Strong Characterizations
928266
I enjoyed The Day the Falls Stood Still.  The characterizations were dynamic and vivid and the historical info was fascinating.  However, while the story unfolded in a reasonable and clear fashion, it was marred by the melodrama that occurred regularly.  I know these things had to happen to push the plot along, but what a tremendous number of tragedies in one short life.  I was not left with any kind of a message, uplifting or otherwise--just a feeling of sadness and loss.  There is no doubt, however, that this young author is greatly talented and with work can develop her craft to a very high level.
B. Alexander
4804968
Strong male protagonist, strong female protagonists, good plot. This pervy anime manages a rare combination of respectable characters and a good plot in a perverted show. Not for kids.
395319
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is well conceptualized with clearly defined strong characterization and a story that keeps you going till you finish the book!!
 I am eagerly looking forward to other books of this author.
4632221
I really enjoyed this book, in spite of some anachronisms and a resolution that felt a touch too neat. The characterizations were well-done and the heroine/sleuth is not always right -- she is determined and curious, but she is also operating, for the most part, within the limitations of gender roles for the time, which is refreshing even as it limits the perspective here and in later books in the series.
1420610
This 1965 book by Angus Ellis Taylor is clear and friendly. It is one of the stars in my collection of 68 books on mathematical analysis. It contains much valuable material which I have not found elsewhere.

One of the strengths of this book is the historical background which the author gives to the development of analysis and integration concepts. (For example, see the history notes on pages 16, 34, 59, 65, 89, 167, 170, 190, 281, 325.) Each chapter commences with a relaxing overview before diving into the details. The author seriously wants the reader to understand every concept. (By contrast, some authors have an attitude which could be described as virtuoso or macho.)

Chapter 1 presents basic real number system concepts. Chapter 2 presents the basic topology of finite-dimensional Euclidean spaces, including particularly compactness and connected sets. Chapter 3 presents some basic point-set topology and metric space theory. Thankfully the author states on page 117 that he will not be considering uniformities and uniform spaces, which I personally consider to be a waste of ink, but that's just my personal opinion. The important point here is that the author keeps everything concrete and down-to-Earth, not highly abstract like Kelley's topology book, for example.

Chapter 4 introduces Lebesgue measure theory in a standard conventional way, defining a set E to be measurable when the outer measure of every test set T equals the sum of the measures of T intersection E and T complement E. (Page 197.) The properties of measure then follow from this. (Some presentations use equality of inner and outer measure instead.) Chapter 5 introduces standard Lebesgue measure in a standard way, starting with simple functions, and then developing the well-known properties in the usual way.

Chapter 6 presents the Daniell integral, a more abstract linear functional approach which avoids having to define measure as the underlying concept for integration. This kind of integral has some advantages, but it does require a bit more sophistication in functional analysis and topological vector spaces. (I won't say anything about Chapter 7 because I don't really understand its purpose.) Chapter 8 presents signed measures and their decomposition.

Chapter 9, the last chapter, is slightly disconnected from the rest of the book. It concerns, for example, functions of bounded variation, rectifiable functions, the Stieltjes integral, the four "Dini derivates" (which are the upper left, lower left, upper right and lower right derivatives), and one of my favourite theorems, which states that a non-decreasing real function is differentiable almost everywhere. (Unfortunately, the proof given here uses Lebesgue theory, whereas&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Riesz-and-Szkefalvi-Nagy/dp/B01N915W35/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Riesz and Szkefalvi-Nagy</a>&nbsp;give a proof which does not require the axiom of choice. But I think it's called the "Lebesgue theorem" in some texts.)

All in all, this book gives a down-to-Earth concrete presentation of two approaches to basic integration theory on Euclidean spaces, namely the standard Lebesgue approach based on measure theory, and the Daniell approach based on linear functionals. It's clearly presented and reader-friendly.
974984
The book offers a high level algorithmic view of how to compose a digital character. It is independent of specific software packages. O'Neill describes the algorithms in terms of flow charts rather than pseudocode. Implicitly, when he talks about these algorithms, it should be understood that your underlying software is sophisticated enough that you can implement them. A minimum amount of expertise is required to map from the book's methods to an actual implementation.

The narrative is largely a fluid read. General principles are given, and you are not drowning in long code extracts. The book seems best suited for someone already making characters.

A key idea is to get an understanding of human anatomy. Two reasons. The first is for realistic depictions of human characters. But even when you have monsters, say, these are often in humanoid form. So it still helps in this case to have a deep understanding of the range of "natural" looks and movements, in order to plausibly deviate from these. In other words, humanoid means you start with a human template.

The book presents a unified and coherent view of character development.
465801
Strong characters who have purpose as well as deep needs are tempered with friendship, caring and action in a world of natural beauty and disaster.  A good read!
3390631
While the first attribute is least important nor influential in this novel, those attributes remaining underscore the delightful, wry and pointed discourse between hero and heroine that speeds breakneck from beginning to end. Traits of both of them well and truly presented. Denouement made sense and thus, this reader hopes for more novels celebrating both logic, love and zinging literary presentattion. Brava, Amana Quick.
1260618
I found this book to have a greater depth of character traits than most other in the genre.  The intertwining plot lines were well presented, with appropriate cuts from one character to another.

I am looking forward to the next installment.
3756534
Beautifully written--great characterizations. I recommend reading the rest of the four-part series, although each book can stand on its own.
4077722
Jefferson Tayte is an interesting character, although it took me a while to warm up.  The characterization is very good.
4012006
There are some excellent reviews of this book already posted.  My addition is to recommend reading this over a weekend if you can, it will make it easier to track the subtle changes in characters.  The story is strong, but it is worth reading for the major and minor characters and the many insights into human psychology (e.g. memories for events and faces).

The kindle version is good.  I read it from a phone app with no problems.
4357222
In this book, the authors present counterexamples of notions that seem "obvious" by handwaving or instinct. Some of the (counter)examples are well-known (ordered space which is cauchy complete but not complete) and some are highly contrived (two non homeomorphic topological spaces which is countinuous one-to-one image of each other). The latter category is what makes this book useful.

You cant learn analysis by reading this book -- but you can learn how analysis works.  I personally recommend this book to those who wants to work in analysis at least until graduate school. Mastering the book is a good preparation for oral exams and quals, and would increase your general understanding of the subject.

Topics range from real number system, differentiation and integration, sequence and series, measure to function in two variables, plane sets, topological space and function space.
3684502
Admittedly, I have a strong bias for books dealing with chess.  That aside, I can still recommend this book.  On a superficial level it is a compelling read; on a deeper level its form is insightful and well suited  to the nature of the tale.
 The fundamental ideas allegorically portrayed  in the course of the novel are well suited to the themes Maurensig has  chosen.  While the philosophy proffered may not agree with that of the  reader's, certainly its presentation is not objectionable.
 The approach  to chess is the approach to life, and the case for the approach is well  met.  The weakest element of the novel is compensated for in its form:  justification of the characters' actions is delivered not by the author,  but the reader.
 It is not a long novel; and certainly worth the time  spent reading.
4619448
Well written! Suspenseful. Good characterization!
1636449
"Motive, Means, and Opporturnity" are the three guiding lights of crime detection. What I find most interesting in this episode is the search for motive and how it keeps shifting--especially when you look at it in retrospect, after the great reveal.

The motive is about power, of course, but not just power derived by  money and position. It's about the power of secrecy and how that in multiple ways gives power over others--and, ultimately the desire to maintain that power led to multiple murders.

Poirot, as always, shows the power of the carefully detected detail as a means of cracking the case. It's the buckle, you see, that buckles the case. I love the recurring motif of the young girls playing hopscotch to this traditional rhyme.

--Janet Grace Riehl, author&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Sightlines-A-Poet-s-Diary/dp/0595374999/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Sightlines: A Poet's Diary</a>
2301600
This text has a terrific degree of depth. You can see the influence of Kafka, Borges, and Marquez.

This novel addresses the question of identity. Anyone with a philosophy background will quickly identify questions from Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and more contemporary icons of psychoanalysis like Freud and Lacan.

I met Sam Taylor and he, just like this novel and his character, has a terrific amount of humility about the questions being pursued. He isn't trying to give you answers, he's trying to help you ask questions.