Surfaces and Essences

If the goal of reading a book is to learn something about yourself or about life itself, then the most important thing I learned from reading [b:Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking 7711871 Surfaces and Essences Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking Douglas R. Hofstadter https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359423306s/7711871.jpg 10434367] is to never ignore the sticky notes another reader has left in the front of the book.I picked up [b:Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking 7711871 Surfaces and Essences Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking Douglas R. Hofstadter https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359423306s/7711871.jpg 10434367] from the library, as I do most books, and upon opening it, I discovered someone named Libby had left a note inside to be read before beginning the book. Being slightly obstinate, I ignored her pleas to stop and read her notes before rifling through the book.The full text of her note is below:Stop! Before you go any farther — before you dedicate a minute, an hour, a day (or days) on this book, there is something you need to know: it's not worth your time. There. I said it. It took a lot of guts, trust me. I can express to you in about 2 sticky notes the entire book:An analogy is drawing an inference or comparison between two objects or concepts. it's the rhetorical equivalent of a metaphor. Or: A is to B, as C is to D.That is all you need to know. Sure, there are great examples throughout S&E (mostly about two men going out for “coffee” but not ordering coffee) but Hofstadter always goes one step too far. Please read these section on the sandwich for a perfect example of what I'm talking about (pg 214). If you can stomach that, then you might make it through the book.Many of the ideas are hijacked from others & the organization is pretty weak.That being said, you will read what you want to read, my opinion be damned. But don't say I didn't warn you!LibbyShe wasn't wrong. [b:Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking 7711871 Surfaces and Essences Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking Douglas R. Hofstadter https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359423306s/7711871.jpg 10434367] took almost 700 pages to explain what a basic analogy and a basic equivalency was — all things many of learn in our freshman year of college. There are probably more concise and entertaining articles online that explain it further; investing several hours into this tome is unnecessary.There are some humorous and some interesting passages, and some of the examples help make comprehension easier, but overall, the key learning from [b:Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking 7711871 Surfaces and Essences Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking Douglas R. Hofstadter https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359423306s/7711871.jpg 10434367] is something that can be quickly expressed in a much shorter, and more captivating, piece of writing about rhetoric.I did learn one key thing: if I ever come across another book with a note from Libby, I'll be sure to read it first and heed her advice.(Full review on I Tell Stories.)