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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (精装)
by Barack Obama
| Category:
American Dream, American society, Non-fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 278.00
MSL price:
¥ 218.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
In Stock |
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Optimistic, refreshing and beautifully written, The Audacity of Hope is a very American introduction to Senator Obama and his stance on current issues. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 16 items |
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Jonathan Alter, Newsweek.com (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
He is one of the best writers to enter modern politics. |
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Michiko Katutani (New York Times) (MSL quote) , USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
"[Barack Obama] is that rare politician who can actually write - and write movingly and genuinely about himself... In these pages he often speaks to the reader as if he were an old friend from back in the day, salting policy recommendations with colorful asides about the absurdities of political life... [He] strives in these pages to ground his policy thinking in simple common sense... while articulating these venomous pre-election days, but also in these increasingly polarized and polarizing times."
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Los Angles Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
"[Few] on the partisan landscape can discuss the word "hope" in a political context and be regarded as the least bit sincere. Obama is such a man, and he proves it by employing a fresh and buoyant vocabulary to scrub away some of the toxins from contemporary political debate. Those polling categories that presume to define the vast chasm between us do not, Obama reminds us, add up to the sum of our concerns or hint at where our hearts otherwise intersect... Obama advances ordinary words like "empathy", "humility", "grace" and "balance" into the extraordinary context of 2006's hyper-agitated partisan politics. The effect is not only refreshing but also hopeful... As you might anticipate from a former civil lawyer and a university lecturer on constitutional law, Obama writes convincingly about race as well as the lofty place the Constitution holds in American life... He writes tenderly about family and knowingly about faith. Readers, no matter what their party affiliation, may experience the oddly uplifting sensation of comparing the everyday contemptuous view of politics that circulates so widely in our civic conversations with the practical idealism set down by this slender, smiling, 45-year-old former sate legislator who is included on virtually every credible list of future presidential contenders. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
Barack Obama, considered by many as a contender for the Democratic nomination, has written a fantastic treatise of his ideas about government, the issues facing our country and the American people themselves. One may not always agree with his opinions, but his approach is hard to disagree with. Obama says that we have so much more to unite us than divide us and calls for public discourse that reflects this reality. He seeks a liberal, compassionate policy that never strays from our values, but in fact, represents them. Both when you disagree with him and when you agree with him, he still makes you ponder first, before he attempts to persuade you. He puts out all the evidence, rather than skipping right to his conclusions - though, when they come, they are powerful. In addition, he makes it personal - he tells you why he feels the way he does, so you get perspective on his perspective. Obama is an extremely refreshing addition to the political debate not because his policies are different from the norm - in fact, they generally fit in right with the Democratic party, though a bit more moderate. What is special in Obama is his seemingly unusual faith in the process. Presidents often can say a lot about various issues, but they cannot cover everything they will face in their presidency. What matters a lot for all important people is their outlook - how they think and what, at their core, they believe. And for these characteristics, Obama passes the test with flying colors.
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Lori (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
The Audacity of Hope gives us a foundational glimpse of the experience, character, and values of a type of politician we almost don't recognize today - the civil servant. Through the lessons of history, civics and personal example, Senator Obama guides us toward the common ground of our best hopes for our families and our children, asks us to step outside of ourselves to see the world from each other's point of view, and challenges us to collaborate together in order to move toward a hopeful future.
After reading this book, I have no doubt that Senator Obama would be a highly competent and unifying President. His eloquent writing clearly illustrates his mastery of constitutional law, his grasp of the interconnectedness of the global economy, and his understanding of - and willingness to learn about firsthand - the complexity of issues ordinary people face in their daily lives. What gives me pause, especially after reading some of the reviews posted below, is not whether he is experienced enough to lead us, but whether all of us are quite ready for him.
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Patricia Lieb (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
Like many others, I knew nothing of Barack Obama's politics until he stunned me with his keynote speech at the 2004 Democrat Convention in Boston. As I watched his deliverance, I asked myself: Why isn't he running for president? Now, after reading his book, I think he is certainly qualified!
Obama's speech was just a taste of what he has to say.
Obama took his title "Audacity of Hope" from words delivered by his pastor Rev. Jeremiah A, Wright Jr. in a church sermon and ended with "My heart is filled with love for this county." This statement comes through loud and true in the 362 pages within chapters titled Republicans and Democrats, Values, Our Constitution, Politics, Opportunity, Faith, Race, The World Beyond Our Borders, Family and in the Epilogue. Within these pages Obama talks about difficult topics, presenting his views and the laws regarding touchy subject like abortion, health care and poverty. He writes about the government now, previous presidents and their gifts to the U.S. He points out positives and negatives in various administrations.
About his opposing the war in Iraq, Obama writes that in 2002: "I made a speech at one of the first antiwar rallies in Chicago in which I questioned the Administration's evidence of weapons of mass destruction and suggested that an invasion of Iraq would prove to be a costly error."
Obama's book aquatints readers with his family: wife Michelle and his daughters Malia and Sasha and how he strives to spend as much time with them as possible during his busy life as a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
The book also contains humor. We get a good look at Michelle talking with Obama on the telephone when he has briefed her on happenings in the Senate -- she changes the topics by telling him they have ants upstairs and he needs to stop on his way home to pick up ant traps. Also, she refuses to allow Obama to shop for birthday "goody bags" because she informs he wouldn't be able to handle it.
