2014-11-03T12:07:45+00:00
Has any book changed my life? First, I have to reflect what does the phrase "changed my life" represents for me? For now, not doing the reflection! Books introduce you to ideas which you have not yet encountered. Or maybe you have felt or experienced but you read someone's writing and experience that aha! moment. 'The Art Of Happiness' introduced me to Buddhism. And, the main idea which I took away was that 'Life is suffering'. It is not a negative idea. It just means that don't ever expect that you will reach a state in life when everything happens as you wish. Everyday we end up facing some unpleasant experience as we interact with external stimuli in the real world. Howard Roark, in 'The Fountainhead' represents the idea of idealism. He was not ready to compromise. 'The Kite Runner' is a beautiful story. For me, it was about redemption. This paragraph is unforgettable
Then I realized something: That last thought had brought no sting with it… I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.
Code Complete - Oh! I read this book almost 8 years back. I was amazed by the writing and the ideas which I got introduced to. I was inspired to explore further and then dived into Agile philosophy; learned unit testing, writing clean code etc. Maths Novel -A Certain Ambiguity - This novel surprised me! A novel woven around maths!! This novel and the paper 'A Mathematician's Lament' inspired me to look at maths again.