Sunday Salon: Dreams from My Father
By Kristen on Jul 5, 2009 in Reviews, The Sunday Salon
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
Release date/ Length: 2005 / 7 CDs
Synopsis (from back cover): In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable
meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father — a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man — has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey — firsts to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.
Review: What better way to celebrate Independence Day in the U.S., but with a review of President Obama’s first memoir! And oh how I loved this! Last winter I read The Audacity of Hope and was a little disappointed – it seemed more like a politcal treatise than an actual memoir.
Well, Dreams from my Father was definitely personal, not political, and satisfied all three “requirements” I recently identified that result in a satisfying memoir experience: the writer is likeable, the writing very strong, and I gained not only insight into who our current president is and why, but insight into who I would like to be in the future, as well.
I listened to this memoir — which I recommend wholeheartedly since Obama has such a resonant voice. Also, good memoirs tend to be naturally intimate, so listening to the writer’s voice describe his childhood, his challenges, and his journey to selfhood added another level of intimacy that was very satisfying. In fact, I think I will try to listen to future memoirs whenever possible for this reason.
A few things that struck me about Dreams from my Father — just how “human” Obama is… We have a tendency to objectify our leaders as either saviors or devils (at least in the U.S.), and I realized that Obama is just as human as I am — only tremendously smarter and infinitely wiser (thankfully).
He is forthcoming about his mistakes — even the youthful ones like the first time he was accused of “liking” a girl and responded in a very common, boyish way. At the time he wrote this, he could not imagine becoming a senator nevermind president, so he is neither calculating nor coached. This memoir seems to be his attempt to reconcile the many forces in his life and integrate them into an identity. Rather than feeling a responsiblity to read this (as I did The Audacity of Hope), Dreams from my Father is more like a gift.
This leads to the next quality I so appreciated — how reflective this memoir was. Obama could have so easily blamed his absent father for not providing a male role model. Yet, he takes responsibility for his actions and is instead proactive about learning not only who his father was, but what he will keep as a legacy from this absent father.
Obama is so analytical and cerebral by nature, yet I was most impressed by his compassion and willingness to never accept an easy answer to complex problems. It is apparent that Obama has tackled the difficult challenges in his life with a clear understanding of their complexity, but has not turned away from this challenge – which leads me to believe this will continue in his public life, as well.
So, I strongly recommend Dreams from my Father as a memoir and hope readers will give it a try, regardless of political affiliation. I think too often in this country we substitute the judgement of others for what we know to be true and allow the loudest voices to drown out our own. Fortunately, the quiet, reflective voice of this memoir refuses to do either. I love not only looking up to my current leader, but wanting to follow his example in my own life. I finished reading this wanting to enrich my own voice with more compassion and less bitterness.
Welcome back!
Hey thanks for sharing this. Your comment – “Rather than feeling a responsiblity to read this (as I did The Audacity of Hope), Dreams from my Father is more like a gift. ” – really resonated with me.
I tried so hard to read The Audacity of Hope. In fact, I read about half of it, but never finished. It wasn’t bad, you know. And in fact, I was surprised at how eloquent Obama was as a writer. Unfortunately, it just did not engage me. It sounds as though this one might.
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christina | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply
Thank you, Christina! I definitely think you should give it a try…
Kristen | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply