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: A document for a generation
Summary: 5 Stars
Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father" is one of the few really good memoirs written by a post-Civil Rights generation African-American that is not hip-hop or gang-culture oriented.
Along with his personal path to self-discovery and confronting his status due to his mixed heritage, we get a lot of insight of what African-Americans who grew up on the 1970s and 80s (as I did a few years after Mr. Obama) went through. We also get some rather pointed, but not mean-spirited criticism of the rhetoric oriented politics of Black nationalism of the 1990s and of Min. Louis Farrakhan and his followers in particular. Fortunately, Mr. Obama offers some constructive alternative solutions along with his constructive cirticism of this phenomenon.
The current edition of this book closes with the 2004 Democratic Convention Speech that is Mr. Obama's current claim to fame. Aside from a few dated references to the John Kerry campaign and the red state/blue state controversy, future readers should also be inspired by this work that appeals to unity and not division, unlike so much of the political rhetoric of recent times.
Overall, a great piece of work from a voice that many people hope to hear more from in the future.
Book Review: Excellence from page to page
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book and highly recommend it for anyone.
Obama traces his earliest memories and introduces us to his caucasian and african families.
His honesty in expressing his feelings is a trait that is hard to find in many.
Again, I strongly recommend this book for anyone who loves good literature.
Book Review: Insightful But A Little Too Wordy
Summary: 3 Stars
After seeing Barak Obama give his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, I knew right then a star was born. I became a huge fan instantly and therefore decided to read Dreams From My Father. While the book gives a highly insightful view of race relations from a deeply personal perspective, it also comes across as a little too self-indulgent. Now I know this is what it is, an autobiography, but according to the 2004 Preface, I think Obama would agree with me in saying that he was young when he wrote this work and it would be written much differently by him today. Dreams From My Father has it's high moments, one of them being Obama reflecting on his college years where he dropped his slacking, weed-smoking ways and truely came into his own - a highly intelligent, deep thinker, with a burning desire to know all of himself (his Mother's family history as well as his Father's)and help others. I tended to get lost and a little bored at times whenever he went into way too much detail about not so pivotal moments, i.e. some of the Chicago council meetings during his stint as an activist. Getting to the lesson learned rather than discussing what his friend Johnnie was eating and drinking would have sufficed. I also found that the end of this book, Obama's trip to his Father's homeland in Kenya, was by far the most riveting part of the story. To read about how his long lost family interacts with him along with his finally putting the many pieces of his life together was deeply moving yet educational. While I definitely think this book serves as a work in progress, I still recommend it for the sheer fact that Barak Obama is going to be a key figure in American history. Read this book now and you'll be able to better understand it's sequel (surely he will write another book) and the man. Book Review: Common Experiences
Summary: 5 Stars
I starting reading this book about 7 years ago when I was in college. Due to time constraints, I never finished it. However, I recently found the time to pick it up again and realized that I could not put it down. Even though I am a Mexican-American woman, I found so much of my story in what I was reading. As a child of immigrants, I often longed for that recognition of me in my predominantly Caucasian surroundings. It wasn't until my first trip "home" that I fully understood myself and culture. What a wonderful journey to relive through the words of one our great Illinois (and national) leaders.Book Review: This is a wonderful and moving memoir
Summary: 5 Stars
Dreams From My Father is a wonderful memoir about the life of Senator elect Barack Obama from Illinois. The experiences in this book are very descriptive and vivid. This book has three parts to it. The first part is entitled Origins. In this section, he talks about being raised in Hawaii by his white mother and grandparents. I recognized and enjoyed reading about all of the beautiful locales he describes while in living in Hawaii. He also writes about his education at a prestigious prep school in Honolulu, and that he felt like a minority there being half black and half white. The first section of the book also talks about the he spent in Indonesia as a child and being briefly raised as a muslim by his step father. He ate snakes as a child and saw beggars daily while living there.
The second section of this book is about Barack Obama's life in Chicago and his work as a neighborhood organizer. This section is the book really describes how he develops a passion for public service. My favorite part of this section is how he tries to improve the education system and living conditions of low income residents in a neighborhood called Altgeld in Chicago.
The third section of this book is about how Obama travels to Kenya to learn about the father he never knew and meet his long lost family and his biological father he barely knew. I really liked his description of the land in Kenya and his experience of going on an African safari.
This memoir also includes the keynote address Obama delivered at the Democratic National Convention. This is a very moving speech. Barack Obama has lived a very interesting life. I think he is an eloquent writer as well as a great public speaker. I loved reading this book.