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Here is one of R.A. Lafferty's short stories (many of his works are available online, a handful are in print in the UK), http://ralafferty.com/2017/05/22/through-other-eyes/

"The Cerebral Scanner, newly completed by Charles Cogsworth, was not an intricate machine. It was a small but ingenious amplifying device, or battery of amplifiers, designed for the synchronous—perhaps “sympathetic” would be a better word—coupling of two very intricate machines: two human brains. It was an amplifier only. A subliminal coupling, or the possibility of it, was already assumed by the inventor. Less than a score of key aspects needed emphasizing for the whole thing to come to life ... It had been a long-held opinion of Cogsworth that, by the proper amplification of a near score of these impulses in one brain, a transmission could be effected to another so completely that one man might for an instant see with the eyes of another—also see inwardly with that man’s eyes, have the same imaginings and daydreams, perceive the same universe as the other perceived. And it would not be the same universe as the seeking man knew ... This idea of his—to enter into the mind of another, to peer from behind another’s eyes into a world that could not be the same—this idea had been with him all his life. He recalled how it had first come down on him in all its strength when he was quite small.

In the middle of a complex 500 page ancestral deep dive Marquez will slip the simplest sentences that make me pause. It's not even the beginning of a chapter -- it's just something he tossed in without much thought to continue the magic. brb going to go check out a book.

+1 for Steinbeck being a “true master”. East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath essential.

I never understood the fascination of many Americans (I'm British) with Steinbeck. For me, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Hemingway and even McCarthy and Melville are completely outclassing him.

One American friend of mine once mentioned that Steinbeck is obligatory reading in many American schools but few read Faulkner. Maybe that has something to do with his popularity.

We were assigned Faulkner in high school (in Ohio). I just wish it hadn't been As I Lay Dying.

I've only read Hemingway, and no doubt to my taste that Steinbeck is a much better writer (despite Hemingway's reputation).

One thing I love about Steinbeck is that he is a true artist in the level of detail and research he puts into his writing. There is so much grounded substance in there, so much depth, hard work, and yet he doesn't show off, doesn't throw it in your face. A huge amount of wisdom can be found in East of Eden, more than any other book I've read.

Faulkner is significantly more difficult.

> "A good author can completely encode an entire world full of people on 300 pages of black and white text. And when they do it well, it literally never expires. "

that is quite similar to how I view it also.

And good authors are able to describe so well human behavior, that it will make it worth the read.

Thanks for this. I feel somewhat compelled to start reading again.

I've always wondered how non-spanish or even non latin american people can enjoy García Márquez. His books display great usage of the language and are full of historic references. I personally enjoyed his work after having read a lot of other books (expanding my vocabulary) and only after learning colombian history and not before

PD: Before becoming a nobel laureate writer, he worked as a journalist for a newspaper. In my university we studied one of his articles in depth, as they were beautifully written.

My latin in-laws shake their heads in pity because I can't 'get' García Márquez, even reading in Spanish.

I find the writing beautiful even in translation. It always makes me wish I could read the original language. It does make me feel like I'm missing a lot of things, but even with those things missing I find that it's better than most other things I read.

I've had a very similar feeling when reading Russian authors like Gogol, Pushkin, and Dostoevsky.

Spanish-language novels translated to English is reliably my favorite category of books. I think with a good translator the beauty of the language carries through.

(I speak some Spanish but not enough to read a whole book)

How do you decide which books to read?

I'd be curious to hear an answer for this as well. My goal this year is to just read something every day. No minimum amount of time, no specific books, just to read consistently.

My current approach is to keep a list of books that others recommend both online (hn, reddit, etc) and in person, and choose a book off the list as I finish each one based on what I'm currently interested in reading.

There goodreads website for you to help. And for me its not easy i often start and stop reading books that i find eventually bad or not interesting. One good approach i think is reading old books which have massive amounts of reviews. I know if you think that tech books get outdated you will be surprised that much of the information is very relevant

That's a question of a lifetime because as you change, mature, books "change" as well every time you read them. With that said, many people approach this by choosing the author(s) first or the historical period, and then drilling down to specific titles. Parent mentioned some authors that were relevant to him/her. Don Quixote (book title) is a great book and it had a special meaning to me when I read it for the first time. It was when I was learning Spanish and consulting in Latin America. Quixote is well regarded as a literature masterpiece for the Spanish language and, to me, as a learner, it was like playing the piano while listening to Beethoven as a reference. Well, this was my own experience. You can choose authors/books to build your own experience around them, which I'm sure you will never forget.

When I was a kid I was an obsessive reader, and a teacher basically forbid me from reading anything not from the Classic section of the high school library. Before elementary ended, I'd finished reading all the books they had in their Classics. (Understanding them at that age is a whole separate issue, BTW.) But my point being, the Classics are considered "a classic" for very serious reasons, and unless you really cannot get into a writer's voice after effort, each and every "Classic" is worth reading in a major way. I suggest starting with the Nobel Literature winners.

It depends on my goals.If I just want to learn something,I do a little bit research on the subject and what could be good books on it and tgen head to Amazon or local book store for it. If haven't got a concrete goal and just want to explore some random topics,I again hit Amazon and browse random categories,read some literature reviews by critics in newspapers and etc. Also,reading feeds reading. For instance,I was reading some comments on Financial Times and saw someone making a fairly reasonable argument about queuing theory.Not being familiar with it,I googled it, found some very interesting courses and books. Will do a bit of exploration of this topic in near future.

One particular source for me has been the reading lists of great writers and thinkers (Eg: Tolstoy[0], Gandhi[1] and many more kept extensive reading lists). Generally I think it is a good idea to delve into classics because time is a good judge.

[0] https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/30/leo-tolstoy-reading...

[1] http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/eduresources/bks_read_by_g....

I'm not OP, but here's what I do.

I keep a list of books I want to read on Goodreads. When a friend mentions a book they liked, I add it on the mobile app. When someone mentions something here or on Reddit, I do the same. I keep adding books without any commitment to actually reading them, and then I review the list whenever I need another book.

I use a couple of browser extensions that tell me what's available at my library on Goodreads:

- Available Reads - checks which books are available as eBooks or Audiobooks on OverDrive (online service through the library) - Library Extension - checks specific books if they're available at a set of libraries (physical books or eBooks/audiobooks)

I like the first because it creates a sortable list on my "to read" shelf, whereas the second is useful if I'm looking at a specific book.

Got quite a few from here: http://worrydream.com/#!/Links

It's the book list from the guy who brought you "Inventing on Principal".

Awards are a great place to start. National Book Awards, Man Booker Prize, Pulitzer, etc.

Yeah the Man Booker in particular tends to be a good source to find my favorite novels.

I don't really have a process. About half the books I read I get just from browsing a book store. I love stores that have little notes from the employees recommending certain books. The others I just hear about from friends or online.

Once I've read a book by an author and liked it I'll normally try 1-2 more. So that's a main discovery path for me. However I try not to read the same author back-to-back as I like to have variety.

I think the key is don't keep a list, just buy the book. In my house I have a stack of 5-10 'queued' books at any time so when I finish one I can immediately start another.

Don Quixote is the funniest book I've read in my entire life.

> Novels are the closest thing I know to a form of magic.

Simply; this.