Music Banter - What are you reading right now?

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Reading to Karen:
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A great read so far.

Reading for myself:
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With the rest waiting, thanks to a link from Batty. Really enjoying it, and it helps that I can see the characters as they're portrayed by the actors in the series. Also a great aide to help me in my upcoming review of the series in The Couch Potato...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds (Post 1805327)

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On mechanics alone, Capote is probably my second-favourite writer, but I've yet to read his seminal work (mainly because it's always checked out of the library when I go). That's about to change.

Just finished. Possibly the most breath-taking book I've read.

Onto this...

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Dug a dusty old (and yet-unread) copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach off my shelf this evening.

Read a few summaries and critiques of the text on Goodreads to see if I might fancy it. I was certainly intrigued by the overarching themes, philosophy of consciousness, speculation about general AI, and Hofstadter's usage of the arts to explain systems and concepts of mathematics.

But several users cautioned would-be readers that this is a book for a very specific audience - those who absolutely loves maths. And while I love math conceptually, I've no formal education in math or logic.

In an effort to prep myself for the text, I've been surveying the Undefined Behavior YouTube channel which outlines concepts like The Halting Problem, Entscheidungsproblem, Axiomatic Systems, Peano Systems, Principle of Explosion, and other fundamentals. It's all fascinating stuff, so I have hope that I'll be able to handle Hofstadter's book.

Any suggestions for related prep lit or other ideas from the community would be much appreciated!

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Having read Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five, I've come to the conclusion that Kurt Vonnegut is not for me, but I can't quite figure out why. It's not the satirical storytelling style (I loved Joseph Heller's Catch-22); I just find his prose grating. Now reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerspaceboy (Post 1810103)

Any suggestions for related prep lit or other ideas from the community would be much appreciated!

So you're looking for a math book recommendation?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rostasi (Post 1810107)

I have faith in you. You don't have to be a whiz at math -
just a curiosity in interrelationships that exists and an open mind
to thinking about these possibilities. I still have my copy from nearly 40 years ago and
when it was the first book I presented to my, now, wife, she was totally engrossed with its ideas.
Of course, she took to Ulysses as well later, but, again, I have faith in you enjoying the hell out of it.

Thanks very much! The last Pulitzer-winner I enjoyed was Charles Wuorinen's Time's Encomium (1970) - notably both the youngest composer and the first electronic musical work to win the prize. I'm hopeful that Hofstadter's work will be equally satisfying.

Thanks for your input!

i am honestly horrible when it comes to math and took so much Gödel, Escher, Bach....it's such an amazing book.....you're going to love it

i have just started my annual Robert Anton Wilson re-read with one of my favorite :)
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Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson

already enthralled.