Wednesday 31 October 2012

Mandela, Nelson "Long Walk to Freedom"


Mandela, Nelson "Long Walk to Freedom" - 1994

This has been on my list for a long time but it took another book club to put it on their list until I findally got to touch it.

I have always admired Nelson Mandela for how he coped with his life, for his struggle with oppression, for his fight for freedom. I mean, who wouldn't? He is one of the great heroes of our lifetime and the world would be a better place if everyone had just a little bit of Nelson Mandela in them.

The book hasn't changed my mind about him. If anything, it has enhanced my admiration. I have learned so much from this man just by following his thoughts in his autobiography. I hope I can use at least some of it in my life.

How does anyone cope with being imprisoend for almost thirty years. And not just being imprisoned, the situation in those jails was not exactly ideal, not what you can expect if you have to do time for any crime you would commit in our Western countries, time for a crime you actually commited, not for fighting for some of the basic rights any human being should be granted in the first place.

From his childhood living with an African chief to his studies of the law and the beginnings of his dedication of eliminating the cruel effects of racism in his country, this man has stood up to any injustice caused to the innocence. He was granted the Nobel Peace Prize and there probably has never been anyone more deserving for this.

What more is there to say than: Everybody should read this book.

From the back cover:

"Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality.LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is his moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history's greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela tells the extraordinary story of his life - an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph."

Nelson Mandela received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 "for ... work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

11 comments:

  1. Visiting from Carole's Chatter - great review. You are right, we should all read this book.

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    1. Thanks, Moira. I alwys like to give a personal answer, so I checked for your name. You have an interesting blog, I will certainly read quite a few of your posts.

      I'm not that much interested in clothes but this reminds me of a visit to the Cortauld Gallery in London when my kids were little. They had a children's day every month and one of the subjects was "clothes in paintings". I think you would have loved that.

      Anyway, thanks for your visit.

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    2. How weird, I just noticed that this comment is from 2013. I'm sorry for the late answer, I never saw this. There was a time where I had trouble with blogger and couldn't see the comments.

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    3. The other weird thing is that they show it to me as "posted 10 hours ago".

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    4. Isn't that strange! Nice to meet you again...

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    5. Very nice indeed. I don't know why I didn't follow your blog right away back then but I guess that's because I was relatively new to the game. So weird how long ago that is.

      Have a nice weekend.

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  2. Marianne, an inspiring choice. Thanks for linking in to Your Favourite Biographies.

    PS I put the title in for you.

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    1. You will see my conversation with Moira ^^ that something went really weird with these posts. Anyway, I just see that I did see the post in 2013, just don't know why it turned up in my recent comments list now. Doesn't matter. I've just spent about half an hour to find your original post where you added my link but I only find the last two lists of "Books You Loved".

      Did you delete all the previous ones or how do I get to them?

      Some weird stuff happening with Blogger at the moment. They want to improve stuff and make it worse. Let's hope they'll solve it soon.

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  3. Thank you, both. I would be glad if this made more people read the book, "Clothes in Books". Thank you so much, Carole, for giving us all the chance to get together this way and find new amazing books.

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  4. It's a difficult book to review, so much happened and so quotable!

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  5. Thanks, Carol, it definitely is. So grateful for your wonderful review on your blog Journey and Destination.

    Thanks for your visit.

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