Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Dreams From My Father: A Review

I have never been naturally drawn to autobiographies, but Barack Obama’s story of race and inheritance perked my interest for a number of reasons. He is the potential, and dare I say presumptive, President of the United States of America; he is young (relatively), black, ambitious, and gifted… just like myself; and he has that rare and elusive ability to inspire the masses. Reading this book was going to strengthen my resolve in supporting Barack Obama, the beacon of change. My hope did not completely translate into reality.

As implied by the title, this book was intended to address three issues: race, inheritance, and the impact of his missing father. All this was to be told through the eyes of a young man coming of age. Barack Obama tells the story well. He is an adequate writer who knows how to keep a story well proportioned and pertinent. He is descriptive, articulate and contemplative. Reading this book, you learn a great deal about the life he led. But the whole thing left me disappointed. Because at some point in the 400 odd pages of text, you realize that you know what happened to young Barack, but you do not know Barack.

I enjoyed the book, and learned a lot from it, but the same story could have been told by a close friend or a ghost writer. The text was so bereft of personal disclosure that I hesitated to continue. You see, I picked up this book because I was uncomfortable in voting for someone who was so elusive. He is a moving speaker and a man with clear intellect and wisdom, but I did not feel like his motives and his character were open for display. Now I do not assume that these motives or his character are sinister in nature, I just do not know what they are. So I picked up this book to find out. And found his text to be as obscure as some of his speeches.

The text was very quick to elaborate on the inner workings of others, or to speculate about the inner turmoils of classmates, coworkers, or family… but his divulgences into his own psyche seemed selective and curtailed. Perhaps it was in efforts to staying focused on the previously mentioned issues, but I really wished he would have given more time to his personal relationships, whether with family or friends or women. For those that have read this book, and those that will read it, please pay attention to the difference between being told something and being made to understand something. Barack tells in this book but does not make us understand him. I believe that it was understandable to do this when he wrote the book, because he was fresh out of law school and, frankly, had no reason to let people in on his life. The issue that I have, is having recognized this trait in young Barack, I see it still in older Barack. That worries me. Things are hidden away either from shame or because of ulterior motives.

The story was of a man searching for himself, and I am unconvinced that he found what he was looking for. He searched for himself in the grave of his father and kept searching through generation after generation of Obama’s. But the truth of a person, of yourself, is to be found inside. This searching was his true inheritance, his father had it, his grandfather had it, and it is obvious that Barack has it. This sense of discontentment, the need to prove one’s self to himself and to others. It is the driving force that I believe has led Barack to the place where he is now. With this presidency bid he is vindicating the wrongs and achieved the rights that his ancestors have embodied. I think Obama is still searching for that peace of self-knowledge, and has allowed success and altruism to serve as a substitute.

I believe that Barack has the ability to do great things with this country, and I believe he will. I do not know what has become of the Barack that wrote Dreams… but I hope that young man found himself somewhere along his journey.

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