Off-Topic Influential Books

[Geoduck]

I finally got around to starting the Iliad. So far it’s fascinating. Concepts older than I can comprehend but fiercely relevant even today. I’m looking forward to working through it and then reading up on some quality analysis.

 

[Pavel Macek]

Hermann Hesse’s Siddharta.

 

[ali]

Sapiens: A brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari and the follow up to that Homo Deus.

Not that I did a lot of social media but now I've sacked the lot of it, with the exception, of course, to this fine forum.
Yes 2 brilliant books. Interesting as a lot of 'ifs and buts' the author mentions could be the future are being played out in real time. I dunno is it fun to watch the slow death of humanity?
Still, you could read the second one on its own but the first lays out the foundations in more detail than the second one. Just read them both, sit back and watch us self destruct. A nice holiday read.

 

[Sergio]

Bernal Diaz' detailed eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico by Cortez and his conquistadors in the early 15th Century is fascinating as it is the only eyewitness account of what Aztec civilization was like before the Spanish changed it. Bernal wrote it when he was in his 80s and didn't care about who he was ticking off, and in fact most of the guys had died already anyhow. He lived in Moctezuma's palace for several months and describes in detail Aztec court ritual, etiquette, customs and so forth. It's an amazing book.

I just went down the rabbit hole of reading about Bernal Diaz history of the spanish conquest. super cool, thanks.

 

[Kozushi]

I just went down the rabbit hole of reading about Bernal Diaz history of the spanish conquest. super cool, thanks.

I know. Absolutely FASCINATING!

 

[Marlon Leon]

Always interesting to talk about books.

In regards to training I changed my thinking after reading "Natural Born Heroes" by Christopher McDougall. He tells the story of how British spies and Greek guerilla fighters defended the island of Crete during World War II. He also speaks about George Herbert, who developed a system of training natural movements to prepare people for dangerous situations. Basically the precursor to Movnat. And his motto "Be fit to be useful" changed my view of training from an self-centred approach to thinking about how I can useful to others around me.

 

[ellisael]

Some of the books that have really changed how I think and live in this world (also keeping in context the content of the forum)

Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Anything written for The New Yorker and otherwise by Zadie Smith
The Vegetarian by Han King
Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies by Sizer and Whitney
My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi