From classic and modernism to fantasy and steampunk - what system administrators read
Having talked with fellow administrators about fiction, we found that we like books of various genres and styles. Then it became interesting for us to conduct a survey among Selectel system administrators on three topics: what do you like from the classics, which book is your favorite, and what is being read now. The result was a large literary selection, where system administrators share their personal impressions of books read.
The survey involved 20 Selectel administrators from different departments: OpenStack, VMware, administration of client services, network department and technical support team.
What admins like from the classics
The most popular answer was Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita,” as “an interesting story with philosophical overtones.”
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Next is Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky and already three of his works - “Crime and Punishment”, “Demons”, “Brothers Karamazov”. In the books of Dostoevsky, admins like "an excellent description of St. Petersburg and the personalities that inhabit it, the Russian idea and deep characters."
5 more interesting opinions of admins about the classics:
Chekhov's stories
“The stories are quite short, but witty and can be re-read from time to time, not boring. Chekhov’s mood is just fire! ”
"Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Martin Eden"
“They are piercing. Both are very close to me. ”
"Little Prince"
"What you need to know about love, friendship, people."
"War and Peace"
“Recently re-read. Compared to school years, it reads very differently! I like the historical authenticity and the language of Tolstoy (yes, there is a lot of water, but I like it). ”
"Oblomov"
"The protagonist is the embodiment of peace, contentment and serenity."
Favorite books by system administrators
We asked the guys to name one favorite book and tell why they like it so much. Sharing your impressions is cool, so below you will find quotes from admins and a short description of the work. By the way, not one of these books was repeated:
Ulysses (James Joyce)
“Why darling? Because it’s awesome to play with the word like that, we must try. ”
The book tells about one day in the life of the Dublin Jew Leopold Bloom. Each chapter of the novel imitates certain literary styles and genres of different eras, style features of writers whom Joyce parodies or imitates.
Simulacra and Simulation (Jean Baudrillard)
“For me, this book is a real“ brain explosion. " Do not wait for tips or hints. Each sentence provides food for thought. Reading is highly recommended. ”
The Wachowski brothers (now sisters) were inspired by the book when creating the film The Matrix. Prior to filming "Simulacra and Simulation", all the actors involved in the main roles and the main members of the film crew had to read without fail. The book itself can be seen at the beginning of the film - Neo hides mini-disks with hacker software in it.
Sirens of the Titan (Kurt Vonnegut)
"A kind and wise book, I like to re-read."
Vonnegut reflects on the meaning of human existence and the related transience of promising human values. At first it seems that some heroes of the novel use others for their own purposes, but gradually it becomes clear that someone else used them just as cruelly and meaninglessly.
17 more favorite books
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
"Very interesting".
The idea for the book came from Adams during a hitchhiking trip to Istanbul.
The house of the protagonist, Arthur Dent, is trying to demolish for the construction of a new highway. To stop the demolition, Arthur lays down in front of a bulldozer. At the same time, they plan to destroy planet Earth for the construction of a hyperspace highway.
Silver Dove (Andrey Bely)
"Bely expressed everything that can be expressed about the beginning of the twentieth century in Russia."
The “Silver Pigeon” by Andrei Bely is a love story of a poet and a simple village woman unfolding against the backdrop of events that shocked Russia during the first Russian revolution.
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
"Very moved, right to tears, literally."
One of the most humane works of modern times. Ideas taken by Daniel Keyes from his own life. Keyes taught English at a school for children with intellectual disabilities, when one of the students asked if he could transfer to a regular school if he worked hard and became smart. This event formed the basis of the story.
Dune (Frank Herbert)
“Cool setting and atmosphere. Well, the idea itself. ”
Dune is one of the most famous science fiction novels of the 20th century. The author adds the features of a philosophical novel to science fiction and creates a multi-layered narrative that touches on the themes of religion, politics, technology and ecology.
The future (Dmitry Glukhovsky)
“A dystopia in the near future, a fairly realistic description of the world, subject to absolute immortality. And then there should be spoilers, hehe ”.
