Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Book Review: Wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply wonderful, honest and unpretentious
The Second Declaration
Every Day A Miracle Happens
Book Review: Exceeded my expectations
Summary: 4 Stars
As far as books by presidential candidates go, this one is surprisingly good. Probably because it's a candid memoir, written before Obama tossed his hat into the race. Moving and at times powerfully written, Dreams from My Father breezes along and provides insight into the man who hopes to be the next US president. Book Review: Highly insightful, compassionate, and moving
Summary: 5 Stars
Whether in his account of his childhood, or of his work as community organizer, or of his journey to Kenya to meet his father's family, every page of this book reveals a mind gifted with deep insight, and a mix of intelligence steeped in compassion and sensitivity. It is beautifully written and moving, with lines that would elicit goose-bumps and hearty laughs alternatively.
Here I must interrupt my review of the book to comment on some of the negative reviews I've read of it. As for the "shameless self-promotion" one, the writer of that review is, perhaps, ignorant of the fact that Obama wrote that book in the mid-nineties and before he started his political career. As for the reviewer who wrote that Obama's writing was "labored and poetic", it certainly is poetic, but, far from labored, it is natural, perceptive and moving. Other reviewers do not seem to understand that "memoirs" are about the person who wrote them, but instead seem to take that against Obama, like he's supposed to write a MEMOIR, but not say much about himself....HELLO? There are many online dictionaries that can explain what "memoir" means (that is, if any of them cares to remedy that gap in their knowledge).
As for the reviewers who claim Obama is racist, or claim he "hates whites", I did not get that impression from any page I read in this book. What those reviewers seem to be incapable of seeing is that black people do have a different experience of life in America, that difference is as distinct as the view you get from the top floors of a skyscraper as opposed to that which you get from the basement (or the first floor at best). Any black person lives with the consequences of "racial selection" day in and day out, whether directly, or by way of heritage in the form of limited or missed opportunities, and all the other myriad ways in which those consequences play themselves out. Could that story about Obama-the-child and the white woman in the elevator EVER have happened to a white child??! Equating Obama's AWARENESS of his race's experience with a "hatred of whites" is not just a distortion of facts, but also an assessment that betrays the inability to see what is right under their nose. Did those guys not watch on TV the case of that black boy in the summer of 2003, who was arrested by the police (I don't remember in which state), and, even though he was already apprehended and had his hands cuffed behind his back, was savagely beaten until many of his bones were broken, and despite all that having been videotaped, those who did it were declared "innocent", that they acted in "legitimate self-defense" and were FREED of all charges??? That did not happen in the "the distant past" which we're all supposed to put behind us, but in 2003!! How can anyone denounce the "anger" of any black person in light of events like this? To claim that being conscious of racial implications is equal to a "hatred of whites" means the only way to prove they are not "racists" would be for blacks to cancel their memories and liquidate their experiences, in short, yet another version of what was demanded of their ancestors when they were kidnapped from their homes hundreds of years ago. It would mean yet another form of violence, only this time around the violence is invisible and bloodless.
Then, one of the reviewers had a go at psychology, claiming that Obama "hates his white mother's family", simply because the book was focused on memories of his father and the search to understand where he came from. There's nothing in the book that points to hatred of his mother's family, on the contrary, there were many references of esteem and affection. What is there, and what was misinterpreted by that reviewer, was that Obama was searching for that part of his history that was missing, his father, who, having left when he was two, and, apart from a one-month visit when he was ten, was absent from his entire life. It doesn't take any special abilities to understand that someone who has grown up without one of his parents would be propelled by the need to find out all about that person in order to try to find the missing pieces of his own life. It has NOTHING to do with black and white, and everything to do with the search for the missing parent. Had it been his white mother that was gone from his life during childhood, the quest would have been reversed.
And now, back to the book.
His words reveal a man who seeks to penetrate beneath the surface of issues in order to find a place beyond differences- whether in opinion, race, class or even nation- that place of common humanity. His mixed heritage, sharp intellect and compassion, all equip him to cross boundaries and access that place of common heritage; that, in addition to a practical sense and a talent for communication, and the result is a power house of resources, which Obama mobilized to bring about changes in the community of south Chicago in which he worked as an organizer (and, which, from later testimonies of his political career, he would regularly use to bring people of very differing opinions to sitting together at the negotiating table and forging agreements).
Obama's capacity for understanding the other side and speaking to it in the common language of humanity is an asset of inestimable value, and one that appears just about once in a blue moon in a presidential candidate. At a time when the current administration has been pushing conflicts in the world towards the brink of an abyss, the only chance to get out of this collision course is by the agency of that kind of political talent. (Not to mention how this talent inspires most of those who hear him/read him, appealing to their better selves, rather than the opposite).
Should he get the job, however, I sure hope he would still find time to write, for, as a writer, Obama is a real treat.
Book Review: As a former White House staffer
Summary: 5 Stars
As a former Republican and White House staffer under Nixon, I couldn't help but like this guy after this read. BobBook Review: Refreshingly surprised
Summary: 4 Stars
Often, I have found that gifted orators aspire to be equally good writers. Barack Obama is truly both an excellent orator and now, in this book, I find he is also a very good writer. There are many peaks and few valleys--occasionally, a little wordy-- in his narrative which unveils a curious and honest intellect and an empathy groomed from his extensive experience with people. I think there are many telling, subliminal-"esque" passages which exposes many underlying qualities and some shortcomings in his character. I see, too, an innate ability to adapt to circumstances. A good story, a good read and quite objective for this type of work; well worth the price and time. Interestingly, I understand him a little better, now. Thank you.