bataille The Complete Short Stories by Jorge Luis Borges (especially The Library of Forking Paths; The Library of Babel; Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote and The Aleph) and his essays. Poems by William Blake especially the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Anything by Mircea Eliade (especially the myth of the eternal return, Anything by Frances Yates (especially The Art of Memory (GET THIS BOOK)), the Nag Hammadi Scriptures, the Tao Te Ching, the writings of Chuang Tzu, Currently: Zen Mind, Beginner's mind. Much much more really.

mfalcon 14 years ago |

In chronological order:

  - Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Kiyosaki   
  - PG Essays/ HNews  
  - Happiness by Matthieu Ricard  
  - Walden by Throreau  
  - Zen and the art... by Pirsig

rblion 14 years ago |

1.) Bhagavad Gita "Celestial Song" - Hindu bible 2.) Cosmos - Carl Sagan 3.) Alchemist - Paulo Coelho 4.) Think and Grow Rich - Napolean Hill

pdenya 14 years ago |

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Building Websites is Easy (html book for young teens)

lupatus 14 years ago | |

I also liked _Ender's Game_. It was the first "big" sci-fi book I read while growing up.

My only complaint with it is that it seemed a little too Joan of Arc to me and I was thinking, would they really have let a "kid" command their space fleet?

</spoiler alert>

winsbe01 14 years ago |

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Selected Poems by e.e. cummings

A Chorus of Stones by Susan Griffin

Anything that makes you think about something a little differently can change your life forever.

kapilkaisare 14 years ago |

Cosmos - Carl Sagan

1984 - George Orwell

Tao Teh Ching - Lao Tse

lulzmcgee 14 years ago |

iWoz The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Hackers The Great Gatsby