Posted by Carlos on March 16, 1999 at 12:54:48:
In Reply to: godel escher bach posted by Pat C. Hunt on March 16, 1999 at 11:44:28:
Pat C. Hunt said:
I have just read Godel, Escher, Bach. Excuse me for saying this, but I think that this
extremely clever book is one huge put-on, a satire on intellectual pretension.
Does anyone else agree with that? Let me hear from you. Ciao.
Sorry, no - I don't see that at all. However, I found the book extremely difficult to understand the first time through, and finally had to approach it like a textbook to comprehend it. I'm not alone though - John Maddox, editor of Nature wrote "What Remains to Be Discovered", which I just finished reading. He calls G-E-B "brilliant, but virtually unreadable".
I've read other writings of Hofstadter, in particular "The Mind's I", coauthored with Dennett. He continues and amplifies some of the same themes from G-E-B in that work.
If it is a satire, you're the first person I've ever heard of who thought that. Check out the customer reviews on Amazon at the link below.