Such a pleasure it was to once again embark on the intellectual roller-coaster that always accompanies the reading of Hofstadter’s books. By a few hours into it, I had made copious notes for further research and had taken a crack at translating an ancient French poem while preserving a variety of syntactical features. If you have a passing interest in translation or like the cut of Hofstadter’s jib, the 600-odd pages just fly right by.