The Story of My Experiments With Truth

Mar 13, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, reviews

fundamentally changed my view of the world...

Oft In My Thought

Ah, how often I have sought in my days,

To emulate the great leaders, and be gently led,

By their virtuous actions and well-laid plans.

How often I charted the best courses to take

To reach those heights of thought and action;

And thought evermore of what best will portray

Their everlasting influence on this humble self,

That will make this world to be as they always saw,

In their lofty wishes and their fanciful dreams.

But all those thoughts,...more

30 likes · like · see review

Apr 07, 2013 Fayaz Nizamani rated it 2 of 5 stars

The man who took his mother's advice literally

After reading it I felt Gandhi was "this dysphoric worthless loner with zero self-esteem; someone without an iota of individuality"

Why, then, give this impression when we know Gandhi was more than this?

My copy of the book had torn spine, small print, dog-eared cover and the quality of paper so inferior, that it set a new precedent for me -- It was an old edition printed in India. But I shouldn't complain because a friend of mine had lent it to me.

L...more The man who took his mother's advice literally

After reading it I felt Gandhi was "this dysphoric worthless loner with zero self-esteem; someone without an iota of individuality"

Why, then, give this impression when we know Gandhi was more than this?

My copy of the book had torn spine, small print, dog-eared cover and the quality of paper so inferior, that it set a new precedent for me -- It was an old edition printed in India. But I shouldn't complain because a friend of mine had lent it to me.

Let me first clarify something about this book's genre. Gandhi says in the foreword that this book was a memoir of 'his experiments with truth', thus the subtitle; but he particularly says that this was not an autobiography. He gives his reasons for this. First, he did not like this 'Western' genre: There was a general prejudice against West during his time. Second, he thought that the idea of a man writing his own life was conceited.

So you might ask, Is it not an autobiography? It is. It is a straight-forward, old-school autobiography that begins with birth and leads up to the moment the author is writing the book.

My own dislike for the book is rooted in the fact that I am not the audience Gandhi had in mind. In the book you realize that he wants to present himself as an ideal for the kids in India, particularly the Hindus, of that era. The reason I say this is that the book was originally published in Gandhi's native language and most of the book's content is about moral teachings. Moral from his perspective. His morality is deeply rooted in Indian culture and Hindu religion.

But some of his principles are plain weird. Here's an example. He never got over the fact that he was having sex with his wife when his father passed away. He blamed himself for his 'lust' his entire life, notwithstanding his and his wife's youthful age. After this incidenct he disdained the idea of sex. And here's more of his skewed morality: He doesn't fight (out of timidity I think because he started doing this quite early); he praises good handwriting; renounces tea (apparently, doctors then had evidence against it); praises unworthy teachers. Furthermore, he never quite justifies, or may be he didn't even understand, his superstitious nature.

There is nothing wrong, per say, with this approach. But, this mode of writing becomes trite: everything has ethical overtone. Most of what he writes is judged through the prism of right and wrong. And after a point, it just sounds stupid. We are taught from childhood to follow a rigid set of rules; parents have their own ideas of ethics, teachers theirs, and if you're affiliated with any religion then it's a whole new level of rules you have to follow. But as humans, we all have individuality: we live our unique lives. But not Gandhi. He chose to follow whatever his parents, teachers, or anyone he considered worthy enough to be placed on a peddle, tells him. He followed these rules to the T.

Honestly, if you want me to judge Gandhi from this book, I'll say he is like this dysphoric worthless loner with zero self-esteem; someone without an iota of individuality. That, ofcourse, is the impression from the book. Now I know that Gandhi was more than this. But he had to appear an idealist.

About the English -- It was archaic, with structures and words that I could not help laugh at! The English could have been simpler, more direct and less cumbersome. It could have used Strunk and White.

These days the autobiography genre is written as creative non-fiction, and not as a linear chronology of life, as was the case with this book. So I can't complain about it being slightly boring. You know how it is: Starting from childhood all the way upto the moment you're penning the very book.

Now I know that some people will revere this book. This may be because they're the kind of audience Gandhi was writing for. I am not one of them. So I am critiquing this book from my perspective, which is what we always do, which is what anyone can do. Selling this translated edition to the world when its intended audience was a India of a particular epoch is a mistake. (less)

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 11, 2013 Erik Graff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: Kelly Fox, who introduced me to India

Shelves: biography

Having read Fischer's biography of him in high school led to reading a whole lot of Gandhi's own writing in college--until, that is, hitting his commentaries on the Gita--starting with his early autobiographical My Experiments with Truth.

