Ask HN: What books have helped make who you are today?
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.
Comments
_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. :)
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.
_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.
_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
Do you have any recommendations on what to read first in order to be introduced to Kierkegaard's writings/thoughts?
The C Programming Language
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Lord of the Rings
1984
_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
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.
In chronological order:
1.) Bhagavad Gita "Celestial Song" - Hindu bible 2.) Cosmos - Carl Sagan 3.) Alchemist - Paulo Coelho 4.) Think and Grow Rich - Napolean Hill
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Building Websites is Easy (html book for young teens)
<spoiler alert>
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>
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.
Cosmos - Carl Sagan
1984 - George Orwell
Tao Teh Ching - Lao Tse
iWoz The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Hackers The Great Gatsby