Memoirs

Rating:
Summary: He was Canada.
Review: Although always a controversial man, P.E.T. embodied what it means to be a Canadian. Over his 16 years as Prime Minister he was directly involved in many major events which have shaped Canadian history. I write this the day after his passing, so in consequence I am probably a little biased. I grew up with Trudeau. The first 11 years of my life he was P.M. I could go on and on with the memories, as some have suggested he did with his Memoirs. However, that was the beauty of Trudeau. He was a brilliant man and loved life.

In answer to the comment from the reader in Toronto that he glossed over many not so stellar performances on his part - have you ever read another auto-biography of a public figure which told the whole truth and nothing but? There are many sides to a story. I would challenge anyone to write about their lives and not smooth certain parts over abit!

All in all Trudeau takes us through his tenure as P.M. in one of the most exciting periods in recent human history - 1968-1984. Anyone who is interested in world or Canadian affairs should read this book. And it's a must for every Canadian household.

Rating:
Summary: Comic Book Tripe
Review: Easily the most disappointing memoir ever produced by a Canadian Prime Minister. Trudeau glosses over year after year of his life and administration, retelling old stories with no new perspective on them. This book is just a collection of newspaper clippings with pictures of Trudeau's shape-shifting sideburns interspersed. An appalling work from a supposed "intellectual".

Rating:
Summary: "The dao that can be said is not the dao..."
Review: This is as fine a memoir as one could expect from a man who kept his secret self so distant from others that one suspects he sometimes found the line difficult to cross himself. Trudeau was not only the most intelligent prime minister Canada ever had, but probably the most brilliant statesman any nation ever had. However, his mind went to places that were not always to do with the ebb & flow of politics. It is unfortunate that this memoire does not tell us more about the man's secret self. I don't mean just gossip column things, I refer to his thoughts on life, literature, & art: topics on which anyone who knew him recognized his mastery. The book is brilliant too, but I suggest that it requires some reading between the lines to catch at what Monsieur Trudeau only hints. It's his truth from the inside, after all, so he shouldn't be expected to see himself "objectively" & account for the way he was seen by others. This can be uncomfortable sometimes. For example, when he was nearly defeated in the first election after "Trudeaumania" in 1972 because he attempted to be straight, true, & honest with the Canadian public, he roared back playing the "promise'em the world" consumate politician in 1974 to a majority government. I would have wished for more third person objectivity here. Still Trudeau was a giant mind & giant will amongst mental idiots & usual politicoes during his tenure. I believe he has the right to do just what he did in this magnificent memoire: Speak from the heights & tell it as he alone saw it. Bravo! We'll not see his like again.