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    $\begingroup$ For a second there, I thought you said "Serge Lang's Algebra". I'm sure you can appreciate the humor in that. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 3, 2010 at 19:46
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    $\begingroup$ Wait, so you mean there IS a readable book by Lang? $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 3, 2010 at 19:56
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    $\begingroup$ You're too hard on Lang, darij. Algebra is good, the differential geometry book is good, the book on cyclotomic fields is pretty good. Sure, there are unreadable sections and undefined notation, but the books are generally readable, and some of them are even pretty good! $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 3, 2010 at 20:55
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    $\begingroup$ I second Lang's Linear Algebra. I also found it very accessible, and it also seems to be a good preparation for the corresponding chapters of his "Algebra" (Chs. XIII - XV of the Springer edition). $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 3, 2010 at 22:30
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    $\begingroup$ Most of the trouble I've had with Lang is the sheer number of mistakes in the book. There's nothing worse than a line that says "of course..." followed by a typo. It leaves you feeling like an idiot when you've not done anything wrong. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 10, 2010 at 19:06