Long Walk to Freedom

Astonishing. The man, the story, the book. I recognize that the author may be biased, that there may be perspectives we're not getting... but even so this is a remarkable and memorable work. A remarkable man and life.First, admittedly, because of the context: to those of us who grew up with First Fourth Fifth Eighth Amendment protections, it is chilling to read of the brutality of the South African government. It's even worse to note how calmly and matter-of-factly Mandela speaks of being “banned”, of topics and people that are illegal to discuss, of a life that none of us can conceive of outside of [b:1984 5470 1984 George Orwell http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg 153313].But where the book really shines is in its depiction of humanity and how lovely we can be. Mandela demonstrates a rare form of Enlightenment: an ability to communicate, empathize, understand, reflect, learn. Again, we're only getting it from his PoV and with the advantage of his age... but the humility and self-awareness that come through are not, IMO, fakeable.Readable, captivating, beautiful. I'm about to create a must-read tag on goodreads, and this is the first book to go on that list.

I had to put this down for bit during the prison part (which is a huge chunk obviously) but it was a wonderful read and I laughed outright several times (especially the story about deKlerk telling our beloved protagonist he's about to be released). Mandela's a very sympathetic character and I can understand why the ANC chose to use his story to frame the struggle.

This was a very interesting read. I am an Afrikaner by heritage and have been living in the Netherlands for most of lifespan (with some in between periods of a few months). To hear the story of the ANC and Nelson Mandela himself was rather remarkable and at times shocking.

It startled me at times to find out that some of the things I had come to believe about the ANC or Winnie Mandela were mostly propaganda by the Nationalist government (at least according to this book).

Other things that stood out were the parts about the armed struggle. Some of that struggle mentality still comes back in the strikes and violence in South Africa nowadays.

The autobiography is easy to read and well written with detailed accounts of some of the trials and more intermittent reporting on some of the prison life.

What I also hoped to find in the book, but could not was information on the Reconciliation Tribunals. But that was only after the book was published. So yeah for me. Strong moment.

All in all, a book worthy of your attention