An opaque protaganist
354832
Ben Tyson, successful business man, is accused many years after the end of the Vietnam war of engaging in war crimes while commanding a unit there.  Step by step the reader is pulled deeper and deeper into the story while Ben remains an enigma that is insufficiently revealed. His relationship with his wife and with the officer investigating him, his relationship with his men and his lover in Vietnam, and even his relationship with his attorney remain obscure to the end.  At times his feelings are presented as ambivalent while he acts decisively on feelings that are apparently clear to him but not totally clear to the reader.  Finally, the enigma that is presented is not satisfying in determining his guilt or innocence.  The book reminds me strongly of DeMille's book Upcountry, not so much because of the subject matter, but because the variable nature of the questions posed and the tenuous answers provided.
1817616
I thought the costume was too tight and see thorough. I if it was a little loose I wouldnt mind the fact that was see thorough, but man, that was very transparent.
4806678
This book has text, translation and commentary of the anonymous "Prolegomena Philosophiae Platonicae", from MS Vindobonensis phil. gr. 314. The Prolegomena is one of a handful of surviving summaries of the life and philosophy of Plato. Two others mentioned by Westerink in his introduction that have since then been translated into English are Alcinous,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Handbook-of-Platonism-Clarendon-Later-Ancient-Philosophers/dp/0198236077/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Handbook of Platonism (Clarendon Later Ancient Philosophers)</a>&nbsp;and Olympiodorus the Younger,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Olympiodorus-Life-of-Plato-and-On-Plato-First-Alcibiades-1-9-Ancient-Commentators-on-Aristotle/dp/1474295649/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Olympiodorus: Life of Plato and On Plato First Alcibiades 1-9 (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)</a>.

Olympiodorus was born between 495 and 505 AD and lived at least until to 565 AD. Westerink writes in his introduction that Olympiodorus had been believed to be the author of the Prolegomena by several earlier scholars. In the section surveying the evidence for the authorship of the text, Westerink concludes, "The more probable supposition is that the Prolegomena reports the lectures of one of his [Olympiodorus's] successors in the second half of the sixth century, either Elias or an entirely unknown Alexandrian."

The English translation and Greek text of the Prolegomena are pages 2-55 of the book. The Prolegomena has 11 sections. The first is a life of Plato. The second is a brief summary of Plato's philosophy. The rest of the Prolegomena is about the style of Plato's writings.

"Plato himself, too, shortly before his death, had a dream of himself as a swan, darting from tree to tree and causing great trouble to the fowlers, who were unable to catch him. When Simmias the Socratic heard this dream, he explained that all men would endeavour to grasp Plato's meaning, none, however, would succeed, but each would interpret him according to his own views, whether in a metaphysical or a physical or any other sense. This is a quality that Homer and Plato have in common : owing to the harmony of their expression they are accessible to everybody, no matter how one wishes to approach them."
2393148
the author carefully describes an experiment in which he dressed as a homeless person and begged for cash at a busy intersection over several weeks. His goal was to find out if it was possible to live off the proceeds of begging. his description of the experiment is clear and he lists the possible shortcomings of his experimental design as a good scientist should. i rated this essay with three stars because with only one person begging in one location in one season it is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions. he did describe several encounters where good hearted people offered him help beyond cash, for example steering him to resources that might help him obtain a job or otherwise better himself.
1392230
I like it, but it's a little transparent, which I didn't realize in the picture, so it is necessary to wear something  beneath it.
131346
I found this book to be really good for what the author is seeking to illuminate. But while I found his writing style accessible others may not. Given that I would recommend before purchasing the book to read excerpts that are provided. Having said that I would purchase the book again.
1803946
Pyle is a colorful character and Reisler makes a gallant effort to tell his story. But in the end, because of Pyle's obfuscations and a general lack of reliable, verifiable facts, the subject himself remains elusive,.
2485678
Mister Memory brings to light a profusion of intriguing philosophical questions about the role of memory, the origin of the self, and how consciousness shapes our identity. Observations and proclamations made by characters on these subjects are the source of the book's greatest merit.

The author makes use of neurological disorders not often found in books, providing a distinctive protagonist. And an omniscient narrator who addresses the audience with comedic and lyrical asides gives the narrative some much-needed pizzazz.

Marcel Despr&eacute;s is presented as the main character, but a significant portion of the book is dedicated to following Laurent Petit - a young inspector with a penchant for following clues whose intuition propels him on a perilous search for truth.