Immortality is included in the basic social package, and serenity pills help get rid of negative thoughts. It seems that the action takes place in a utopian world, but the “Future” is a real anti-utopia, and where those who dare to fight the regime will encounter unthinkable cruelty.
Great, right? Useless tips. Parting words to graduates (Kurt Vonnegut)
“Parting speeches are always a squeeze of the author’s experience, and the experience of this person is wildly interesting. And he has a good sense of humor. ”
The book contains 9 speeches, the themes of which were chosen randomly, but each of them is very important for Vonnegut and his listeners. He is so serious, witty and deep that the pleasure that you get from his performances only intensifies with repeated re-reading.
About the wanderings of the eternal and the earth (Ray Bradbury)
“It was written a long time ago, but reflects the problems that are relevant now. And she’s touching. "
The book starts like this:
“For seventy years in a row, Henry William Field wrote stories that no one had ever printed, and then one day at half past ten in the morning he got up and burned ten million words. He took all the manuscripts to the basement of his gloomy old mansion, to the boiler room, and threw it into the furnace ... "
Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas)
"The book makes you think and leaves a very strong impression."
Dumas conceived the “Count of Monte Cristo” in the early 1840s. The writer came up with the name of the hero during a trip to the Mediterranean Sea, when he saw Montecristo Island and heard the legend of countless treasures buried there. And the plot of Dumas was drawn from the archives of the Paris police: the true life of Francois Pico turned into a fascinating story about Edmond Dantes, a sailor from the ship "Pharaoh".
Elite Elite (Roman Zlotnikov)
"For me she is very motivating."
An imperial guard from the future, in which mankind has mastered the whole galaxy and created cosmic colonial powers, falls in 1941, on the border of the USSR, on land already occupied by the fascists.
The Dark Tower Series (Stephen King)
"The book echoes the era of the wild west, the Middle Ages, the future and the present."
A series of Stephen King novels, written at the junction of several literary genres. The series tells about the long wanderings of the shooter Roland Diskain in search of the legendary Dark Tower and includes many themes, characters and storylines from other King’s unrelated books.
On the western front without change (Erich Maria Remarque)
"I love books about the war."
This novel is the first part of the trilogy, which the author devoted to the First World War and the fate of the soldiers who went through this war. This book is an attempt to talk about the generation that ruined the war, about those who became its victims, even if they escaped from shells.
WE (Evgeny Zamyatin)
“Anti-utopia, a totalitarian society, people are blessed in ignorance. I especially like the pink ticket idea. ”
Zamyatin portrayed a society ideologically based on Taylorism, Scientism and the rejection of fantasy, ruled by the “chosen one” on a non-alternative basis, the “Benefactor”. Names and surnames of people are replaced by letters and numbers. The state controls even intimate life.
The witcher. Elven Blood (Andrzej Sapkowski)
“I have always loved medieval fantasy. But it is in the “Witcher” universe that it is shown to be the most medieval - illness, poverty, war, political strife, rudeness and much more. And all this is seasoned with healthy (and not quite) humor and the most memorable characters. ”
The action of books from the Witcher cycle by Andrzej Sapkowski takes place in a fictional world reminiscent of Eastern Europe from the late Middle Ages, where various kinds of magical creatures and monsters exist next to people. Geralt of Rivia is one of the last “witches”, wandering monster hunters.
The Fox that Dawns Painted (Nell White Smith)
“I love steam engines and the Victorian era, and the werewolf mechanoid who turns into a fox and paints dawns on his airship is wonderful!”
This is a collection of four stories that reflect different (but always unique) features of the life of the world of steam engines, mechanical werewolves, and bordering on the Chaos of the Temple. The world around which the moon is created from living mechanics.
The Berserker Series (Fred Saberhagen)
“Different stories connected by one theme. And of course, space, killer cars, human survival. ”
Huge automatic ships with artificial intelligence and inhuman logic are the legacy of a space war between millennia ago between long-extinct races. Their only goal is to kill all living things, and their logic is random and unpredictable. People called these killer cars the Berserkers. Now, people will either destroy the space killers, or the berserkers will destroy the human race.
