“For me, the most fascinating part of the book was in Obama's own words what the experience was like for him as a child of mixed-race parentage. However, for those interested in the race/culture issues, or racial discrimination research, this book also gives intriguing, detailed information about these topics.”
“By itself, I think this book is an incredible work of literature. Coming from a politician, however, I think it is extraordinary. I would say Obama makes history not only as the first African-American President, but also one of the most talented writers American politics has had. Though it may sound like I am referring more to "Audacity of Hope," I believe this is an equal caliber of work, with or without the added political perspective.Would you agree/disagree? I'd also like to hear the other end of the spectrum and what conservatives have to say about this. ”
“a great man! that combine the human power!”
“As an English person I would not like to comment on US politics. However this book is in itself a work of literature.It is sensitive and reflective. What is more President Obama's early life as portrayed in this book is exciting to read about. It is great to know that the Presidency is in the hands of a cultured man who has experience of life outside North American mainland. ”
“Do you recommend this book? Do you think a republican would get mad while reading this and knowing McCain is not our president? =]”
“Im reading Dreams From My Father right now, and Its on a different level that many autobiographies of politicians out there. Barack Obama is not this robotic political figure like the others. He doesnt try to give off that vibe. He is a genuine human being who came from average means and turned himself into something extraordinary. Im not close to finishing this book yet but I can definitely recommend that everyone read this, as to get to understand our potential president on a deeper level. Also I should add that Ann Dunham (Obamas mother) seemed like such a wonderful person, so idealistic and confident in the unity of all people, and open minded in a time where people were openly divided on many different levels. I see that Barack got many of his qualities from her. ”
“I want to read this and "The Audacity of Hope" but was wondering...Which one should I read first?”
“I love this man and really want him to be President. What insights did you have as you read this book? What kind of man did you find out he is? I realized he is a real people person. Who truly strives to make living better for those who have less than him. ”
“I get the everyman feeling, I think it's from being stuck in the middle of different races, different cultures, etc all of his life and the way he communicates his experience makes me think he has what a politician needs -- perspective and lots of it. I actually felt a huge comparison to Chinua Achebe's works building in my mind which I sort of felt bad about until he brought the author's name up in Kenya section of the book. Off to visit the Shelfari Barack group now, but this is an important read as a study of race relations, heritage and identity more than anything else. I would be so proud to have this man as President!”
“I loved this book and wrote a review of it.Dreams from my Father, A story of Race and Inheritance By Barack Obama, Three Rivers Press In Dreams From My Father, Obama wrote of his efforts to understand his family, the leaps through time and the collision of cultures hoping to shine light on the question of identity and race in the American experience. He described the “underlying struggle between worlds of plenty and worlds of want, between modern and ancient cultures.” He admired those “who embrace our teeming, colliding irksome diversity while insisting on values that bind us together”. And he feared “those who seek, under whatever flag or slogan or sacred text,to justify cruelty towards those not like us.” The book shows how powerlessness twists children’s lives in Jakarta or Nairobi in much the same way it does on Chicago’s South Side and how quickly despair slips into violence. It discusses how the powerful respond with a dull complacency until violence threatens them and they then use force,(longer prison sentences and more sophisticated hardware) inadequate to the task. He struggles constantly to understand this problem and his place in it. He is now professionally engaged in a broader public debate that will shape our lives and the lives of our children for many years to come. He says If he had known his mother was dying so young, he would have written a different book, less a meditation of the absent parent and more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in his life. He shares some of the stories his mother and her parents told him when he was a child. Obama feels we have all seen too much to take his parents’ brief union, a black man and a white woman an African and an American at face value. He says when black or white people who don’t know him well, discover his background they no longer know who he is. This is the record of a personal interior journey, a boy’s search for his father and a workable meaning for his life as a black American. He says, “I can embrace my black brothers and sisters whether in this country or in Africa and affirm a common destiny without pretending to speak for all our various struggles.” Much of this book is based on journals or oral histories of his family. Obama says he tried to write an honest account of a particular province of his life.’ Without the love and support of his family, his mother, his grandparents and his siblings, stretched across oceans and continents he could never have finished itHe was born in Hawaii, lived several years in Indonesia then lived in New York City where he went to Columbia University. In1983 he was a Chicago community organizer and a civil rights lawyer. His Aunt Jane whom he had never met called him from Kenya to say his father was killed in an auto accident. His parents had divorced when he was two years old and he had only seen his father for one month when he came to visit Obama and his mother in Hawaii.. When he went to Kenya his half sister Auma and his Auntie Zeitumi met himThey took him to meet Aunt Jane and other African family members. Family seemed to be everywhere in Kenya and Obama found himself meditating on just what is a family. Sitting on his father’s grave he spoke to him through Africa ’s red soilWhen he returned to Chicago he met Michelle, who had been raised on Chicago’s South Side.. . After their engagement he took her to Kenya to meet his family there They returned to the United States and married.This is an absorbing and moving tale of a man who takes a journey to his father ‘s home, where he lived much of his life and died. Obama re-evaluates his relationship with the myth of his father and the meaning of his own life. .Examining his family’s life and thinking about his own, Obama finds a certain relief reliving times and behavior that had slipped into the undifferentiated past and finally arrives at some kind of understanding. The writing style is absorbing,, a well written blend of memoir and history. The rich narrative and interesting characters keep the reader turning pages. Obama’s sensual descriptions made the reader feel he is visiting the south side of Chicago, Hawaii, Harlem, Indonesia or Kenya. You see the people,, taste the food, feel the breeze and smell the flowers.This is a book I would have enjoyed even if it had not been written by a well-known, fascinating man beginning to put his mark on the world.”
