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Summary: A fascinting insight into recent history.
Review: One can find the basic history of Apartheid and white rule in South Africa from any number of easy-to-handle sources. This source gives what none others can: the full background of arguably THE most important man in the liberation of South Africa. Not only do we get a glimpse at his political life, but a full inspection of the character details and personality development that pushed him throughout his work. The piece, though long, is very readable and provokes far more thought and interest than any brief or fact sheet or article I've ever read on the subject. I recommend it to anyone, including myself, as I look forward to a closer reading.
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Summary: Inspiring!
Review: This is one of my favorite autobiographies. Nelson Mendela is an absolutely amazing man! Not only did I learn so much about him and the history of South Africa, I really just enjoyed reading this book. It was a quick and easy read. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: Terrible!
Review: I was rather disgusted with this book. I expected it to be a little more interesting, instead it seems to ramble on and on. The only real reason i bought it was because of the wonderful reviews i read from all the people that live in Sewickle PA...
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Summary: Long Walk to Freedom
Review: 'Long walk to freedom' is a book that doesn't take you long to read it. It's one of the most interesting autobiographies you ever got to read. It's definitely written beautifully and it is so vivid and enjoyable. What makes this person so adorable and a hero is the way he tackled the most difficult situations with ease, even in his book he didn't make such a big fuss about his
sufferings and tough times he had to go through.This book includes 10 parts, and the eleven-th one is the part of FREEDOM. A country childhood - in which he recalls his childhood days so vividly. Johannesburg - he runs away from regend (foster parent) after he arranges a marriage for him with a girl who was in love with the regend's son. Birth of a freedom fighter - his liberation struggles begin here... and so on... A remarkable book - from which not that I have seen one man's struggles for FREEDOM, but also learned a lot of things - that are most useful in everyday 'civilised' world!!!
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Summary: A good autobiography
Review: Long Walk to Freedom is the autobiography of Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest leaders of South Africa. It gives a detailed account of his childhood, youth, and adulthood. It takes you through his years in college and his work as a lawyer as well as all of his political struggles with apartheid including his years in jail.
The book is extremely well written and gives the detail that only someone who witnessed the events could posses. Mandela's hindsight as he reviews the events of his life shows a more personal side to him. I liked the book but anyone who is considering reading it should be reminded that it is an autobiography so it does have a bias. He wrote the book as someone who had been wronged. Long Walk To Freedom provides an interesting and detailed account of the South Africans struggle with apartheid. It details Nelson's joining of the ANC (African National Congress) his rise in the ANC, and his creation of the MK. It also gives facts about his personal life and the life of his family. It is recommended to anyone who enjoys autobiographies or to anyone who is looking to learn more about the history of apartheid and South Africa.
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Summary: A great book and a great man
Review: Nelson Mandela was a legend. Putting his life in an autobiography doesn't even do justice to it. However, it is a very well written book and shows Nelson Mandela's high level of intelligence distinctly. The events of this man's life, portrayed in vivid detail in his book, have rocked the foundation of the entire world. No piece of literature recaps such an influential life as Mandela's with such accuracy and powerful detail as A Long Walk to Freedom. The book may seem extraordinarily long and boring at first and resemble nothing more than another political biography, but this book is unlike any other book of its kind. Straight from the beginning, Mandela describes his mostly uneventful childhood in a surprisingly interesting fashion, which is a great quality for snaring new readers. The vivid retelling of many insane events as Mandela approached the climax of his political career is the trademark of his skilled writing, and brought on a flow of renewed interest before one could suspect the plot was dead. The inclusion of countless crimes against humanity in the book, are the masterpiece behind its immensely famous influential power. The description of these events allowed me to see on the same level as Mandela and gradually understand why he was permanently devoted to the struggle. Nelson Mandela had no problem asserting the importance of his beliefs and justifying on a human level why his feelings and actions were pointed in the right direction. This book asserts that the highest importance in life is freedom, and from reading about the many woes of the oppressed South Africans, one can see that this book makes an effort to show that the opposite of freedom will always be unethical mayhem. This book should be read by anyone who understands it and wants to read it; I guarantee it will influence your views in some way and really have you thinking.
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Summary: A Success!
Review: Nelson Mandela brought his life and the history of South Africa for the past century alive in his vivid autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. This is the first autobiography I have ever read, and I must say that Nelson Mandela can write with extraordinary talent. The imagery and vivid accounts Mandela uses to display 100 years of history in apartheid ridden South Africa show the reader the true horrors that blacks went trough day to day.
Mandela takes the reader through his childhood in the Transkei, and then his troubled adulthood in Johannesburg. In Johannesburg, Nelson starts the first black law firm and begins to start a political life. He shows his development from an ignorant citizen to a fierce opponent to segregated society. Mandela also shows his life underground, in prison, and the prevail of good over evil. In addition, this book shows the development of the African National Congress, and other influential organizations that still strive to create racial harmony to this day. This book is the sacrifice 27 years of a man's life for the betterment of society.