Monday starts on Saturday (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky)
“I like the atmosphere NIICHAVO. People get high from work. ”
The book of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky tells about the everyday life of NIICHAVO (Scientific Research Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry) - a place where the life of a solid institution and the folk-fairytale whirlwind bizarrely mixed.
The Flat World Series (Terry Pratchett)
"Great humor and a fantastic world that looks suspiciously real."
In the Flat World series of books, Pratchett began by parodying the generally accepted fantasy genre, but gradually moved to a comprehensive criticism of the modern world. A distinctive feature of Pratchett's works is the philosophical ideas subtly hidden in the text.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
"Very interesting".
The idea for the book came from Adams during a hitchhiking trip to Istanbul.
The house of the protagonist, Arthur Dent, is trying to demolish for the construction of a new highway. To stop the demolition, Arthur lays down in front of a bulldozer. At the same time, they plan to destroy planet Earth for the construction of a hyperspace highway.
Silver Dove (Andrey Bely)
"Bely expressed everything that can be expressed about the beginning of the twentieth century in Russia."
The “Silver Pigeon” by Andrei Bely is a love story of a poet and a simple village woman unfolding against the backdrop of events that shocked Russia during the first Russian revolution.
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
"Very moved, right to tears, literally."
One of the most humane works of modern times. Ideas taken by Daniel Keyes from his own life. Keyes taught English at a school for children with intellectual disabilities, when one of the students asked if he could transfer to a regular school if he worked hard and became smart. This event formed the basis of the story.
Dune (Frank Herbert)
“Cool setting and atmosphere. Well, the idea itself. ”
Dune is one of the most famous science fiction novels of the 20th century. The author adds the features of a philosophical novel to science fiction and creates a multi-layered narrative that touches on the themes of religion, politics, technology and ecology.
The future (Dmitry Glukhovsky)
“A dystopia in the near future, a fairly realistic description of the world, subject to absolute immortality. And then there should be spoilers, hehe ”.
Immortality is included in the basic social package, and serenity pills help get rid of negative thoughts. It seems that the action takes place in a utopian world, but the “Future” is a real anti-utopia, and where those who dare to fight the regime will encounter unthinkable cruelty.
Great, right? Useless tips. Parting words to graduates (Kurt Vonnegut)
“Parting speeches are always a squeeze of the author’s experience, and the experience of this person is wildly interesting. And he has a good sense of humor. ”
The book contains 9 speeches, the themes of which were chosen randomly, but each of them is very important for Vonnegut and his listeners. He is so serious, witty and deep that the pleasure that you get from his performances only intensifies with repeated re-reading.
About the wanderings of the eternal and the earth (Ray Bradbury)
“It was written a long time ago, but reflects the problems that are relevant now. And she’s touching. "
The book starts like this:
“For seventy years in a row, Henry William Field wrote stories that no one had ever printed, and then one day at half past ten in the morning he got up and burned ten million words. He took all the manuscripts to the basement of his gloomy old mansion, to the boiler room, and threw it into the furnace ... "
Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas)
"The book makes you think and leaves a very strong impression."
Dumas conceived the “Count of Monte Cristo” in the early 1840s. The writer came up with the name of the hero during a trip to the Mediterranean Sea, when he saw Montecristo Island and heard the legend of countless treasures buried there. And the plot of Dumas was drawn from the archives of the Paris police: the true life of Francois Pico turned into a fascinating story about Edmond Dantes, a sailor from the ship "Pharaoh".
Elite Elite (Roman Zlotnikov)
"For me she is very motivating."
An imperial guard from the future, in which mankind has mastered the whole galaxy and created cosmic colonial powers, falls in 1941, on the border of the USSR, on land already occupied by the fascists.
The Dark Tower Series (Stephen King)
"The book echoes the era of the wild west, the Middle Ages, the future and the present."
