Dreams From My Father: Reading Obama’s Memoir

I’ve just finished reading Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama.

I was glad to have had the chance to read it before his inauguration later this week.  Like any good memoir it’s made me feel closer to him as a person, like I ‘know’ him in some way through the priveleged insight into aspects of his personal and family life.

Overview

The memoir covers the early period of Obama’s life, before he enters politics.  His concerns are mainly around his family, who and where he came from, and how those personal and cultural influences shaped his life and destiny.

A large focus of the book is making sense of the legacy from his (mainly unknown) father, and through  him the land of his fathers in Kenya, concluding with an emotional visit back to his grandfather’s village.

But there are also interesting chapters on his childhood, the influence of his white American grandparents, a brief spell in Indonesia and learning about the harsher realities of urban life while working as a community organiser in Chicago.

What I Liked About It

The book’s well written and as a consequence, easy to read.  Given the job he’s about to start I took comfort from the fact that he appears such an intelligent and reflective writer (and man).

He manages to move beyond the abstract race and identity issues to the more detailed narrative that comes to life in his hands (without losing the over-arching framework of the ‘big’ questions he’s trying to explore).

Obama clearly has an eye for (an ear for, a heart for) the details of people’s lives.  I’ve noticed him working these kind of references into some of his big speeches.  In  his acceptance speech for example he managed to make real a big sweep of American history by linking it back to the personal experiences of 106 year old Ann Nixon Cooper

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

This isn’t just done for rhetorical effect.  I sense that this is how he perceives and makes sense of the world.  He talks about this in the memoir in relation to his community organising work, and the people he meets there.

Beneath the small talk and sketch biographies and received opinions people carried within them some central explanation of themselves.  Stories full of terror and wonder, studded with events that still haunted or inspired them.  Sacred stories.

There was poetry as well – a luminous world always present beneath the surface, a world that people might offer up as a gift to me, if I only remembered to ask.

What Could Have Been Better

The book is over-long in a few places and my attention started to wander.  A tighter edit might have made for a compelling read.  There were a few points when his musings on the big issues of race and identity became a bit too abstract (and dull).  On the other hand there were times in the last few chapters where I got lost as to who was who amongst the (complex) family he was being introduced to and getting to know in Kenya.

Both of these criticisms (too abstract, too detailed) are of course common pitfalls for the memoir writer.

Who Might Enjoy It

I found this an interesting and enjoyable read, and think I would have enjoyed it even if I hadn’t been reading about the early life of a future US President.  That being said, Obama’s arrival at the White House  is a watershed moment in American (and global) politics and if you’re at all interested in who he is and what he’s about I’d thoroughly recommend this book.

Some of the themes he explores around family, race and identity have universal interest and relevance, and if you’re exploring some of those big questions yourself I think you’d find it a good read.

Book details:

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Published in the UK by Canongate.

Tagged as: Barack Obama, Dreams From My Father