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I remember begging my mom to buy me GEB at a Barnes and Noble when I was about 17, about twenty years ago. The book was expensive, especially for a Mexican fami

I remember begging my mom to buy me GEB at a Barnes and Noble when I was about 17, about twenty years ago. The book was expensive, especially for a Mexican family, but the book was hyped up in Slashdot, so I really really wanted to read it. I remember reading a few chapters and then couldn't muster the motivation to continue. I still feel guilty about it. The book sits in my bookshelf, spine unbroken. My mom recently passed away. I'm sorry, mom.

emmanueloga_ 7y ago
I'm thinking on prioritizing "I am a Strange Loop" over GEB. According to Hofstadter, it is a better book [1]. Also, shorter :-). 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop
- jimpudar 7y ago
  GEB was written when he was a young man and his ideas hadn't fully percolated into the more concrete form they take in I Am a Strange Loop. I can't find a source at the moment (it might actually be in IaaSL itself) but I seem to remember him saying IaaSL is the book he wanted to write when he wrote GEB. Both are excellent reads, but I'd definitely agree IaaSL is far more approachable and a better use of your time.
- rmidthun 7y ago
  Strongly disagree. I Am a Strange Loop spends an entire chapter of Hofstadter informing us how he is better than everyone else because he hears Bach better than everyone else. And this attitude fills the book, I found it very obnoxious and am not sure why no else mentions it. There are at least two places in the book where he talks about an interesting point, then realizes it is a rehash of something from a previous book. And aside from the self-congratulations (did you know being a vegetarian makes you more of a person?), anything interesting in this book was done better in a previous book. I would recommend The Mind's I instead. It's a collection of stories and essays from most of his influences, see what Turing, Lucas, et al. actually said.
  - iamnothere 7y ago
    He also spends a chapter trashing Searle, in a way that seems a little unnecessarily vindictive. I still enjoyed it. It's not for everyone, but I found that his meanderings served to break up the seriousness of the subject in a way that made for an easy read, much easier than GEB.
- zem 7y ago
  if you read one book of hofstadter's, make it "metamagical themas", a truly engaging collection of his columns for "scientific american". I also liked "le ton beau de marot", on the art of translation, but that's less of a general appeal book. I have read geb, and it had some nice ideas, but i can't say I was motivated to reread it; it felt overly self indulgent somewhat in the manner of a friend telling you about how their rpg campaign played out without realising that half the interest lay in having been there.
mixmastamyk 7y ago
Libraries: I ordered it thru the library maybe ten years ago after geeks talked it up on a similar site. Gave up after a few chapters, had no clue what it was about.

emmanueloga_ 7y ago

I'm thinking on prioritizing "I am a Strange Loop" over GEB. According to Hofstadter, it is a better book [1]. Also, shorter :-). 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop

jimpudar 7y ago
GEB was written when he was a young man and his ideas hadn't fully percolated into the more concrete form they take in I Am a Strange Loop. I can't find a source at the moment (it might actually be in IaaSL itself) but I seem to remember him saying IaaSL is the book he wanted to write when he wrote GEB. Both are excellent reads, but I'd definitely agree IaaSL is far more approachable and a better use of your time.
rmidthun 7y ago
Strongly disagree. I Am a Strange Loop spends an entire chapter of Hofstadter informing us how he is better than everyone else because he hears Bach better than everyone else. And this attitude fills the book, I found it very obnoxious and am not sure why no else mentions it. There are at least two places in the book where he talks about an interesting point, then realizes it is a rehash of something from a previous book. And aside from the self-congratulations (did you know being a vegetarian makes you more of a person?), anything interesting in this book was done better in a previous book. I would recommend The Mind's I instead. It's a collection of stories and essays from most of his influences, see what Turing, Lucas, et al. actually said.
- iamnothere 7y ago
  He also spends a chapter trashing Searle, in a way that seems a little unnecessarily vindictive. I still enjoyed it. It's not for everyone, but I found that his meanderings served to break up the seriousness of the subject in a way that made for an easy read, much easier than GEB.
zem 7y ago
if you read one book of hofstadter's, make it "metamagical themas", a truly engaging collection of his columns for "scientific american". I also liked "le ton beau de marot", on the art of translation, but that's less of a general appeal book. I have read geb, and it had some nice ideas, but i can't say I was motivated to reread it; it felt overly self indulgent somewhat in the manner of a friend telling you about how their rpg campaign played out without realising that half the interest lay in having been there.

mixmastamyk 7y ago

Libraries: I ordered it thru the library maybe ten years ago after geeks talked it up on a similar site. Gave up after a few chapters, had no clue what it was about.