Adrift by Steven Callahan. It’s an account of a sailor whose ship sank and left him adrift for 76 days. I find it it both grounding and life-affirming. It has also taught me some lessons that I have never forgotten since. For instance that one never gives 100% as long as there is still hope that someone else is going to come and save you.
The Wheel of Time series (Robert Jordan + Brandon Sanderson).
I started it when I was !4 - re-read as each new book came out. Did a final read through a few years ago.
The Giver. It was the first fictional novel I read as a kid that made me think "books are cool". So I've read it a few times out of nostalgia (it's also good!).
Isadora Duncan's autobiography. Not sure why. It speaks to me. She led one helluva life. Revolutionizing dance. Whenever possible, subsisting on oysters & champagne.
I didn't read it twice, but I loved it enough to recommend it to my wife, who also loved it, and then we recommended it to our college age kids, one of whom now loves it and one of whom is still reading it, having started very recently, telling us he's really enjoying it.
A blog post I happened to run across begins:
"""
I have a problem: I’ve already read Lonesome Dove.
And Lonesome Dove is the most totally absorbing wonderfully awesome novel on the planet.
> it ain’t dying I’m talking about. It’s living. I doubt it matters where you die. But it matters where you live.
We named our youngest Augustus after Augustus McCrae. It’s amazing how a novel that really shows the randomness and absurdity of life in the west ended up being such a beautiful and meaningful story. But, maybe that’s kind of how all of life is at any time period.
Plus one, scrolled through waiting for someone to mention this one.
I don’t typically reread fiction but the poetic style of writing, combined with great scenes and characters makes almost any page worth a reread from time to time.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever find a book as good across so many dimensions…
I don't remember the names of the books, but I loved the one where Bean started out as a city kid (Amsterdam maybe it was?)
I enjoyed the whole series. The first book is the best IMO, and the piggy world was the worst, but had some interesting ideas in it. I still think a lot about the sub-vocalization technology.
"Dune" by Frank Herbert - translated and original. A few times in primary school, then in high school and again several years ago. It's also one of the very few books I've listened to. I simply love this book.
Hannibal and me. I love the way it combines selfhelp/strategy with history. It uses Hannibal, Scipio, and Flavius as kind of architypes on how we can act at different points in our life, etc... It's fasinating.
By that definition, "The Lord of the Rings" isn't a book, either :P
But we can be gracious and understand what people mean. When asking a question like which books have you read multiple times, you would expect a lot of answers like "The Bible", it's certainly the book I've read most often, far more than any other book.
Unfortunately there just isn't too much of a reason to re-read books other than absolute classics, for example Shakespeare also falls into the category of "should re-read", or perhaps favorite collections of poems, but again these would typically be classics (modern poetry, like modern literature, tends not to have a broad audience, or even bother with trying to reach a broad audience).
With the rise of alt-texts such as social media, blogs, online information sources - books have definitely taken a beating, as have the institutions that produce books. It only takes 10,000 book sales in one week to make a NYTimes best seller. There are 385,000 Bibles sold each week - and many more given away, 100 million Bibles are printed each year.
I wonder if, in the future, there will be bible-based video games and other entertainment that will take up the time people spend reading the Bible as there have been things like television and video games that have replaced many people reading things like detective stories or adventure/romance stories.
Don't think I need to explain what it's about at this point. As to what drew me to read it multiple times, that's due to it still being the greatest high fantasy story ever created. And it's a very balanced story. Every character, even the most powerful ones, has their flaws and weaknesses. Every choice has consequences, and could be the undoing of everything that the heroes are working towards.
I read it in my late teens/early 20's and was planning to reread it when I'd forgotten enough of the plot that I could fully enjoy it again. Then, unfortunately, the movies came out! Maybe read it again anyway? Not sure.
I read it at age 11, again at age 28. The difference in personal experience was remarkable. The best parts of the story were very different between those ages.
A Harry Potter fan-fiction where Harry is a master of rational thinking and decision making. The plot is incredibly clever and exciting, and at the same time you learn a lot about how to think properly, but also a bit about science in general.
In the first chapters, I find Harry a bit annoying sometimes, but I beg you to ignore that and continue a bit, it gets so good!
“Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance” — Robert Pirsig
“Siddhartha” — Herman Hesse
“Stranger in a Strange Land" - Robert Heinlein
"Wind Up Bird Chronicle" - Haruki Murakami
The first two were handed to me by my father when I dropped out of high school. Zen was a slog the first time I read through it, I came back to it my late twenties and have read it at leaset two more times since then.
It changed the way I think about "thinking". I also see myself in the father and son story. I am sorry to be so general but if I jump into the specifics I fear I would ruin them. Not because somebody else couldn't but I know myself to be a horrible teacher.
Being an extravert, the book inspired me on how to get energy from my inner world of thoughts, ideas, and images during quarantine. Beautiful metaphors and philosophical inquiries into values.
I was not a fan of "Zen" as it tried hard to sound intelligent without saying much. Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami was a disappointment as well. Mystical realism is an often imitated genre done well by only a few.
123 comments
[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 212 ms ] threadA blog post I happened to run across begins:
""" I have a problem: I’ve already read Lonesome Dove.
And Lonesome Dove is the most totally absorbing wonderfully awesome novel on the planet.
So nothing else really compares.
Hence, my problem. """ https://blog.pshares.org/the-lonesome-dove-problem/
We named our youngest Augustus after Augustus McCrae. It’s amazing how a novel that really shows the randomness and absurdity of life in the west ended up being such a beautiful and meaningful story. But, maybe that’s kind of how all of life is at any time period.
“Lord of the Rings” trilogy — J. R. R. Tolkien
“Siddhartha” — Herman Hesse
I don’t typically reread fiction but the poetic style of writing, combined with great scenes and characters makes almost any page worth a reread from time to time.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever find a book as good across so many dimensions…
Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works
The movie is garbage, it's not worth watching. The most interesting stuff happens in the main character's internal dialogue.
The main character is an intelligent outcast and that thinks differently, very enticing to a kid that feels the same way.
Ender's Game was on the U.S. Marine Corps' reading list.
(I might have read Ender's Shadow two or three times as well.)
I enjoyed the whole series. The first book is the best IMO, and the piggy world was the worst, but had some interesting ideas in it. I still think a lot about the sub-vocalization technology.
Bean was great, though. I think more than Ender.
Ender's Shadow
Rotterdam IIRC.
This book helped me a lot, to know what need to prioritize for my business
The Bible isn't it.
But we can be gracious and understand what people mean. When asking a question like which books have you read multiple times, you would expect a lot of answers like "The Bible", it's certainly the book I've read most often, far more than any other book.
Unfortunately there just isn't too much of a reason to re-read books other than absolute classics, for example Shakespeare also falls into the category of "should re-read", or perhaps favorite collections of poems, but again these would typically be classics (modern poetry, like modern literature, tends not to have a broad audience, or even bother with trying to reach a broad audience).
With the rise of alt-texts such as social media, blogs, online information sources - books have definitely taken a beating, as have the institutions that produce books. It only takes 10,000 book sales in one week to make a NYTimes best seller. There are 385,000 Bibles sold each week - and many more given away, 100 million Bibles are printed each year.
I wonder if, in the future, there will be bible-based video games and other entertainment that will take up the time people spend reading the Bible as there have been things like television and video games that have replaced many people reading things like detective stories or adventure/romance stories.
Don't think I need to explain what it's about at this point. As to what drew me to read it multiple times, that's due to it still being the greatest high fantasy story ever created. And it's a very balanced story. Every character, even the most powerful ones, has their flaws and weaknesses. Every choice has consequences, and could be the undoing of everything that the heroes are working towards.
Man, I love that book.
First read when I was an undergrad. Then multiple times during grad school. Hit a raw nerve somewhere.
(There's another book with the same title, so note the author).
A Harry Potter fan-fiction where Harry is a master of rational thinking and decision making. The plot is incredibly clever and exciting, and at the same time you learn a lot about how to think properly, but also a bit about science in general.
In the first chapters, I find Harry a bit annoying sometimes, but I beg you to ignore that and continue a bit, it gets so good!
The first two were handed to me by my father when I dropped out of high school. Zen was a slog the first time I read through it, I came back to it my late twenties and have read it at leaset two more times since then.
I guess I love stories of travel and discovery of which all the books have them in droves.
Along with books compiled in the Bible. Both proverbs and psalms visited with frequency.