Jiang Fan Fan itibaren Pagara, Madhya Pradesh, India
Reading Senator Obama's book reminded me of Umberto Eco's seminal work, Role of the Reader. (Hazily reminded me, as I read it over 10 years ago.) In the first part of that book, Eco conjures the idea of archetypical readers and discusses the different ways that each reader approaches a text. As I read Dreams from My Father I read it as two different readers. First, I read it as a book lover and critic; second, as a voter. (Listed in order of priority, I must confess.) As a memoir, I thought this book was well written. It follows a coherent temporal narrative that is basically linear. But it isn't bound by chronologic time. Obama is more sophisticated than that. I felt that the beginning of the book was particularly strong because Obama doesn't try to sentimentalize his childhood memories. By treating them very matter-of-factly, he allows us much better insight into his development. We are allowed to see his ruminations about that childhood later in the narrative, in his own adulthood, when he begins to contextualize and reflect on them more deeply. He describes his years in Chicago (before Harvard Law) with an honesty that reflects his doubts, guilt and uncertainty about himself and his future. The aspect of this book that brought it down to just a "liked it" rather than a "loved it" was Obama's description of his trip to visit his family in Kenya. I felt that much of it was precious, stereotypical and not nearly as nuanced as the rest of his story. I attribute that principally to the fact that he spent so little time there and that his view of Kenya is colored by western values and American ignorance of the nations of Africa and the people who inhabit them. He did manage to avoid the typical conceit of letting one experience in one country act as a representative for understanding the whole of the continent, but not by much. It was particularly interesting because he spends a good deal of time discussing and wondering how colonialism has influenced the self-image of those who have lived with it and through it and after it but he remains interestingly ignorant of how growing up in (what I would call) an "imperial" culture has influenced his own interpretation of his family and Kenyans. He never really questions what his Americanness brings to his understanding, only his blackness. Which brings me to my role as a voter. I had hoped to get some idea about Obama's political and organizing experience from this book. I had also hoped it would help me identify the priciples that guide his political position so I could get an idea of what his priorities are or will be for the country. The book doesn't really address either of those things. Of course, it's not meant to. This is a "memoir" of a man who is barely middle-aged. This is just volume one of "the Obama story". As a voter, I felt that it helped me to get to know the man as a person. And as a voter, I couldn't give a rat's ass about the man as a person. For example: I was shocked that he admitted to using cocaine as a young man in such a cavalier way but I cannot honestly say it will effect my vote or my opinion of him as public servant. All in all, I would say this was a good read but ultimately, it was just another memoir and Geishas are prettier.
5th in series. 1976
Fun beach read---chic lit Should be 21/2 stars
If I can sum this book up in one sentence it is, "Don't succumb to the evil spirit of procrastination, get off your butt, stop making excuses and just power through it." If you can get through the goofy spiritual stuff about muses and such it's actually pretty motivating and a quick read that can get you back on the road to doing instead of "not doing," which I often suffer from. Worth a read.