A colorful picture is painted also of Obama's mother, the father he barely knew, and his lifestyle being born in Hawaii and as a small child moving to Indonesia and then returning to the U.S., his collage and law school years, working with the poor in Chicago, going into politics, and his visions for the future.
Sometimes the sentences can be a bit long and rather academic, but in all the book is a rewarding read with visions of hopes of prosperity for the future.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
Has a nice ring, doesn't it?
Wow. What a phenomenal book. Even better to hear it in the author's own voice, a very pleasant and encouraging one. Obama writes about the issues important to him, frankly confronting the many problems that face the modern world, and manages to present unusual and unexpected alternatives. He writes with incredible honesty and openness, and listening to him, one is tempted to think he is the kind of person one would want to be President. It's not that he's the consummate politician (that would be Clinton); rather he seems to be the ideal leader. He doesn't shirk from the hard questions, nor does he even shirk from being open that he doesn't know all of the answers.
Perhaps his most contentious remarks will be his ideas on Disk 4 on affirmative action- but even here he proposes novel solutions that all sides might come together on. I appreciated his thoughts on religion. He affirms the rights of all beliefs to practice, and feels we are a greater nation for doing so. Yet he is comfortable and secure in his beliefs too, firmly accepting Jesus as his guide, through a decision that he made as an adult, and not simply because it was a cultural upbringing. Perhaps the most interesting section was Disk 5's thoughts on family, and specifically Obama's family, where he presents a very personal and loving portrait, while still being honest in his flaws and where he doesn't measure up as husband and father.
It's not Obama's fault, but rather the fault of the packaging, but there are some serious flaws in the CDs. The package is designed such that one disk is on the outside, and it is additionally easy to slide cardboard juttings against the readable portion of the disk. This virtually guarantees scratches on the disks, and therefore repeated areas, especially on Disk 4, where the disk is jumping and speaking like a broken record.
For all that, I'd still recommend the audio version. While an abridgement, it is Barack's own voice. We get to truly hear moments of humor, and even fairly good impersonations of family members and other politicians as he engages in conversation with them. This guy is a real person. He might even be the real deal.
For all the wonderful speaking and writing and openness he brings, there's one thing that comes through overarchingly. He isn't Pollyanish. Obama deals with the harsh realities, both in his own life and the lives of others. And yet, and yet, he still has hope. He still speaks of something better, and in a way that is practically and politically possible. He has enough hope to inspire all of us to believe the same. To believe that it can be better, and that it will be better.
(This review refers to the Audio CD version.)
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
The author writes in clear and concise language. It is an easy read. He gives his thoughts on taking back our country and I agree with most of his writings. I think everyone, regardless of political views, should read this and then think for themselves. Too much of the American way of life has been hijacked by people in power. We should not let this happen. At the very least, our elected representatives should read this book. We need to believe we can be better than we are currently.
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John Marshall (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
Barack Obama was of an interracial marriage. Most of us remember, until 1967, many children in interracial marriages, like children in gay households today, were deprived of equal rights under the laws. Yet, few recall that Albino Luciani (later to become John Paul I) once led the same struggle in Italy.
As a bishop, in Jan 1965, he told the Italian Parliament, "We are speaking here of the pursuit of happiness - the inalienable right of free men to grow up and fall in love with whomever God deems one fall in love with, together with the sacred duty to provide for the economic and loving support of children so that they too can enjoy the pursuit of happiness... Marriage is a God-given individual right and cannot be infringed upon by the majority. The state cannot tell its citizens who they can or cannot marry less we cease to be a free society..." I got this out of the 2006 edition of the only existing biography of the 33 day pope, Lucien Gregoire's 'Murder in the Vatican; The Revolutionary Life of John Paul'. In the same session, Luciani won the right for single persons, including homosexuals, to adopt children to help care for Italy's immense orphan population.
Like Luciani, Obama is a man of towering eloquence, and it is that which will eventually bring him to the top. In the short run, his writings and his deeds will pave the way. Yet, it is his heritage, perhaps, more than anything else that makes him understanding of the true meaning of democracy as Luciani defined it. In August 1963, defending the rights of Negroes and homosexuals, Bishop Luciani told the Italian Christian Democratic Party Convention,"Democracy which finds its strength in rule by the people, can only realize its purpose, its sacred duty to society, in preserving the basic human rights of its loneliest individual." |
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Scott Sheperd (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-16 00:00>
This is a wonderful book written by a thoughtful man who cares about this country. It is a book about the process of finding answers and the willingness to discuss possibilities. Obama does have his own opinions which he states at various times, but much more emphasis is put on the process of finding answers or possible answers to the problems we face. If we allow ourselves to degenerate - actually we are already there - into name calling and demonizing and to fall into the trap of winning at all costs we are doomed. I would love to hear intelligent discussions among Obama, Edwards, Clinton, McCain, Guliani and whoever else is around about the issues raised in the book. No screaming or trying to drown out the other person, but intelligent discussion actually designed to find answers. I fight my own cynicism about the possibility that we can still actually go in the direction of openness and honesty and the ability to explore the complexities of todays problems and not fall into the quick sound bites or the litmus tests. Obama reminded me that there is still hope. For how much longer? Who knows.
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1 2 | Total 2 pages 16 items |
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