Though the story premise incites reader curiosity, the book disappoints in terms of plot pacing and structure. Many revelations are delivered too soon, revoking the narrative of a sense of surprise or suspense. Several moments of clarity are based purely on character speculation, divesting readers of investment in the story. A plot twist delivered midway through the book feels unprecedented, seemingly dispatched for the author's convenience. The premature revelations, speculative nature of "what really happened," and the author's decision to invest minimal time exploring the book's most interesting character collectively castrate the book's potential to be a thrilling mystery.

Mister Memory is a unique but forgettable read.
2453289
Studying blue Calcutta to create camoflauge invisibility
4323105
"There is no larger task than that of cataloging a culture," writes Marcus, "particularly when that culture has remained willfully hidden to the routine in-gazing practiced by professional disclosers, who, after systematically looting our country of its secrets, are now busy shading every example of so-called local color into their own banal hues."  Marcus' own compulsively secretive catalog guts our conceptions of American culture like a lit match held to a tinder-dry house.  In chapters titled with emotional primitives -- Sleep, The House, Animal, Persons -- short treatises on such worn elements of our daily experience as "Automobile, Watchdog" invert those objects into their otherworldly counterparts: "Girl burned in water, supplementary terms 'help' or X, basic unit of religious current."
 Like all master stylists, Marcus is something of a guerrilla tactician.  His self-declared task is the re-invention of the wheel, and the weapons he brings to bear on the problem include the modes of writing used in histories, personal narratives, and product manuals.  The chapter on God includes such metaphysical redefinitions as "HEAVEN.  Area of final containment.  It is modeled after the first house.  It may be hooked and slid and shifted.  The bottom may be sawed through.  Members inside stare outward and sometimes reach."  This same neutrally-toned, semantically dissociated language is frequently used to disguise charged accounts of childhood experience -- warming his hands in winter by the "burning ball," an older brother's asthma attack, the mysterious girl called Jennifer who causes "partial blindness in regard to hands."  Often the disguise is complete and we have absolutely no idea what Marcus is trying to convey; but the intoxicated music of his syllables compels us up through those elided sections of the work toward a transformed vision, vertiginous in its clarity, of those things we hold to be most true.
804378
This isn't so much gothic as it is an old-fashioned whodunit.  The plot was transparent, and it was clear what conclusions the author wanted the readers to come to at different points in the novel.  I felt that the character development was also lacking, and there were several characters who were extraneous to the plot but nevertheless appeared regularly.  The conclusion was not exactly rushed so much as severed.  A good straightforward read, but don't expect a sophisticated plot structure or elaborate character development.
2587221
The product appeared as though it would block light and provide privacy.  It is, however, see through in it's design.
4490148
Popular sophisticated author Paul Auster has joined with graphic designer Glenn Thomas to produce a 'project' (that seems to be the best term for this experiment).  On many levels it works, and on some levels it is competitive for the readers attention span.

The story is brief: David Zimmer discovers and becomes consumed by a silent film by one Hector Mann entitled 'The Secret Life of Martin Frost' and the author explores the effects of this obsession.  Glenn Thomas divides the story into various fragments and page layouts that require fold outs and changing columns and placements on the page while inserting ink block like graphics to intensify the tale.  He has elected to print the text in sans serif, all caps format and the reader's eyes must adjust to this at times distracting presentation in order to follow the story.

At times the fragmentation of the story is enhanced by the simultaneous fragmentation of the presentation.  But in the end the story is not of sufficient interest to stand alone, and that is when the graphics and design fill the gap in deciding as to whether follow it to the end.  The book concept is strong but will have a limited audience.  Not Paul Auster's greatest work here!  Grady Harp, February 09
1839581
A kind, gentle, bright fellow exposes much of the silliness of received knowledge (aka, religion), in a quiet, clear, nonabrasive, remarkably rational and, at times. laugh-out-loud fashion.  He wears his non-theism proudly, but not in a high-handed manner, unlike so many of the rabid religionists.
181361
Pros:
- this thing is like highlighter yellow; no doubt that the visibility is there.
- only way to have better visibility would be the Hi-Vis reflective material that is used in some jackets now

Cons:
- the material basically glues to your body.. hope you have a positive body image
2060266
Great, but transparency sometimes makes face colors a bit difficult to gauge.
2548060
Size and colour are perfect.
However, like others' comments, it's a little too revealing. people could "see" something inside the trunk. it's not semi-transparent but I think it's almost 20% transparent.