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4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Don't have access to the book anymore, will pick it up again once I do though
I have recently started reading novels as hobby and this is my first attempt to read an autobiography. I was excited to start it. I choose it over others as I wanted to know more about South Africa . Though I could have started with "My experiments with truth " of Mahatma Gandhi, but I have read too much about Gandhi in my UPSC preparation and decided to start something new -entirely different from whatever I have read till now. So by this , I started my journey of South Africa.
To be true, I thought it will be full of words of wisdom may be through the life incidents of Mandela. I think the " My Experiments with Truth" is like that only (If I recall/ remember correctly). But to my surprise, it was a complete history of Mandela (what was in my mind when I started the book. Autobiography seems to be like this only). At one point of time, I was fed by this book. It was an endless description about ANC, Oliver, Mandela, Kirk etc. It is more than an autobiography. The Encyclopedia of ANC should be the right term for the book. It becomes boring most of the time. If I could muster courage to put down the book, I could have done it even the episodes of Island prison episode started. I received "The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri" book (gifted by my batchmate) when I was reading this book , and only I know how much I have resisted myself from starting that book and ditching this book.
But still I found wisdom in some of the phrases of the book.
1- My favorite one was ‘To make peace with an enemy one must work with that enemy, and that enemy becomes one’s partner.’. I applied this was my archenemy during my training days(a fellow probationer). I found good results and ultimately everything became normal between two of us.
2- I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion This I apply most of the time
I also came to know how he got his name . It is difficult to leave behind your home and go to a distant place. His mother was a very brave lady.
The condition in South Africa was also bad because the white were taking away all opportunities from the native. So the native people had nothing else to do except committing crime, drinking cheap liquor and engage in cheap and menial jobs. Same is with the slums in India. If we can provide them education and good jobs opportunities, we can reduce many street crimes
To be true, I thought it will be full of words of wisdom may be through the life incidents of Mandela. I think the " My Experiments with Truth" is like that only (If I recall/ remember correctly). But to my surprise, it was a complete history of Mandela (what was in my mind when I started the book. Autobiography seems to be like this only). At one point of time, I was fed by this book. It was an endless description about ANC, Oliver, Mandela, Kirk etc. It is more than an autobiography. The Encyclopedia of ANC should be the right term for the book. It becomes boring most of the time. If I could muster courage to put down the book, I could have done it even the episodes of Island prison episode started. I received "The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri" book (gifted by my batchmate) when I was reading this book , and only I know how much I have resisted myself from starting that book and ditching this book.
But still I found wisdom in some of the phrases of the book.
1- My favorite one was ‘To make peace with an enemy one must work with that enemy, and that enemy becomes one’s partner.’. I applied this was my archenemy during my training days(a fellow probationer). I found good results and ultimately everything became normal between two of us.
2- I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion This I apply most of the time
I also came to know how he got his name . It is difficult to leave behind your home and go to a distant place. His mother was a very brave lady.
The condition in South Africa was also bad because the white were taking away all opportunities from the native. So the native people had nothing else to do except committing crime, drinking cheap liquor and engage in cheap and menial jobs. Same is with the slums in India. If we can provide them education and good jobs opportunities, we can reduce many street crimes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
This was an amazing history filled book. He recently died, and I was ashamed that the extent of my knowledge of the apartheid was from the movie District 9 (incredible film btw)! This is an entire history of Mandela, but also a history of many of his fellow men and women who were being treated as less then human. Growing up his experiences and behaviors were not too different then reactions we would have taken, such as his running off instead of being married off to a woman he didn't know.
This is such an extensive history that it is hard to summarize, but he became the first African lawyer in Johannesburg and also became a freedom fighter at the same time. And sacrificed so much, with so many others. This is is his story, so understandably I felt it could be a bit egotistical at times, such as taking charge of negotiations behind his fellow activists back, but everything happens for a reason, and to have brought so much change you better be confident in yourself or else he would never have succeeded. It is a complete picture of an imperfect man who helped change the world for the better.
This is such an extensive history that it is hard to summarize, but he became the first African lawyer in Johannesburg and also became a freedom fighter at the same time. And sacrificed so much, with so many others. This is is his story, so understandably I felt it could be a bit egotistical at times, such as taking charge of negotiations behind his fellow activists back, but everything happens for a reason, and to have brought so much change you better be confident in yourself or else he would never have succeeded. It is a complete picture of an imperfect man who helped change the world for the better.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced