Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Good Summer Read?

Posted by Cliff on from the fine-novels-for-the-summer-vacation dept.

binaryhead asks: "Well, the semester has just ended, and I have graduated from school! :-) I start my full-time job in a month and want to read a good book in the mean time. Having read Snowcrash, Neuromancer, and most of the hacker biographies, I am trying to find a scifi-geek-hacker book that people like. I might try the new Kevin Mitnick book, but I wanted to see what Slashdot preferred. Thanks."

4 of 1,485 comments (clear)

  1. Gibson.... by objekt404 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just picked up 'Pattern Recognition' & it is definitely a decent read (so far)

    --
    "Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun."
    1. Re:Gibson.... by fingerbear · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I liked Pattern Recognition, too, but I have a question -- did reading that book affect your shopping patterns?

      I read it a few months ago and STILL think of Cayce Pollard every time I'm in a clothing store. And every time I remove a label from the stuff I buy.

      I think she's my new idol.

  2. Reading by cje · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A lot of times in the summer, I'm too busy with other things to spend a lot of time reading major novels, but in the time that I do get to read, I like to tear into collections of short stories, things that you can get through in an abbreviated sitting. Some of the stuff I read last summer:
    • The complete works of H.P. Lovecraft (Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!)
    • The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Stories and Novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    • Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Tales and Poems (the tales, mostly; I'm not big on poetry)
    Not exactly sci-fi geek hacker stuff, of course, but I've read through most of Stephenson and Gibson's stuff and found that I like classic mystery/suspense as well. If it's hard sci-fi you're looking for, check out a book called The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, if you haven't already. It's old (circa 1950s or 1960s IIRC) but a great read. And then there's the classics like Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama or 2001 series.
    --
    We're going down, in a spiral to the ground
  3. Good Read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    try neal stephenson's: cryptonomicon
    good read, great plot, and the tech stuff isnt too shabby either.

    bonus treat: perl source for the cryptographic alogrithm described [and used in the story] called solitaire [the algo, courtesy of bruce schneier of counterpane and "practical cryptography" book] presented at the back of the book...