Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
by William Finnegan · first published 2015
62% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Memoir of a lifelong surfing obsession that also covers travel, journalism and apartheid-era South Africa; a reflective read for surfers and for readers who enjoy writing about waves, love and living well.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates, it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life. Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a writer and war reporter. Barbarian Days takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds, some of them right under our noses -- off the coasts of New York and San Francisc
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Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan A beautiful book about waves, love, writing, and living a good life. As a surfer, skier, mountain biker, and overall risk taker, this book affected me in the same way "Walden Pond"…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2019?” ↗…Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir, do not walk, run to your nearest bookstore or Kindle and grab a copy. It is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read. Highly recommended for fans of Finnegan's Barbarian Days.
on “Robert Sapolsky on Depression (2009)” ↗+1 on Finnegan. I enjoyed and recommend his Pulitzer-winning memoir about his surfing obsession - Barbarian Days. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693910-barbarian-days
on “Kelly Slater’s Shock Wave” ↗…the definitive book about the atomic bomb and Oppenheimer. I also read The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman and I think that was a pretty good follow up about the arms race and Cold War that came after. - Barbarian Days by William Finnegan. I knew nothing and cared little about surfing before this book. I couldn’t put it down after I picked it up though. I’ve heard the audiobook is great so I might just read it again…
on “Good Books for a Lousy Year” ↗…the definitive book about the atomic bomb and Oppenheimer. I also read The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman and I think that was a pretty good follow up about the arms race and Cold War that came after. - Barbarian Days by William Finnegan. I knew nothing and cared little about surfing before this book. I couldn’t put it down after I picked it up though. I’ve heard the audiobook is great so I might just read it again…
on “I'll pay you to read my book (2013)” ↗Definitely go surfing, but forget the movie - read Barbarian Days by William Finnegan, it checks the boxes for surfing, journalism, and apartheid South Africa instead of the American reboot. Oh, it won a Pulitzer Prize too.
on “We're performing for an audience of machines” ↗Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan No better way to be reminded there is a big difference between someone that surfs for fun and someone who is a surfer. Surfing parts aside, this book taught me to appreciate the…
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite book you've read?” ↗Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life — William Finnegan — (2015)
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗Just for some context, the author wrote an autobiography called Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life that won a pulitzer prize and is a bible for a lot of surfers. Probably just about every (American) surfer with a college degree has read that book.
on “Kelly Slater’s Shock Wave” ↗Barbarian Days probably, it was recommended on here as on from Obama's reading list. I love the sea and surf and it brought back memories of travelling. From last year (but even more relevant this year), Fear by Thich…
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you read in 2020?” ↗According to William Finnegan in Barbarian Days [0], people who start after age 14 or so have close to zero chance of becoming proficient. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Barbarian-Days-Surfing-William-Finneg...
on “How to Learn How to Surf [video]” ↗…"Debt: The First 5,000 Years" by David Graeber - "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief" by Lawrence Wright - "The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves" by Matt Ridley - "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life" by William Finnegan
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗Love the idea. All online book recommendations I know about don't really work for me. That being said my first try with this site seems unsuccessful too. I entered Blood Meridian, Barbarian Days and The Cider House Rules. I got The Road -> Same Author as Blood Meridian and I guess Mccarthys most mainstream successful book? Barbarian Days -> ??? The World according to Garp -> Same author as…
on “Show HN: Personalized book recommendations with Librarian AI” ↗…stressed me. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Easy to read and entertaining. I actually had to spend a good 10 minutes going thru the plot to understand what happened, felt great to get it. (Unfinished) Barbarian Days: a book on surfing
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗It's now a book (Barbarian Days)!
on “The San Francisco stadium that fog killed” ↗