

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

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.<p>I don't want something extremely challenging intellectually—what I want is something intellectually <i>expanding</i> 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.<p>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.<p>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?
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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...](http://www.amazon.com/Measure-All-Things-Seven-Year-
Transformed/dp/074321675X)

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baddox
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.

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D_Alex
"Metamagical Themas" by Hofstadter is a great follow up. Also, for
intellectially expanding + can be read in huge chunks: try "Permutation City"
and other Greg Egan sci-fi.

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Hume
'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.

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

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docgnome
Not exactly related but my current pile includes Carl Sagan's Cosmos which I
recommend.

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njn
Well, I never read Gödel, Escher, Bach, but Metamagical Themas by the same
author had some interesting ideas.

