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    <name><![CDATA[Jake]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>        
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  <read_at>Tue Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Oct 18 14:35:12 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Nov 10 18:19:54 -0800 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[Godel, Escher, Bach is the Mount Everest of popular science books— you'd be crazy to try and read it without some preparation.  I'd recommend starting with a more casual read about Godel life and major proof— Rebecca Goldstein's Incompleteness fits that bill.  That book gives a nice overview of Godel's work without the dizzying, sometimes stupifying level of detail that Hofstadter provides.  You'd also be well advised to read Hofstadter's own &quot;I Am a Strange Loop&quot;, which was written with the benefit of twenty years of hindsight, and gives a much more focused overview of the author's opinions on the nature of consciousness.  Of course, half the fun of GEB is the labyrinthine digressions, on music, art, AI, and dozens of other examples of recursion and self-reference.  If that stuff sounds like your idea of fun, and you've got two or three weeks to spare, strap in— this book, while imperfect, will provide you lots to think about for a long time after.  ]]></body>
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