I first became acquainted with this book after hearing him read from his book on radio national. His accents were brilliant and he really had me spellbound. The book jumps from Hawaii to Indonesia in his early years. Obama has had a colourful upbringing and he manages to create a sense of the characters that he grew up with. Over and over again Obama stresses the need for integration of people and races, undoubtedly due in large part to his colourful upbringing that introduced him to different cultures at an early age.I am glad to see that the world is in such good hands and it's a pity other world leaders haven't had his upbringing to give them a more holistic approach. I found the part about how he gave up his well paying finance job and risked everything to become a community organiser the most exhilarating part of the book. His work in the south side of Chicago was amazing considering the conditions of the area.
The book ends with his return to his ancestral homeland of Kenya. This was a very personal journey for him and while it was easy to see how important this was for him, it didn't engender the same interest for me as his work in Chicago.
A very well written book.
Rating - I give this 4/5
GREAT!! Get this from the library
Reviewed by Sven @ home
1 comment:
I really enjoyed reading this too. I found it was refreshingly honest and written in an engaging, easy to read style. Obama has a wonderful turn of phrase. It will be interesting to see if his term in office can deliver all that many are hoping for.
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