It didn't grab me at first but your comment makes me think I should give it another go, thanks. I remember that initially I had a world of trouble with Conrad's Heart of Darkness but I hit it again and was amply rewarded, so Ill give Blindsight another try, thanks.
FROM THE HN SHELF
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
Fiction · A BOOKTypographic jacket · original cover not fetched
FROM THE SHARED SHELF · 2006–2026 SAMPLE
Heart of Darkness
10 readers recommend it across 10 discussions
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THE WORD OF MOUTH
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Original Hacker News comments, in the readers’ own words.
probably Heart of Darkness maybe also Yukio Mishima's tetralogy
Heart of darkness is very short and fits into those great books like L'Etranger and the Old Man and the Sea that can be usefully read in an afternoon and give back way more than they demand from you. Republic is quite long but very approachable and I really enjoyed it. Again the mythical man month still holds true and it very readable. It's interesting for anyone interested in computing history as well as for it's key points on management.
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, a great companion to the movie and expands on characters in really unique ways that make me think about them. Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, a near future book about climate change and trying to fix it with an interesting geopolitical look of China acting like the US. I also liked Ministry of the Future but it was less fun of a read. Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt, a reasoned look at how social media and devices are negatively impacting society and children. Borne by Jeff VanderMeer, a weird near future declinepunk with bioengineering and evil corporations. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, very short book with a glimpse into post colonial colonialism in remote locations. Wanted to read a book about Congo. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, a portrait of a character in a time I didn’t experience.
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For many books that I find myself thinking about for years, or just that I enjoyed very much, I will revisit them later. They can be very revealing in how my perspective has changed or that I'll identify with completely different characters, or be awed by a passage that my earlier self overlooked. Several that come to mind are Heart of Darkness Moby Dick Robinson Crusoe Pretty much any Chekhov story Cathedral by Raymond Carver
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Getting More - Stuart Diamond. I still think this is the best book on the art of negotiation. Getting Things Done - David Allen. If you have adult ADHD like me, and you haven't read this, it's the first system that's really worked for productivity for me. Man's Search for Meaning - Victor Frankl. Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Nhat Hanh. Cosmos - Carl Sagan. The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. LeGuin. The One who Walks Away from Omelas - U.K. LeGuin. Wild Seed - Octavia Butler. The Heike Monogatari - (tr. Helen Craig McCullough) “The sound of the Gion Shoja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that to flourish is to fall. The proud do not endure, like a passing dream on a night in spring; the mighty fall at last, to be no more than dust before the wind.” If you need a comparison. this is the Japanese historical equivalent of Game of Thrones combined with a bit of MacBeth. The rise and fall of two shogunate families, and an analysis of the tragic flaws of character that brought their fall about. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad.…
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- Snow Crash
- Man’s Search for Meaning
- Getting Things Done
- The Left Hand of Darkness
- The Great Gatsby
- Gravity's Rainbow
- Les Misérables
- Cosmos
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- Small Gods
- Dhalgren
- Silence
- All of Us: The Collected Poems
- Evidence
- Getting More
- Living Buddha, Living Christ
- The Guide
- The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
- The Tale of the Heike
- The Well-Built City trilogy
- Wild Seed
I can't choose one, but I'd cite: * Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind, for explaining so much personally and culturally so concisely. * Everything on this list: http://jakeseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-th... (http://jakeseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-that-is). * The Lord of the Rings, for its combination of story, interior drama, and (underrated) political economy. * Blindsight by Peter Watts. * Heart of Darkness by Conrad, who seems more prophetic all the time.
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Read books you always wanted but wouldn't get around to with all the distractions available at home. Be it classics, political theory, maybe something light and scientific? Generally, whatever doesn't require additional materials. Here are some titles of that kind I enjoyed. Anabasis by Xenophon Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Antifragile by Nassim Taleb Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman The Son also Rises by Gregory Clark
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Heart of Darkness... an amazing read (and short!) A book that should be on everyone's list!
The Feynman Lectures on Physics The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad A Latin/English dictionary for new company names
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