Poison Island vs The New Hacker's Dictionary: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Information Technology, Data Processing
Poison Island
My name is Harry Brooks, and my age on this remembered evening was fourteen and something over. My father, Major James Brooks, late of the 4th (King's Own) Regiment, had married twice, and at the time of his retirement…
vs
The New Hacker's Dictionary
The Jargon File, Version 2.9.10, 01 Jul 1992 is a living lexicon of hacker speech, folklore, technical wit, and communal memory. More than a glossary, it records idioms, jokes, origin stories, programming habits, and…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Poison Island is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 9 for The New Hacker's Dictionary.
- Poison Island has the widest readership — 631 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Poison Island | The New Hacker's Dictionary | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (631) | — |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (2) | 3.7 (6) |
| Google Books | — | 4.5 (7) |
Reception
| Poison Island | The New Hacker's Dictionary | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 631 | 7 |
| Editions | 30 | 13 |
| Wikipedia attention | — | 3251 |
| Pages | 248 | 508 |