“A fun illustration of something,” is pretty much as far as the book goes: it hints at grand unifying patterns, but the pattern it finds is just the abstract notion of self-reference, and then it keeps bringing it up, making a few unnecessary references, showing some pictures, and asking, “Isn’t that cool? Isn’t that weird?”
The book is a puzzle. That's it. It's not the answer to life, the universe, and everything. It's a nice puzzle that illustrates how self-referential things relate to one another. Superficially. I'm okay with that.
Because it's a fun little puzzle, it engages people's minds in new ways. This is what has caused all of the praise over the years, not because it's some post-grad-level deep-dive into epistemology or something. I think the reviewer misses the point. The criticisms they make are actually features.
I could criticize the book as well. I struggled with it. But I wouldn't criticize it along these lines. They don't look very insightful.
Seriously, "puzzle" in the sense that things are assembled and related to one another to create mental constructs that are pleasing to contemplate. The solution is to read the book and work the puzzle. Or it's a duck. The duck thing might work better for some of the more literal-minded, including the author of the critique.
The book is a puzzle. That's it. It's not the answer to life, the universe, and everything. It's a nice puzzle that illustrates how self-referential things relate to one another. Superficially. I'm okay with that.
Because it's a fun little puzzle, it engages people's minds in new ways. This is what has caused all of the praise over the years, not because it's some post-grad-level deep-dive into epistemology or something. I think the reviewer misses the point. The criticisms they make are actually features.
I could criticize the book as well. I struggled with it. But I wouldn't criticize it along these lines. They don't look very insightful.