It's a poem published in 1979 by the son of a physics Nobel prize winner, and it's about consciousness and artificial intelligence, and how they relate to mathematical proofs, music compositions (especially Baroque organ music) and visual art. It is full of self-references.
It's a twelve-episode science mystery called "TAOCP"... eagerly awaiting episode 4c! It's full of passion, hard facts, proofs, code fragments, even music scores and of course jokes.
Half-time: to think what-the-hell-comes-next (only if you are 40+)(it won't resonate with a 20yo)
Systemantics, Nexus: if you work in mega-big-corpos this will save your life
Hold on to your kids, The anxious generation: if you got kids
Strong Fathers Strong Daughters: (and mothers/sons) if you got kids (too Christian-y for my taste but an amazing 'manual' to manage the relationship with your kid(s))
1984, Animal Farm, Gulag Archipelago: ...
Light on Yoga: (also do practice yoga, it's good for most-if-not-all)
All the listed ones are books I read and read again every few years. They shaped me the first time I read them, keep me 'grounded'/taking stock/thinking the 'change' in me and my life. I see them as a 'check-diff' and how I have changed/evolved/devolved since the last time I read it/them.
It's a fascinating study of society and the infrastructure that makes civilization work. Their struggles to avoid starvation and being over-run by the armies of the 30 years war are gripping reading.
It was so popular it spawned a community of writers and a series that lived until the authors demise a few years ago.