The Gods Themselves
#817 of 2,654 all-time
The Gods Themselves
Isaac Asimov
8 people recommended it in 7 threads, 2015–2024.
What people on Hacker News said
Asimov's characters are a bit wooden but the ideas in the book really got me to look at the world differently.
The line "I have an idea, a simple idea, based on the quite obvious fact that the number two is ridiculous and can't exist." has stayed with me for over a decade now as has the surprising lovemaking of the aliens.
The first third of The Gods Themselves could be written now and one might interpret it as being about our approach to climate change, it's just such a great examination of the problem of negative externalities, I had to re-read the start of the middle third a bunch of times before I grokked it but when I did it I was impressed with how well he gave us a means to empathy to those characters and their point of view (after struggling to figure out what the heck I was reading!).
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Best books read in 2022? 2022 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read? 2024 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023 2022 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Books you read in 2017? 2017 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier? 2017 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Books you read in 2016? 2016 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What is the most mind blowing book you've ever read? 2015 · 1 recommendation