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May 16, 20161aa rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Its rather awkward to rate this: from a stylistic point of view its a five stars, but from an intellectual point of view, maybe one star, or even just a half star. There is an old book entitled "The Ego And Its Own" by Stirner (you can find it at gutenberg) which has an enchanting quality to its prose, so mesmerizing is the audacity of some of its statements, but, a little thinking about its statement, it is revealed to be the philosophy of a psychopath, likewise this book, "Memory Serves" by Maracle, has a similar quality: its soft voice, delicate phrases, and intimate tone, gives a mesmerizing quality to its audacious statements, but a little reflection on its statements betrays the face behind the stylistic mask: it is the philosophy of a pathological liar. Some small examples should suffice for the purpose here: "I choose to remember what happens..." (pg. 2); "Memory is to be played with..." (pg.35); "Our memory has an attitude. [...] not from some bogus factual accuracy or fabricated objectivity" (pg 38); "...reality is always false." (pg. 137); "...and then we story that up" (pg. 233) that is a phrase that occurs several times in the book. Some of things she says are ludicrous, like saying that Europeans have no history or tradition of orality or oratory, nor for respect for memory. Huh? I suppose she has never heard of Homer, Plato, or Cicero, nor of the traditions of memory (on this, I recommend "The Art Of Memory" by F. Yates). Other preposterous things she says are that those in the West (which, bizarrely, she excludes herself from) dehumanize Afghanis, and the reason she gives is that of the war declared upon the Taliban regime. There are many other factually false statements she makes, which she clothes in delicate phrases and soft tones, so it can go right over one's head; I won't give examples because this comment is getting too long.