Gödel, Escher, Bach

An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

Summary: Probably the hardest book I’ve ever read. If you want to get the overall idea, read I am a strange loop instead.

Score: 75 / 100

When I started reading the book (probably back in 2010 or so), I couldn’t read English properly.

This is not a great book if you are learning to read in English. Hofstadter has vocabulary like Oxford dictionary and the topics are so dense, that you better start with Pooh.

I meticulously looked up every unknown word in a dictionary and written the translation above the words and phrases in the book.

I returned to the unfinished read a few years later, when I was much better at reading English, but still in many cases I needed a dictionary.

He is a master of language(s), a master of explanations, a master or metaphors and a master of exploring the deep secrets of mind and consciousness.