Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

I approach reading with quite a bit of skepticism... Immediately, I begin looking for a reason to "continue" investing my time in something in print. If it's a good read, I keep on going. Now, with a book related to politics, I am even more a skeptic -critical even. From reviews I read about this book, I started reading with a lot of reservation. After 400+ pages, I...more

I approach reading with quite a bit of skepticism... Immediately, I begin looking for a reason to "continue" investing my time in something in print. If it's a good read, I keep on going. Now, with a book related to politics, I am even more a skeptic -critical even. From reviews I read about this book, I started reading with a lot of reservation. After 400+ pages, I wasn't able to find the negative. It was a really good read. I am more impressed with Obama now, more than ever. It is a harmony of words that sing a song about a man who is simply like all men. It is easy to find a connection with his pursuit to find ones self. Politically, if you dare to read it, maybe your own narrowmindedness will melt away... Maybe you will at last accept the fact that he was raised with good, American morals... that he opened his own eyes to learn about the world AND its peoples... and that he has a genuine concern for the well being of all men, women,and children in America. Obama'08   hide

What's surprising about this book is just how much Obama reveals about his personal life, experiences, and thoughts in this book. While the more recent "Audacity of Hope" is a very polished, political tool for his presidency bid, this book is as close as one could possibly get to Barrack. It is very apparent that Obama has lived a very rich, interesting life, which has helped this intelligent...more

What's surprising about this book is just how much Obama reveals about his personal life, experiences, and thoughts in this book. While the more recent "Audacity of Hope" is a very polished, political tool for his presidency bid, this book is as close as one could possibly get to Barrack. It is very apparent that Obama has lived a very rich, interesting life, which has helped this intelligent mind come up with very thoughtful insights into issues such as race, poverty, and the identity of the United States. His honesty is probably unparalleled in the political field, and is very appreciated and deserves a great deal of respect. However, the last fifth of the book, about his father and Kenya, wasn't able to sustain interest and energy like the rest of the book preceeding it. While Obama is about to tie other parts of the book to his thoughts and developments in a larger picture, this section seems to be too lengthy, and void of the strong reflections other passages have. "Dreams from My Father" is a very good example of what all the hype about why Obama seems to be a different type of politician is grounded on truths. Highly recommended for anyone interested in politics, race relations, international politics, and the presidential candidate, Barrack Obama.   hide

This was the most fascinating autobiography I've read. While I enjoy learning about real people, biographies and autobiographies often end up boring me. Even "Surprised by Joy," C.S. Lewis' autobiography was not that interesting and I usually love his writing. But Barack Obama is really a talented writer. There were many phrases he used in which I had to stop and think about how it applied in my...more

This was the most fascinating autobiography I've read. While I enjoy learning about real people, biographies and autobiographies often end up boring me. Even "Surprised by Joy," C.S. Lewis' autobiography was not that interesting and I usually love his writing. But Barack Obama is really a talented writer. There were many phrases he used in which I had to stop and think about how it applied in my own life. And since this was written even before he became an Illinois state senator, there is no political grandstanding. It is simply his own fascinating story of race and inheritance — his struggle as he tries to reconcile his past of being raised by his white mother and grandparents in Hawaii with the cultural background of his absentee African father.   hide

I have not finished reading this book, but only after a few chapters, it is really incredible to think that a person such as Barack Obama was elected as the President of the United States. There has never been a president who has had his history or his international experiences -- it is truly a monumental change that someone like Barack Obama could become President. His wisdom and sense...more

I have not finished reading this book, but only after a few chapters, it is really incredible to think that a person such as Barack Obama was elected as the President of the United States. There has never been a president who has had his history or his international experiences -- it is truly a monumental change that someone like Barack Obama could become President. His wisdom and sense will lead to profound changes within the American psyche, and I believe that he will be elected to a second term, and be considered one of America's greates presidents after Lincoln. It is written in his destiny given the content of this book, as well as the perspective.   hide

Senator Obama wrote this memoir before he went into politics. He was approached about writing his memoirs when he became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. As a result, this is not a book with a political spin; it is an honest, realistic, unvarnished look at the man who might be the next President of the United States. I actually listened to this memoir on CD, which is read by...more

Senator Obama wrote this memoir before he went into politics. He was approached about writing his memoirs when he became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. As a result, this is not a book with a political spin; it is an honest, realistic, unvarnished look at the man who might be the next President of the United States. I actually listened to this memoir on CD, which is read by the author. This was particularly interesting, because Obama does accents (quite well, in fact) and his language is colorful. I can honestly say I have never heard any other future or past present say the word "mother-----r" before now. As a candidate, I have been decidedly lukewarm about Sen. Obama. After listening to this book, though, I am intrigued and impressed by his character, forged as it was through so many difficult experiences. I was particularly impressed with how he describes his growth as a leader during his community organizing years in Chicago. I highly recommend this book!   hide

First, I think I should say that it was kind of strange reading parts of this book now that Barack Obama is the President of the United States, :) Nevertheless, I did find this book to be an enjoyable, although there were some lags in the book. When the book flowed, it flowed beautifully and it captivated my interest, but when it lagged, well, it lagged. President Obama is an excellent writer....more

