Posted by dan-bailey 1 day ago
Ask HN: What are you reading?
3 & 4 I thought were quite poor.
I just finished 'All Quiet on the Western Front' - reading with https://www.reddit.com/r/ClassicBookClub/. Really great book, though a bit heavy content - ww1 from a german soldier's pov, gets you to feel the mindnumbing senselessness and horror - highly recommend it if your tastes run that way.
Also reading Iliad, the Fagles translation, through https://catherineproject.org/ about a third of way through right now and we'll also be reading the Emily Wilson translation later this year. It's been fun discussing it with people. This translation has been a easy read, far easier than I expected. And the discussions make it thought-provoking. For meaty, this might work.
Also reading 'When Things Fall Apart' by Pema Chodron. This is slow going, thoughtful. I read a few pages every few days, never more than a chapter at a time. I suppose it's all variants of being fully in the present moment to some extent. And I think I might re-read it after I finish. It did get me thinking again about loving-kindness and tonglen. In this vein, 'Taming the Tiger Within' was also great - short and sweet, simple language but still thought-provoking.
Earlier this year I read 'The Road' which I loved, and highly recommend. Dystopian with language to match. On the fantasy side the 'Ana & Din' novels by Robert Jackson Bennett, think sherlock holmes but in a fantasy setting and magic for science. I liked the earlier ones in the series better or maybe I just read too many of them in a short period. Either works for a good read though I think Ana & Din might be easier.
Other slightly off the beaten path fiction recommendations would be 'Eagle in the Snow' - set in Roman times about an officer holding the line against attacking german forces, starts a bit rocky and I was lost a bit and found it hard to understand initially but totally loved it as it progressed. I came to it from a fivebooks recommendation. Also, CJ Sansom's shardlake series, another fivebooks recommendation I think. This is about a hunchback lawyer investigating something each time. I love how it gets us into the time period and the personalities involved.
Now that I'm done with the book for classicbookclub, I might start 'A Tale of Two Cities'