Reviews with content warning for Torture - A Promised Land

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A Promised Land by Barack Obama

8 reviews

whatjasread's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

2.0

• I’m not saying it’s bad, but this man talks so much dear lord
• literal king of waffle
• the parts leading up to his presidency were more interesting than his actual presidency
• so much name dropping I don’t remember a single person except Michelle and our lass Lizzie R

TWs: war, death, racism, islamophobia, gun violence, cancer, terrorism, homophobia, torture, mentions of 9/11

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drraytay's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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asturias's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

While I really enjoyed A Promised Land as a whole, I have to admit it’s best enjoyed one bite at a time. The audiobook is nearly 30 hours – a fairly long read! Because this is a presidential memoir, it’s also filled with political churnings. Regardless of your personal perspective, politics get exhausting after 30 hours. But all that said, I found the behind-the-scenes look fascinating.

There is so much packed into this book. The pacing starts off pretty steadily, with Obama speaking about his early campaigns and setting Michelle. As the book goes on and we get into his presidency, the pace picks up and so does the amount of information. By the end of A Promised Land, one significant event was packed in after another without time to breathe. It was a little anxiety-inducing for me, so I can’t imagine how stressful it was to actually be in charge of or on the receiving end of so many of the things discussed during the second half of the book.

There is a balanced voice to many of the things discussed here, but the further into the presidency we get, the clearer his own personal frustrations are. Since this is a memoir and not purely a piece of historical non-fiction, this is both fine and accepted. However, I do want to mention that the exasperation with Mitch McConnell and Republican senators is clear, and his commentary on Donald Trump is more harsh. This book will not sit well with stalwart Republicans and Trump fans, though for those who are interested in a rounded view of politics, it is still an important read.

Please don’t take this to mean Obama spends the book in bi-partisan bashing. In fact, there is a clear frustration with bi-partisanism and there are several instances where he praises Republican senators or representatives. In fact, it’s an interesting perspective on the shift of priorities in the Republican party during his presidency, which ultimately lead to the party as it is today.

It’s challenging to talk about a political memoir like this without showing my biases. I will be honest and say that I’ve always liked Obama and my reading of the book is a bit biased – I find it easy to sympathize with the frustrations his voices because they are many of the same things I feel myself. While objectively this book is extremely well-written and accessible, enjoyment of it will certainly fall to individual political views. I’m not sure there’s any way around that in a presidential memoir.

A Promised Land is an excellent read if you are interested in the Obama family or administration. It’s also good insight for a well-rounded political view. However, it’s important to be aware of the inherent biases coming from a memoir… and also know it’s a bit thick so take it slow.

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readandfindout's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Knowledge/perspective: 4.5 stars

This is actually really hard to rate! Because I thought everything was well done, and I really enjoyed Obama's perspective, but I struggled with the pacing and level of detail.

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pagesfromhome's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

Barack Obama was the first president I volunteered for as well as the first one I voted for. So naturally, I'm a little biased to liking him and it would come as no surprise that I loved the first part of his memoirs.

Obama is known for being a little long-winded and that is certainly the case here. He often dives into the political process in ways that can feel a little too heavy in juxtaposition to the moments where he waxes poetic about the love he holds for his family. I'll admit that by far my favorite parts of the book were those moments where he was either speaking about his wife and daughters or the moments where he let his honesty really shine. At multiple points of the book, Obama is clearly saying things that he didn't feel appropriate sharing as President so I really enjoyed that blunt honesty. Unfortunately, having those moments of complete honesty then made those moments of not-so-honest stores felt more cagey.

Ultimately, this book was a 4.25 star for me. Obama is an incredible writer and I am very much looking forward to the next part of this series. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in hearing about the goings-on of the modern political process, but as always, be aware that every political memoir is a piece of propaganda even though Obama is exceptionally self-aware of his own flaws throughout the book.

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bookswithsoumi's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

5.0

For a man who needs no introduction, I can tell you that his behemoth of a book (700+ pages!) is truly inspirational to hopeful millennials like myself. Obama’s words took me on a journey from his tropical childhood in Hawaii to the suspenseful months leading up to the 2008 election to the major events of his first term, ending at the killing of bin Laden.

I would HIGHLY recommend listening to the audiobook, clocking in at 29 hours and 10 minutes. Not only will you get through the book faster, but also you will vicariously experience Obama’s ups and downs. His occasional f-bomb was gratifying to my soul weary from 2020.

My highlights include:

🔎Travelling with Obama on his state visits to China, Russia, and India and international summits in London and Copenhagen.

🔎Simplified explanations for the lay people like me on issues such as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Great Recession.

🔎Overall just learning how a president can effect change in society.

The best quotes:

💫”And then there was the unsettling fact that, despite whatever my mother might claim, the bullies, cheats, and self-promoters seemed to be doing quite well, while those she considered good and decent people seemed to get screwed an awful lot.”

💫“But you don’t choose the time. The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by.”

And the funniest quotes:

🤣“I’d met my share of highly credentialed, high-IQ morons”

🤣“Two hundred and thirty-two years and they wait until the country’s falling apart before they turn it over to the brother!”

Time to read: 56 days (with audiobook listening in between)

Who should read this book: people who want to try memoirs for the first time!

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alylentz's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

More readable and engrossing than I expected from a political memoir that's so hefty. Started to feel a little formulaic after a while, but I definitely learned a lot and feel like I got a lot out of reading this.

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