The book is not only a good historical count, but also a great read. Nelson uses excellent literary techniques, colorful metaphors, imagery and personification to write a life story, which proves to be successful.
Every high school student should read this book to lessen racial prejudice in the United States and to preserve a tranquil society. I salute Nelson Mandela for his accomplishments and thank him for sharing his story with the world.
If you are interested in the triumph of good over evil, the end of a racially prejudice society or just a good read, pick up Long Walk to Freedom and let Nelson Mandela teach you about a culture and the changes he helped to make.
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Summary: A book that spans a lifetime
Review: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM by Nelson Mandela is a inspiring, touching book that spans the lifetime of one of the world's living legends. It transforms Nelson from a larger than life revolutionary, or a poster-boy of the antiapartheid movement, into a man with real emotions and longings. The book opens with Nelson's childhood, explaining the gradual process in which he discovered the oppression of his people by the ruling whites. He realized the state's favor of the tribal system (in which Africans are broken into groups, or tribes, and are not permitted to be with a member of another.) This ensured the separation of African tribes, for if they were to group together sooner, they could have slowed apartheid based solely on their much higher population. Nelson himself rejected this notion every time it was mentioned his tribal upbringing forced him to look up to the civilized whites. It was not until years later that Nelson learned his true calling. He was sentenced to life in prison for a charge of treason in 1964, a charge he could not deny due to his organization's involvement with sabotage. As well his illegal trip out of the country in which he was a fugitive from the South African police. Even in prison he served as a revolutionary, fighting for better treatment of the prisoners. He accomplished so much that the state would simply impose a new, harsher warden when Nelson had molded the previous one into his will. The South African government saw him as a leader of the revolutionary movement, and made clever attempts on his life (once, attempting to fool him into an escape, so he could be killed in a gun fight at the airplane that was to take him to safety.) His release from prison was one of the major news events of the year. The very fact that he survived prison intact provided a much-needed jump to the revolutionary movement. Serious negotiations began (they had started prior to his release as well, but with no advancement) Long walk to freedom comes to a close with a multiracial election, the greatest achievement by the revolutionary movement. Nelson struggled with his position as a leader, he found himself wishing someone else could have taken his place, and he could have lived his life as a normal family man. His visits with his wife were rare, but cherished throughout his prison sentence. He recalled them to brighten his mood, repeating every word spoken by the two in his head. In addition, LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is a testament of South Africa's darkest years; it describes a time of desperation for blacks, and leisure for whites. Nelson catches himself deeply disturbed by the sight of a white beggar, poverty was normal for blacks, it was a tragedy for whites.
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Summary: This should be read by everyone!
Review: A Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela is a truly inspiring life story. All who have the chance should read the story of Nelson Mandela. The story is that of a legend and is of epic proportions. Nelson's struggle through life in a Minority controlled South Africa is greatly depicted in this writing. The autobiography of Nelson Mandela does more than just shed light on the facts of Nelson Mandela's life; it allows a person who has never been subject to racism to have an understanding of what it might feel like. This aspect of the book is what I loved so much. I loved how I could be drawn into the book and almost feel the events that occurred in the story. This feeling of attachment or understand of Nelson's life is brought to life by the writing style of the autobiography. Nelson Mandela brings the reader into the story with intense detail and by the use of many South African terms. The use of South African names gives a more real feeling towards the people instead of just having another character, the reader feels like he is getting a special addition to a great story. The descriptive qualities of the book change it from just another autobiography of a great person to a must have and a must read. The life story of Nelson Mandela is all the reason to get this book but when the story is written in such a way that it draws in the reader and makes him feel as if he is there and experiencing nelson's pain and joy. Then the book must not be ignored and is a must have.
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Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: Going into Long Walk to Freedom, I was skeptical about the possibility of actually enjoying a 600 page auto-biography about South African politics. After a while though, I actually began to enjoy it as the story drew me in and actually made me feel as if i was a part of history. The book made me realize that Nelson's story isn't one of bland politics, but of the struggle for freedom that goes on all around the world. Before i read this book i new nothing of what happened along Nelson Mandela's rode to freedom, but this book showed me all of the highs, and lows of his life. It described the protests and rallys, heated debates, betrayal, and a life in prison. All of which were quite exciting. What really made me enjoy this book though, was the hope that it can bring to the world. When someone reads this book, they realize something important about freedom and equality, and it brings us one step closer to our dreams of peace. Long Walk to Freedom shows us that the seemingly impossible can be achieved, but it isnt an easy task. While the book as a whole was good, it did, however, have some downfalls. While most of this book kept me on my toes most of the time, there were several portions of it durring which i found myself dozing off. This book IS a story of politics, and because of this can grind along at an extremely slow pace at times. Also, i found myslef reading what seemed like the same thing over and over again in this book, which was basically : the africans make a protest/move for peace, and then the government puts it down etc. etc. While i realize that this is what actually happened, that doesn't mean that it's interesting. Overall, i would recomend this bok to anyone who is interested in a true account of a man that shaped the world. I would say that most anyone could pick this book up and start enjoying it, but if you cant take a little boredom, than you might want to think twice.
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