I’ve tried GEB. Contrary to what a lot of people feel about it, I did not particularly enjoy the book. I didn’t finish it, so perhaps I didn’t see the grand finale. My assumptions are that GEB was the first time a lot of fans found out about the concepts described in the book, and therefore they like it because of that. From a reductionalist viewpoint, I still haven’t found an adequate answer for “What does GEB have that I can’t find anywhere else?”. Or perhaps, “if we take n amount of people, one group aware of the concepts in GEB and another unaware of it, assuming neither of them read the book, how much would their final rating differ?”.
And then I scroll down and find this, the perfect example of your question about books that can be initially amazing but not great upon re-read or reflection. If you are not familiar with the ideas in GEB, it can be an amazing introduction that opens new horizons. Or it can be too clever for its own good, getting in the way of delivering its own content.
I’ve tried GEB. Contrary to what a lot of people feel about it, I did not particularly enjoy the book. I didn’t finish it, so perhaps I didn’t see the grand finale. My assumptions are that GEB was the first time a lot of fans found out about the concepts described in the book, and therefore they like it because of that. From a reductionalist viewpoint, I still haven’t found an adequate answer for “What does GEB have that I can’t find anywhere else?”. Or perhaps, “if we take n amount of people, one group aware of the concepts in GEB and another unaware of it, assuming neither of them read the book, how much would their final rating differ?”.
And then I scroll down and find this, the perfect example of your question about books that can be initially amazing but not great upon re-read or reflection. If you are not familiar with the ideas in GEB, it can be an amazing introduction that opens new horizons. Or it can be too clever for its own good, getting in the way of delivering its own content.