Gödel, Escher, Bach - the title is familiar to your ears. Occasionally it has been mentioned and - though rarely - discussed among your friends. “GEB” they were calling it. Eventually, you understood that the core thesis of the book had to do with consciousness, mathematics, computers, music, Zen Buddhism and such. Surely that’s not “understanding”, it is “confusing”! All of the friends recommended it for its brilliance. Some gals claimed they read it multiple times over the years! All this has piqued your interests, but it is just too big and you have been busy enough as it is.

One day you saw a person you admire tweet much praises of GEB. This tipped the scales immediately. You opened the amazon app and ordered the book. Soon, the book was resting on your doorstep.

It was a fine Sunday morning. You were sitting on the balcony with your regular cup o’ joe. The Sun was just rising, the atmosphere was just right. The kind that inspires you to read. You picked up GEB. The cover image created a distinct impression on you. As you started turning the pages, you realised the book lived up to its claims about being long - the preface just went on and on! You had started with the first chapter “A Musico-Logical Offering” - an interesting title indeed. It talked at length about Bach and music. You never were a fan of classical music, let alone history. Eventually, in 3 or 4 pages, you got bored and put it back. Your coffee was still hot.

Over the next couple of weeks, you tried reading the chapter and eventually completed it. As promised by your friends, it was indeed a wild ride. The topics were all over the place - history and technicalities of classical music, Escher’s paintings, a crisis in mathematics and people trying to fix the mess… It was all too much. The chapter claimed to have already exposed its core thesis of “Strange Loops”. You were not sure if you understood it. It was fun and puzzling at the same time.

Now you are sitting here yet again. Pondering if you should continue GEB… “What will you do?” the rising sun seems to ask. Reread the chapter? Read the second one? Read another book? Suddenly you notice a squirrel and board a different train of thought.