First, I think I should say that it was kind of strange reading parts of this book now that Barack Obama is the President of the United States, :) Nevertheless, I did find this book to be an enjoyable, although there were some lags in the book. When the book flowed, it flowed beautifully and it captivated my interest, but when it lagged, well, it lagged. President Obama is an excellent writer. Perhaps my favorite part of the book is when now President Obama traveled back to his father's country of origin, Kenya. Specifically, the part when he is given further insight into the person his father was, culminating in him perusing through the small artifacts his father's family was able to retain from his life. Perhaps because I too come from a disjointed family with strained and tattered ties, President Obama's journey to make sense of his "inheritance" echoed back to a time when I traveled down a somewhat similar path. Mine did not end as well, or as relatively well, as President Obama's, but it is not so much how the journey ends, rather the journey itself.   hide

<rough> This was an interesting read but I am reluctant to give credit to the author as a good writer. Its hard to give a very objective review of this book since there were some very vivid and moving episodes that resonated with me as black man with mixed racial backgrounds in America. In particular his accounts of meetings with his father and interaction with his mother and...more

<rough> This was an interesting read but I am reluctant to give credit to the author as a good writer. Its hard to give a very objective review of this book since there were some very vivid and moving episodes that resonated with me as black man with mixed racial backgrounds in America. In particular his accounts of meetings with his father and interaction with his mother and grandparents were interesting if not moving. Meeting his brother Roy was a very moving scene for me and I cant quite say why, but the humanity and pain that one can see in another human being is something that is not resigned to members of one's family. Having finished this book in the midst of a great public debate on health care reform p. 226 was rather striking and I feel has given me insights to the man - for better or worse. The last half of the book was the most interesting part. I am not sure how to take his reaction and treatment of Kenya as a country of his heritage since he always seemed to maintain a distance regardless of how much he tried to show that he understood or belonged to the culture. It was clear from the reading alone that he was removed from the place and joined only by the limitations of a bloodline. I feel as though he is one degree away from being an immigrant -that is to say he has innate links to Kenya yet never knew the place or the people and went on a road to discovery, a road that in many ways he had longed for but even when he had reached he couldn't fully appreciate it all or understand it be it was still inherently not him, Obama is in fact an American -the one distinguishing factor, however slight or great that separates him from immigrant status. I personally have identified with him on some grounds. The epilogue does address the world that we live in and hints at ways to view a harsh changing world and I have taken solace in the fact that despite the struggles of people on this earth, we have yet to wipe each other clean off the earth -yet to do so in terms of culture, the physical aspect and of course in terms of memory.   hide

A truly touching memoir and a classic book for the 21st century. Although published earlier after graduating from Harvard the 90's, Obama and his story are still fascinating today with a uniqueness that the story could only happen in America. This book gives a great sense of history of a changing figure in recent politics, a great journey into one man's past to find his history and sense...more

A truly touching memoir and a classic book for the 21st century. Although published earlier after graduating from Harvard the 90's, Obama and his story are still fascinating today with a uniqueness that the story could only happen in America. This book gives a great sense of history of a changing figure in recent politics, a great journey into one man's past to find his history and sense of self for the future he would embark on. It has exotic locations as Hawaii, Malaysia,and Kenya, but is looked through the lense of an eternal outsider through race and circumstance. Obama's drug use as a youth is chronicled, as well as his sometimes distorted views of race and himself. Obama does find his way as a community organizer in Chicago and gives rich display of people that need sense of fairness in a community that sorely needs a voice of justice. A great memoir and jourey of life in one book!   hide

I’ll preface this by saying that I love Barack Obama and think he’s the best thing that has happened to this country in a long time – there I’ve said it, you can stop reading now if you have a problem with that. While I think he’s a phenomenal speaker and I appreciate his writing ability and think his use of language is spot on, I have not been able to get through either of his...more

I’ll preface this by saying that I love Barack Obama and think he’s the best thing that has happened to this country in a long time – there I’ve said it, you can stop reading now if you have a problem with that. While I think he’s a phenomenal speaker and I appreciate his writing ability and think his use of language is spot on, I have not been able to get through either of his books! I did better with Dreams from My Father than with The Audacity of Hope, but I still couldn’t finish it. I started off fine, with the first section Origins where he describes growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia, meeting his father, his college years and living in New York. How he wrestles with his racial heritage and the conflicts therein is very interesting and his brief flirtation with Black militancy was fascinating. You can start to see how he grew up into the man he is today. The second section Chicago, however, lost me. I found his narrative of the community organization stuff tedious. I got the people confused, all of his well-intentioned efforts were frustrating (at least as far as I got). So I started skipping around. I read about his meeting Reverend Wright and can completely understand why he chose to establish a relationship with the Reverend and it helps understand why Jeremiah Wright is the way he is. I read about when his Kenyan half-sister Auma visited him, and then I stopped reading that section. The third section Kenya was OK, but by the time I got to it, I was tired of reading this book. I skipped around enough to learn about the complexity of his family in Kenya – where men have several wives and children with al of them. I’m not sure how many half-siblings Obama has on his father’s side but there seems to be a lot of them! There is some beautiful, contemplative writing in this section and you can see how this trip affected him deeply. I may come back and read the whole thing some day, but for now I recommend it with the caveat that I found a lot of it tedious.   hide