Top all-time · #3568
Henry Oliver
Personal blog · commonreader.co.ukwritingculture
Henry Oliver writes The Common Reader, a personal blog at commonreader.co.uk about writing and culture. Since 2023, 21 different Hacker News readers have linked it 50 times, most often “Can Phones Explain PISA?”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-31, and you can follow it by feed.
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Most-linked posts?
- Can Phones Explain PISA?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-09-17
- Paul Graham's Simple Rhetoric2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-04-15
- Jane Austen's Rake Problem2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-06-15
- What makes Malcolm Gladwell a good writer? Five brief thoughts2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-10-16
- Nothing Is Boring in America2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-10-16
- Writing Advice Is a Lie2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-10-07
- Harold Bloom in Silicon Valley2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-08-22
- Can Fiction Improve You?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-11-20
- Ignore the pessimists – we are living through a literary golden age2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-10-17
What Hacker News says?
the most complex of the Austen rakes, destined to be "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life", according to another regency quip, HC was https://www.commonreader.co.uk/p/jane-austens-rake-problem
Comment linking /p/jane-austens-rake-problem
on “Jane Austen's Boldest Novel Is Also Her Least Understood”Submitted The soul moved the pen, and broke it: Flaubert's emotional style as a story · 50 points
HN discussionSubmitted How Penelope Fitzgerald became a late blooming novelist as a story · 49 points
HN discussionSubmitted Is Atlas Shrugged the New Vibe? as a story · 36 points
HN discussionSubmitted Writing Advice Is a Lie as a story · 13 points
HN discussionSubmitted Nothing Is Boring in America as a story · 12 points
HN discussionSubmitted Can Phones Explain PISA? as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted The American art of being busy as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted Ignore the pessimists – we are living through a literary golden age as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted No Spanish Reading Crisis? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Ignore the pessimists – we are living through a literary golden age as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Jane Austen's Rake Problem as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Literature Is So Back as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted The books I enjoyed most this year, 2024 as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Paul Graham's Simple Rhetoric as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Iris Murdoch, a Novelist for Now as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Finding Emily as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted What it is like to read Proust as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Writing Advice Is a Lie as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Tom Stoppard's Ordinary Magic as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted What to do about the decline of the humanities as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted AI and the Future of Literature as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Literary culture can't just dismiss AI as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted How good is AI at literary criticism? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Tyler Cowen: Trump's DOGE team should read Shakespeare as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Can Fiction Improve You? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Horatio Nelson: The Darling Hero of England as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Harold Bloom in Silicon Valley as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Elites need to be honest about highbrow culture as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to be a late bloomer in 2024 as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
