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jk0323 's review for:
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid
by Douglas R. Hofstadter
First of all, a confession: a not insignificant fraction of this book, particularly parts dealing w the typographic representations of number theory, and parts dealing w computer programming (programming as it was in the 70s mind you!), and several others, were skimmed over without too much love lost on them. It was the only way to keep the momentum through this 750 page DENSE behemoth with passages that are all but indecipherable to even fluent English speakers.
Having said that, I enjoyed this book immensely, even if it could have been shorter and more to the point. While I may not have always followed hofstadters "eternal golden braid" throughout the book, it was a wonderful, and often whimsical course through many of the topics in music, art, philosophy, religion, math, and science that have interested me for years. There were many many passages that led me off on tangential thoughts, re-evaluating my beliefs on many things, and forcing me to investigate topics and opinions I had not thoroughly fleshed out.
The "dialogues" in this book intended to familiarize readers with upcoming topics in a light-hearted manner were written w incredible verisimilitude to Lewis Carroll's own whimsical style, and were without exception extremely clever and entertaining.
Overall, I do recommend this book to anyone who likes thinking about thinking, who enjoys a challenge, and who can persevere when the reading gets difficult.
Having said that, I enjoyed this book immensely, even if it could have been shorter and more to the point. While I may not have always followed hofstadters "eternal golden braid" throughout the book, it was a wonderful, and often whimsical course through many of the topics in music, art, philosophy, religion, math, and science that have interested me for years. There were many many passages that led me off on tangential thoughts, re-evaluating my beliefs on many things, and forcing me to investigate topics and opinions I had not thoroughly fleshed out.
The "dialogues" in this book intended to familiarize readers with upcoming topics in a light-hearted manner were written w incredible verisimilitude to Lewis Carroll's own whimsical style, and were without exception extremely clever and entertaining.
Overall, I do recommend this book to anyone who likes thinking about thinking, who enjoys a challenge, and who can persevere when the reading gets difficult.