Ask HN: What is the most gripping thing you have read recently?

Lots of people might dismiss it due to its old style and being a "stuffy classic" but it's one of the most gripping books I've ever read, from the beginning to the end. I'm not sure how Dumas managed to pull it off, honestly. Be sure to read the unabridged version, not the abridged version.

1: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo

"We stand between two "madnesses" - between the madness of a reason for which the "truths" which it reveals about the horrors of real being are ultimate, definitive, eternal truths, obligatory for all, and the madness of Kierkegaard's "Absurd," which ventures to begin the struggle when, on the testimony of reason and self-evidence, struggle is impossible, is foredoomed to humiliating failure. With whom should we go - with the Hellenic symposiasts, or with Job and the prophets? Which madness is preferable? The book of Job, the lamentations of Jeremiah, the thundering of the prophets and of the Apocalypse leave no doubt that the horrors of human existence were not hidden from the "private thinkers" of the Bible, and that they had enough courage and fortitude to gaze squarely into the face of what is customarily called reality. Nevertheless - unlike the great representatives of philosophia perennis - they do not feel compelled by reality and its horrors to submit to the inevitable. At that point where speculative philosophy sees the end of all possibilities and submissively folds its hands, existential philosophy begins the great and final struggle. Existential philosophy is not Besinnung, "interrogating" reality and seeking truth in the immediate data of consciousness; it is a surmounting of what to our understanding seems insurmountable. "For God," Kierkegaard repeats unceasingly, "all things are possible," summing up in these few words what had hitherto reached men s ears from scriptural sources. Possibilities are not determined by eternal truths inscribed by a dead or dying hand in the structure of the universe; possibilities are in the power of a living, all-perfect being who has created and blessed man. Whatever horrors being may reveal to us, and despite the assurances of reason, these horrors do not exhibit "truth" nor preclude the possibility of their own eradication. "

I believe him. And boy, what a ride it is.

Teleportation, talking to beings from other planes, Yeti, walking through doors, etc Yet, for true spiritual seeker, all these super powers are distraction and insignificant.

Definitely recommend reading it.

I'm currently re-reading Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy - I find it to be incredible throughout and I understand why some call this the best american book written.

The latest IPCC report, released a month ago.

An interesting long read about 2000s pop culture, and how modern day female stars like Taylor Swift/Beyonce have been able to avoid the tabloid sensationalism/vilification that older stars like Britney Spears/Janet Jackson endured.

• Solaris: A novella that reads as a Lovecraftian space horror.

• The Summer People : A short modern fairy tale by Kelly Link.

• Metamorphosis : Kafka's famous short work about waking up as a giant insect.

• Ubik : Fantastic sci-fi that interleaves a bunch of cool premises.

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow : An emotional book about love and game design.

do not read books but i could not put it down. had to google some chapters and website called cliff notes was good guide to understand some chapters that were hard for me to follow because me english not that good.

It's been a few years since I read it, but the single most gripping piece of fiction I've read in the last 15+ years