Item — HN Reader

>>takes a certain bent to put the effort into reading it

Years back, I scanned through a few pages and realized it needed effort as you mention.

OTOH, I think there are 2 kinds of great books: one which just suck you into their world and other which demand effort/tax to pay to immerse in that world. The former are incredible books, while the latter are still great.

I found `On Lisp` by PG in the same latter category though GEB and OL tackle different subjects.

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I find the latter to be too tedious usually. If they don't at least start out as the former then the latter will never be finished by me. I think that those two kinds are poles of a spectrum and I believe there is a falloff point not too far past the middle that I find acceptable.

I think it is interesting you say the one end is incredible but the other end is "still great". Does that mean you enjoy them less?

> Does that mean you enjoy them less?

Enjoyment is not the point. I am a different person because of reading GEB, and my coding style changed because of reading On Lisp. With internalisation and comprehension, the first kind of book will change the way that you think forever. This kind of book is going to be a boring if you are unable understand the concepts that it is trying to communicate.

If these concepts are going to change you forever it might take some reflection (i.e. if you continue perusing the entire book at "reading speed" you will hit a point where you no longer understand what the author is talking about due to not sufficiently internalising the earlier material.)

That's lovely, but didn't answer the question. But I can see that perhaps I offended you, I was just curious, so sorry.