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Ask HN: What should I read after "Gödel, Escher, Bach"?

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Ask HN: What should I read after "Gödel, Escher, Bach"?

#1

Post by tshaddox »

There are tons of book recommendation lists all over the place, but I can't seem to find anything quite like GEB. I read in bed and don't really want a book about math, a programming language, or development methodology—I love such books, but they're generally designed to be followed along with like a textbook.

I don't want something extremely challenging intellectually—what I want is something intellectually expanding that can be read in huge chunks (similar to fiction, although I'm generally not into fiction). That's exactly what I loved GEB for.

Have you read any other Hofstadter books? I know he says that subsequent books of his express the themes of GEB even better than GEB itself did, but I'm afraid they might end up being repetitive.

I've sought out books about the subjects I love: decidability, completeness, theory of computation, statistics, automata theory, language/compiler design, etc. but they've all been too rigorous to read before sleep. For those of you that loved GEB, what else do you love?

Re: Ask HN: What should I read after "Gödel, Escher, Bach"?

#2

Post by lgarron »

I just came across Hofstadter's "I am a Strange Loop" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop ) in the library for the first time today. I personally care about his ideas of strange loops very much, but since it's his attempt (20 years later) to clarify and expand his central theme in GEB, it should be appealing to people who liked his writing there.

(Note: I haven't actually read it, just got to flip through sections for a few minutes. It seems to be a nice mix of Hofstadter's personal stories and ideas, and I liked the writing, so I intend to read it soon.)

An for "similar to fiction, although I'm generally not into fiction" have you looked into narratives of science? They can be written with the fun aspects of historical fiction, but you come out with knowledge about real events. My favorite that comes to mind is "The Measure of All Things" about the history of the meter: http://www.amazon.com/Measure-All-Things-Seven-Year-Transfor...

Re: Ask HN: What should I read after "Gödel, Escher, Bach"?

#4

Post by baddox »

lgarron wrote: post #2

I just came across Hofstadter's "I am a Strange Loop" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop ) in the library for the first time today. I personally care about his ideas of strange loops very much, but since it's his attempt (20 years later) to clarify and expand his central theme in GEB, it should be appealing to people who liked his writing there. (Note: I haven't actually read it, just got to flip thro…

The new foreword by Hofstadter in GEB made "I Am a Strange Loop" sound very appealing. That foreword almost seemed like an admonition to not read GEB and instead check out his later books.

I was not aware of this subgenre. I will certainly look into it. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read after "Gödel, Escher, Bach"?

#6

Post by baddox »

Hume wrote: post #5

'The lifebox, the seashell and the soul' by Rudy Rucker. http://www.rudyrucker.com/lifebox/ It has the same sort of feel as GEB, he riffs about cellular automata etc, its not too demanding while still giving enough to meditate on for a few days.

Bingo. I'm diving into the book sample and already enjoying it. Thanks.
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