Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life? ↗

The books people recommended

2020-03-29 · 679 points · 584 comments · 39 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

2The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway
2 here · 6 all-time · #230 overall
1
Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand
1 here · 51 all-time · #5 overall
1Dune
Dune
Frank Herbert
1 here · 50 all-time · #6 overall
1
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert Pirsig
1 here · 49 all-time · #8 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 13,921 ratings on Amazon
1The Fountainhead
The Fountainhead
Ayn Rand
1 here · 32 all-time · #14 overall
1The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
1 here · 28 all-time · #16 overall
1Siddhartha
Siddhartha
Hermann Hesse
1 here · 26 all-time · #22 overall
1Cryptonomicon
Cryptonomicon
Neal Stephenson
1 here · 25 all-time · #23 overall
1Catch-22
Catch-22
Joseph Heller
1 here · 20 all-time · #40 overall
1Anathem
Anathem
Neal Stephenson
1 here · 20 all-time · #42 overall
1The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien
1 here · 19 all-time · #44 overall
1Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
1 here · 18 all-time · #48 overall
1The Illuminatus Trilogy
The Illuminatus Trilogy
Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson
1 here · 14 all-time · #81 overall
1The Glass Bead Game
The Glass Bead Game
Hermann Hesse
1 here · 13 all-time · #87 overall
1Ishmael
Ishmael
Daniel Quinn
1 here · 13 all-time · #91 overall
1The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K. Le Guin
1 here · 12 all-time · #94 overall
1War and Peace
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
1 here · 12 all-time · #99 overall
1The Diamond Age
The Diamond Age
Neal Stephenson
1 here · 12 all-time · #101 overall
1Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Richard Bach
1 here · 10 all-time · #138 overall
1Accelerando
Accelerando
Charles Stross
1 here · 9 all-time · #147 overall
1The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain
Thomas Mann
1 here · 9 all-time · #148 overall
1Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf
Hermann Hesse
1 here · 9 all-time · #152 overall
1Sirens of Titan
Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut
1 here · 8 all-time · #168 overall
1The Name of the Rose
The Name of the Rose
Umberto Eco
1 here · 8 all-time · #178 overall
1Cat's Cradle
Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut
1 here · 7 all-time · #207 overall
1Lila
Lila
Robert Pirsig
1 here · 6 all-time · #215 overall
1Candide
Candide
Voltaire
1 here · 6 all-time · #231 overall
1Baroque Cycle
Baroque Cycle
Neal Stephenson
1 here · 5 all-time · #281 overall
1The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
JRR Tolkien
1 here · 5 all-time · #283 overall
1Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes
1 here · 5 all-time · #286 overall
1Desert Solitaire
Desert Solitaire
Edward Abbey
1 here · 5 all-time · #322 overall
1Illusions
Illusions
Richard Bach
1 here · 5 all-time · #326 overall
1The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro
1 here · 4 all-time · #364 overall
1A Wizard of Earthsea
A Wizard of Earthsea
Ursula K. Le Guin
1 here · 4 all-time · #380 overall
1The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
1 here · 4 all-time · #386 overall
1Sometimes a Great Notion
Sometimes a Great Notion
Ken Kesey
1 here · 4 all-time · #423 overall
1The World of Null-A
The World of Null-A
A. E. Van Vogt
1 here · 3 all-time · #530 overall
1Player Piano
Player Piano
Kurt Vonnegut
1 here · 3 all-time · #544 overall
1Middlemarch
Middlemarch
George Eliot
1 here · 3 all-time · #573 overall