A Long Walk to Freedom

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  I wouldn't even know where to start in reviewing this book. So I really won't and I will just say that (albeit a slog in parts) I really enjoyed it. Having been to both Soweto and Robben Island recently, it was such a pleasure to really get stuck into this. It really is such an amazing life and a testament to the word 'peace'. So many people in this world could learn a thing or two from this man, whether they are people that I am close to or those who are leading the world, who are not. It's ... (show more)

  I wouldn't even know where to start in reviewing this book. So I really won't and I will just say that (albeit a slog in parts) I really enjoyed it. Having been to both Soweto and Robben Island recently, it was such a pleasure to really get stuck into this. It really is such an amazing life and a testament to the word 'peace'. So many people in this world could learn a thing or two from this man, whether they are people that I am close to or those who are leading the world, who are not. It's a pure and tender insight to human resiliance and an exciting portrait of the history and society of South Africa. Read it and be enlightened. (show less)

   

   

  by Mark Farley on Oct 10, 2009 at 02:08PM

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  An interesting topic, but not a overwhelming book. The book isn't hard to read, but it makes the mistake of description rather than analysis and self-evaluation. Perhaps Mandela made a conscious choice, but I don't think a very strong sense of the man comes through in the book, nor for that matter his motivations. There is no real reflection of the ambition and drive that must have powered him to make the sacrifices that he did on a personal level, nor why he succeeded. It is a description of... (show more)

  An interesting topic, but not a overwhelming book. The book isn't hard to read, but it makes the mistake of description rather than analysis and self-evaluation. Perhaps Mandela made a conscious choice, but I don't think a very strong sense of the man comes through in the book, nor for that matter his motivations. There is no real reflection of the ambition and drive that must have powered him to make the sacrifices that he did on a personal level, nor why he succeeded. It is a description of the ANC rather than Nelson Mandela, in many respects. An example of this is the chapter (two pages) devoted to his separation from his second wife, Winnie- perhaps NM doesn't see this as something he wants to include in his memoir, and, if so, that is of course his decision. But to me it elucidates the fact that despite the hefty length of the book (750 pages) there seems to be a lot missing. Perhaps, like Thatcher's memoirs, it is an attempt to justify past actions and to influence history, but I found the minutiae of journeys back and forth across SA rather tedious. A more thematic rather than chronological approach would have been more satisfying. Still, it wasn't a chore to read and was a useful -if unbalanced- approach to a topic that I know very little about (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook-användare on Apr 05, 2009 at 04:33PM

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