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Comment by __rito__ | Hacker News Reader

I read multiple books together.

- My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok

Upbringing of a painter and the beginning of his journey in 1950s New York in a Hasidic Jewish family. Existentialism, art, passion.

- The Art of Doing Science and Engineerig, by Hamming

Surprisingly fresh and piercing, even today.

- Miracle of Love, Ram Dass

Stories about Neeb Karori Baba, as mentioned in Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs.

- The Name of The Rose, Umberto Ecori

Murder mystery in a famous library-monastery in medieval Europe. Amazing portrayal of that time.

I have a books site: https://ritoghosh.com/books

It's a few months outdated.

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> My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok

I love these types of books and learned there's a term for them. A bildungsroman about an artist is called a künstlerroman. I went on a künstlerroman kick a while back. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Martin Eden. Roderick Hudson. I'm aware of My Name is Asher Lev and meant to get to that one too. Thanks for the reminder.

Will highly recommend.

Extremely fluid writing, and you encounter a whole new world.

It is definitely good. You see the world from a very young person's eyes, but the nuances, complexities, etc. of adult life and wider worls still touches you unaltered. That's rare.

I will check out the ones that you mention.

Pick up the Penguin paperback (mine is from the "Modern Classics" series). It's cheap and great to read.

> - The Name of The Rose, Umberto Ecori

I think I've tried to read this twice, either this or Foucalt's Pendulum, either way I gave up early, Umberto Eco is difficult to read. Does it pick up and get easier?

I think I get accustomed to new authors after reading some tens of pages.

I give every author that much.

By the way, the paperbacks have way too small font size, and now I am reading on Kindle.

(I also notice there is a bad typo in GP, but can't edit that now.

'Ecori', is of course, 'Eco'.)

The thing is you have to get used to the pace of the book resembling the pace of monastery life.

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