Whats your favourite book and why?

[Whateverist]

Sapiens: A brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

A ton of insights about evolution of humanity, really puts things in perspective.

I wonder what you think of this review of that book?  

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/s...ari-review


I would like to read such a book but I wonder if there is one with fewer axes to grind.

[Whateverist]

Yeah, I've got plenty of favorites. CitR has already been mentioned -- the sense of finding anger and the absurd in alienation struck a deep chord in me. A Farewell to Arms has romance, war, debauchery, and terror. What a mix, eh? Guns, Germs, and Steel presents some complex thoughts with great writing. I love most of John Keegan's work for the same reasons.

Yeah GG&S was a real mind re-arranger.  I'd love to read a book as well and fairly written as that about human origins.

[TheRealJoeFish]

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

Although Lolita is his best known, I think Pale Fire is his magnum opus (if you can handle a novel in the form of a 40-page poem followed by 200 pages of line-by-line footnotes). It is a masterful example of writing on every single level: some books have beautiful diction, sentences and paragraphs, some books have gripping ideas keeping you going well past your bedtime, some books have very important, touching, beautiful themes, some books transcend the form of the novel to comment on the author, the reader, the language and the artistic process... Pale Fire absolutely excels on every single of these levels, with Nabokov demonstrating a virtuosic interplay between the minutia and the thematic, between the simple and the complex.

So yeah......... Pale Fire by Nabokov READ IT FOOLS

[Whateverist]

Got a couple ahead of it but I'll take a look at it soon. Thanks.


Just put a hold on one at my local library branch.

[UnLocal]

Sapiens: A brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

A ton of insights about evolution of humanity, really puts things in perspective.

I wonder what you think of this review of that book?  

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/s...ari-review


I would like to read such a book but I wonder if there is one with fewer axes to grind.

Yeah its a long grind, but worth it though.
When it comes to review - its overall quite accurate, the book is not purely scientific and a lot of Harari`s rhetoric is quite aggressive and provocative, its just the way you have to go in order to appeal to the audience and get the book out. Also some of his views are a bit short sighted, but overall its still a very good read, there is still a lot of insights, especially the first part of the book where the start of our genus homo is explained, even before us sapiens, and how we slowly colonized the planet , so you can maybe check out only that part

[Alex K]

Oof, choosing one is difficult. Those who follow my comments here know that I do not read a lot of fiction.

The book of fiction that I think about most often because of its philosophical angle is probably "Solaris" by Lem. The whole idea of humanity utterly failing to even find a way to think about the thoughts of, let alone understand the seemingly bizarre behavior of a superior intelligence, is very fascinating, add to that the setting, it's great.

The non-fic book that left the strongest impression in recent years would be Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle. It's a unique travelogue mainly through 1830s south america, the atlantic and galapagos, and we follow the thoughts of still unknown budding young naturalist CD on his grand tour, as the idea of evolution begins to dawn on him, but long before he actually understands it. Lots of wry comments about how to cook various animals.

When it comes to actual scientific books, John Bell's collection Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics is a contender. It's a seminal work. One of the (to the public) virtually unknown Giants of 20th century physics, manages to clarifiy the essential nature of quantum theory in just a handful of classic, comparably simple arguments.

Never actually read it, but 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy' by Newton.

It's a bit of a shlep tbh
He bases his arguments on a gazillion geometric constructions and uses, for today's standards, unusual nomenclature, and that makes it difficult to read. He should have used Leibnitz calculus

[The Valkyrie]

I don't have a specific favourite but this is near the top of the list:

[Whateverist]

I don't have a specific favourite but this is near the top of the list:

Pretty sure I've read that one and if not then other ones by him.  He makes his writing pretty funny as well as interesting.  If you like his writing style you might also like Gerry Durrell's books about his animal collecting trips (very politically incorrect these days but not back then) and especially the three about growing up on Corfu in Greece post WWII.

[ApeNotKillApe]

Never actually read it, but 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy' by Newton.

It's a bit of a shlep tbh
He bases his arguments on a gazillion geometric constructions and uses, for today's standards, unusual nomenclature, and that makes it difficult to read. He should have used Leibnitz calculus

Yeah, that's why I didn't read it. The unusual gnome enclosure.

[Ravenshire]

For one who has probably read over a thousand books, I do not have a favorite.

Lightweight! I own over a thousand.

One favorite book? Not bloody fucking possible. In a bad week, I get through at least three books. My favorite this year: "The Lies of Locke Lamora" (first in the Gentleman Bastard series). Grimdark fantasy with a main character that will make you laugh, even in a setting grim enough to make you cringe.

Had you asked this question when I was 16 I would have instantly said "The Lord of the Rings." Had you asked in Grade School I would have said either "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" or "The High King" (the concluding book of "The Chronicles of Prydain which has held up surprisingly well as I've aged). Ask again next week and I might well change the answer to this years favorite. The fourth book of "The Lightbringer" series is out and I'll be starting it Monday afternoon or early Tuesday.

Favorite book?!? Hell, I can't name a favorite author.