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A Promised Land

 Book review: A Promised Land


My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

"In the stirring, the highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from a young man searching for his identity to the leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.

Obama takes listeners on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office."
~ From Goodreads ~

For someone who has always stayed away from politics and who has always said that I don't understand politics, this book is a perfect first book that needed to be read on the topic. Now I am more inclined to read memoirs of politicians.

 Mr.Obama has always been noted as a charming personality in my eyes and his leadership, I have heard has been highly honoured and appreciated. As I heard him speak (it was an audiobook) about his childhood and his life in the initial chapters, I could understand why he was so much loved and about why he was such a success. He is a very relatable character. For one, he swears. That is something that my generation absolutely identifies with. The freedom to use swear words to express their feelings when normal English wouldn't suffice. 

I am not a fan of that, but I don't mind it all that much anymore. I am kinda immune and now do understand the importance of "getting it out of the system". But maybe we can replace those words with something that we wouldn't mind using in front of our parents or children. Just my totally unrelated to the book "two bits". 

Hearing him speak, we can't help but laugh, mourn and contemplate with him. He is an amazing Orator. 

There are many things to learn from this book. I do not claim that I have understood 100% of what was said in the book, of course. It is too long a book and too large a topic for that to happen. Maybe I would need to bookmark stuff and get back to it like we used to do in schools and colleges. I am going to grab the physical copy of it soon. 

Also, it is his version of his truth of the events and their consequences. But it did make me realize that I was not a complete "cutoff" from politics and world news. The economic part of it nicely flew over my head leaving me with the feeling, "I am so dumb". But I am sure after a couple of more reads, I will be able to understand a lot more.

This book is the first part that covers his first term in the White House. I am looking forward to "hearing" the next one. But before that, I might need to go back to the bookmarks a couple of times over. Well, that's me. Maybe you will get it all in the first sitting. Lucky you! 

And it was perfect for the following Reading Prompts too: 

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2021: The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list 

Reading With Muffy: Goodreads 2020 Awards winner 



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Comments

  1. Corinne Rodrigues2 February 2021 at 16:36

    I used to be a big fan of his but now I'm not sure! Have you read Michelle's book? I have it in my Audible account and haven't got down to listening to it yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jyothi3 February 2021 at 10:47

      I have a physical copy of it in Mangalore. So I haven't read it. Its "on hold" in my library app. So waiting for it. But I hear its good too.

      Delete
  2. Vinitha3 February 2021 at 04:11

    His speeches are captivating. It must've been a great experience listening to the audiobook. I haven't read this book. I don't plan to get it anytime soon as I have other books waiting to be read. I liked your honest review, Jyoti.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jyothi3 February 2021 at 10:50

      Thank you Vinita. I read it for the "longest book on my TBR". This year, I am consciously trying to clear my TBR as best possible. So I get you. :-)

      Delete
  3. Anamika Agnihotri3 February 2021 at 15:33

    I am currently listening to this book and like you, I too can't say I am understanding the book 100%. I have reached Chapter 8 and I have begun to find it to be boring already because it is too much of details of US politics and I am far removed from it. i am not sure if I can hold my patience any longer with this book. I loved Becoming by Michelle Obama by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jyothi3 February 2021 at 16:17

      Yes, that happened to me too. But then I continued to listen during my walks and it got better. For a while there I did think I might DNF it too. But I was interested to know how he managed to navigate through the economic recession.

      Delete

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