in praise of the music of language

[isiscolo]

I keep thinking of things I want to write about, but it always seems like so much effort to actually compose a post. I'm not sure why. Instead I just endlessly refresh the various websites I read, and I do laundry, and bake goodies, and brush the kitty, and sometimes get a little work done

Comments

[trobadora]

Oh, yes. It's been ages since I reread any Hofstadter other than Gödel, Escher, Bach (which is the only one I own), but I remember loving this to pieces.

[isiscolo]

I loved Gödel, Escher, Bach also (and I used to own it! But I think it got lost in a move) but I like this one even better - it's more accessible, I think, to the non-computer-scientist, and it's more heavily focused on language. (And one of my favorite bits is the discussion of translating GEB into other languages!)

[trobadora]

I probably should get it and read it again. :)

The brilliant thing about GEB - well, the thing that spoke to me most - is the way it translates structures and patterns back and forth between different media - that was something of an epiphany to me back when I first read it. (I was in my teens.) I suppose it's that experience more than necessarily the book itself that makes it my favourite.

[isiscolo]

But Le Ton Beau does it too! Yes, you should read it again. I don't think I had read the whole thing through (as opposed to just poking at little bits of it) for at least 10 years, and it was delightful to revisit.

[trobadora]

I don't remember enough of it, so yeah, I'm definitely getting it and rereading. :)

(It's never the same as when an idea is completely fresh and new to you, of course. *g*)