[Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter]
Further progress in Gödel, Escher, Bach has proven delightful. There was this dialogue called “Ant Fugue”, which compared anthills to brains in a rather charming way. The dialogue preceding this one was called “Prelude…”. Makes you wonder at the cleverness of the author in finding an [...]
I have no idea what I meant here, but I still remember enjoying this book.
[The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, by A.S. Byatt]
I read a collection of fairy tales by A.S. Byatt over the weekend, including The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye, which I liked, even though one would think I had very little in [...]
The brilliance of Ishiguro: to take a flawed character who does terrible things not out of villainy but simple weakness and make him sympathetic. My generalizations about WWII are due to my world history and English teachers.
[The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro]
I finished The Remains of the Day, the Ishiguro book, and [...]
Needless to say, the unreliable narrator has become a much more familiar convention to me, but I still admire the way that Ishiguro explores the layers of self-deception we use to protect ourselves.
[When We Were Orphans, by Kazuo Ishiguro]
What’s cool and disturbing about Ishiguro’s When We Were Orphans (another book, which I read during the [...]
The Invisible Ring, by Anne Bishop: My level of tolerance for Anne Bishop’s prose (can you believe she actually makes a catchphrase out of “balls and sass”?) has decreased over the years, but The Invisible Ring still makes an indulgent and mindless read. I finished the book in a day, over three train rides. [...]
I didn’t understand feminism in high school and found it irritating. Much has changed since then, of course. It’s odd because despite my seemingly negative reaction to Byatt here, Possession won its place in my memory as one of my favorite books in contemporary literature. I also find my “critique” of contemporary [...]
I took a course on Bach in my last semester of college because of this book.
[Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter]
By the way, there was another really clever dialogue in the GEB, which I read on Wednesday. It was titled, “A Little Harmonic Labyrinth,” which was a Bach composition that modulated [...]
The inspiration for the subtitle of this blog.
[Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter]
A few days ago, I succumbed to temptation and opened up Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter. It is one of the most absolutely amazing books I have ever read. Very difficult to follow though [...]
Not sure if this interpretation of Camus is correct. Sartre, in any case, would not have approved.
[The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus (trans. Justin O'Brien)]
But when I realized this, that I’d be liberated if I knew that I had to die in the next few weeks, I suddenly understood what [...]
For the record, I still think Camus’ solution to the absurd is a cop-out.
[The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus (trans. Justin O'Brien)]
So if any of you were waiting breathlessly to see how Camus would affirm life when one lives in the condition of the absurd, expect to be disappointed. Basically, he [...]