A series of Stephen King novels, written at the junction of several literary genres. The series tells about the long wanderings of the shooter Roland Diskain in search of the legendary Dark Tower and includes many themes, characters and storylines from other King’s unrelated books.
On the western front without change (Erich Maria Remarque)
"I love books about the war."
This novel is the first part of the trilogy, which the author devoted to the First World War and the fate of the soldiers who went through this war. This book is an attempt to talk about the generation that ruined the war, about those who became its victims, even if they escaped from shells.
WE (Evgeny Zamyatin)
“Anti-utopia, a totalitarian society, people are blessed in ignorance. I especially like the pink ticket idea. ”
Zamyatin portrayed a society ideologically based on Taylorism, Scientism and the rejection of fantasy, ruled by the “chosen one” on a non-alternative basis, the “Benefactor”. Names and surnames of people are replaced by letters and numbers. The state controls even intimate life.
The witcher. Elven Blood (Andrzej Sapkowski)
“I have always loved medieval fantasy. But it is in the “Witcher” universe that it is shown to be the most medieval - illness, poverty, war, political strife, rudeness and much more. And all this is seasoned with healthy (and not quite) humor and the most memorable characters. ”
The action of books from the Witcher cycle by Andrzej Sapkowski takes place in a fictional world reminiscent of Eastern Europe from the late Middle Ages, where various kinds of magical creatures and monsters exist next to people. Geralt of Rivia is one of the last “witches”, wandering monster hunters.
The Fox that Dawns Painted (Nell White Smith)
“I love steam engines and the Victorian era, and the werewolf mechanoid who turns into a fox and paints dawns on his airship is wonderful!”
This is a collection of four stories that reflect different (but always unique) features of the life of the world of steam engines, mechanical werewolves, and bordering on the Chaos of the Temple. The world around which the moon is created from living mechanics.
The Berserker Series (Fred Saberhagen)
“Different stories connected by one theme. And of course, space, killer cars, human survival. ”
Huge automatic ships with artificial intelligence and inhuman logic are the legacy of a space war between millennia ago between long-extinct races. Their only goal is to kill all living things, and their logic is random and unpredictable. People called these killer cars the Berserkers. Now, people will either destroy the space killers, or the berserkers will destroy the human race.
Monday starts on Saturday (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky)
“I like the atmosphere NIICHAVO. People get high from work. ”
The book of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky tells about the everyday life of NIICHAVO (Scientific Research Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry) - a place where the life of a solid institution and the folk-fairytale whirlwind bizarrely mixed.
The Flat World Series (Terry Pratchett)
"Great humor and a fantastic world that looks suspiciously real."
In the Flat World series of books, Pratchett began by parodying the generally accepted fantasy genre, but gradually moved to a comprehensive criticism of the modern world. A distinctive feature of Pratchett's works is the philosophical ideas subtly hidden in the text.
What administrators are reading right now
Although work takes up most of the day, colleagues try to find time to read. Mostly they read on the subway or listen to audio books on the way to work.
This week, sponsors of missed stops are “Black Man” by Richard Morgan, Hard Sci-Fi by Peter Watts (pay attention to “False Blindness”!), “Ghosts” by Chuck Palahniuk and “Metro 2034” by Dmitry Glukhovsky.
Fans of postmodernism advise Pinchon's Rainbow of Earth's Gravitation and Danilevsky's House of Leaves.
Those who are especially tired read “150 of my corpses,” and dreamers read essays about Scriagin’s shipwrecks.
More admins advise reading Irwin Welsh, Andy Weyer, Alastair Reynolds, Eliezer Yudkovsky and Russian authors - Alexey Salnikov, Boris Akunin, early Oleg Divov, Alexander Dugin.
And finally
We like to read and we want to share these emotions.
In honor of the holiday, we give a book from LiteRes and a 30% discount on the entire catalog of electronic and audio books - the Selectel promotional code.
“All good books are similar in one thing - when you read to the end, it seems to you that all this happened to you, and so it will always remain with you: good or bad, raptures, sorrows and regrets, people and places, and what was weather".
We wish you good books. Happy system administrator day!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/461387/
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