Dreams from my father is Barack Obama's remarkable memoir. The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama was only two years old when his father walked out on the family. Many years later, Obama receives a phone call from Nairobi: his father is dead. This sudden news inspires an emotional odyssey for Obama, determined to learn the truth of his father's life and reconcile his divided inheritance. This is an unforgettable read, it illuminates not only Obama's journey, but also our universal desire to understand our history, and what makes us the people we are.
Comments
I give this book a five star-plus rating. This is a well-written and superbly-told account that carries the reader from Barack Obama’s early life in Hawaii and Indonesia through his activist days in 1980s Chicago, to the emotionally charged visit with his family in Kenya, recounting his story with warmth and insight. He paints pictures of ordinary family life against the back drop of political change and social upheaval in different settings. His prose is poetic and lyrical, providing a canvas that is multi-layered and reflective of the sweeping landscapes of the country of his father’s birth.
What I love about this book is that the author does not spare us the messiness of his confused thinking and actions even as he faces some of his most difficult tests – he lays it all out there for us to judge or not judge, to empathise or not and to applaud or not. He does not write keeping an eye on what his audience will think of him. He is a true storyteller, who writes with truth at the centre of his story. And his story is authentic. In this US election year, the book left me feeling that I understand a bit more about who Obama is and what he stands for.
Beatrice |
