Python:
sum(range(1,11))
Yes, this article shows several different ways to do one same thing, you can't really expect programmers to remembers all this syntax.
from https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/ :
> There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
I don't know if common lisp is an "easier" lisp, but I sure would like to have a watered down version of lisp so I can learn its paradigms. I don't even know if that's what haskell is.
I picked Python as its the language I think most easy to write and read. Concise enough without being write-only.
I disagree. You say so because you're used to Python. In Python you need to remember quite a few syntax rules. How many different symbols you need to write a relatively complex program? How many symbols/words are reserved? In LISPs there's much less syntax to remember.
so why am I failing to learn lisp ?
Are you failing to learn it? What have you tried? What's holding you back? I'm offering a free Clojure workshop next Saturday if you're in the Philadelphia region. http://www.meetup.com/Clojadelphia/events/221835485/
Otherwise, I worked through SICP a couple years back, and I found it invaluable to getting familiar with Lisps and functional programming in general.
I remember sitting down one day (before working through SICP) and saying, "I'm great at PHP, I'll probably just be able to write a Clojure project off the top of my head!" Cue clown music as I beat my head against a language much more expressive than anything I'd encountered to date.
It was a few solid weeks of effort before I could get anywhere, but I remember remarking at the time, "if I can learn this well enough, I'll be a wizard!"
sicp is pretty hardcore
I tried reading lisp courses or tutorials, it really did not help. It's either too steep, or it just talks about simple things like adding numbers like (+ 5 9) I'm more into what makes me understand lisp as a better language.
Fully working lisp in 10 (easy to not so easy) steps.