My primary interest in Gandhi was his pacifism and his reasons for it. The United States' invasion of the south of Vietnam had been going on since my childhood and I had become a draft counselor in college and, ultimately, a draft resister after I'd started fill...more

4 likes · like · see review

Sep 01, 2011 Salhah Hamad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

بدأت بقراءته ، اعجبتني الصراحة والوضوح .. والكثير من الافكار الساميه لدية
سيره ذاتيه راءعه وملهمه اعجبتني انجازاته وكفاحه وجهاده لرغباته. والتزامه. بنذوره وحفاظه عليها في اسوء الظروف
اشعر انه جعل للقلم والحرف قوه كبيره حقق من خلالها اهدافه كتب وكتب وكتب حتى نال مايريده
اكثر شي ازعجني هو تعامله مع زوجته
خصوصا لما اوشك على طردها من المنزل في جنوب افريقيا
إضافه الى اجبارها على تنظيف مراحيض نزلاءه
انصح بقراءتها للجميع

8 likes · like · see review

Mar 10, 2010 Hajer Fahad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

أحب قراءة السيّر لأنها تمنحنا حياة آخرى و تجارب أكثر ,
و سيرة غاندي من أروع السير الحياتيه.

12 likes · like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Derrick rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, autobiography

I simply gave up around page 300.

I didn't know much about Gandhi except that he was a pacifist and helped free India. So I wanted to find out more about him. What better way than to read the man's own words about his life? So I went in with vim and vigor, ready to learn.

I got bogged down in details that didn't mean anything to me [he wrote about current Indian authority figures like I might toss off a comment about Britney Spears].

He routinely came across as a complete prick, ie, he would almo...more I simply gave up around page 300.

I didn't know much about Gandhi except that he was a pacifist and helped free India. So I wanted to find out more about him. What better way than to read the man's own words about his life? So I went in with vim and vigor, ready to learn.

I got bogged down in details that didn't mean anything to me [he wrote about current Indian authority figures like I might toss off a comment about Britney Spears].

He routinely came across as a complete prick, ie, he would almost scold the reader to do, or not do, some particular line of action simply because he, Gandhi, recommended it.[this is/was a time period thing. I've read several other pieces of non-fiction by like people from that time and it is just how they write. Still pisses me off though]. He also had no problems denying people the same benefits that he had had[college, job opportunities, etc] if the alternative was an "experiential" growing thing-ie, he denied formal education to his children because he thought they would be better off simply "knowing" people and how life worked.

He routinely acted like an authority on a subject that he had an interest in, based upon 1 or 2 instances-ie, he decries doctors, and then goes on to talk about a plague that he helped deal with and how he used some alternative medicine [doctors and him were both ineffective in that case]. It was not a case of "I found X to work for me and if you feel like it, you can try it", it really came across more as "I like X, you should use X too. It might work, it might not, but it is better than anything else".

False humility? This one I'm not sure of to be honest. He comes across as very humble in many instances, but there are flashes of extreme arrogance or ignoring certain facts that made me really wonder just how much his writing hid. Given, we all self-deceive to one degree or another [and in most cases, it isn't purposeful, we humans are simply blind to our own faults], but for a self-professed "seeker of truth" to say some of the things he did, it did not jive with humility.
But that is the kind of thing you cannot accurately judge unless you've met the person.

His wife. His poor, poor, wife. I don't know if she should be considered a saint for putting up with Gandhi, or what. Abandoned for months or years at a time while he pursues social equality in South Africa [for Indians], constantly told that material possessions are meaningless, that sex has no part in love, and in a nutshell, told that anything she wants must be subsumed to the greater good of the Indian Cause.

And that is the main reason I stopped reading. Gandhi seems to advocate the collective over the individual. And he was a prick and wicked boring. Now I am completely disillusioned with him.

I predict it will be years before I attempt another autobiography of anyone after this.(less)

21 likes · like · see review

Jul 06, 2011 Nawal Al-Qussyer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 104-books-in-2011-project

كتاب ضخم ان صح التعبير.. يحتوي علي تفاصيل دقيقة عن حياة المهاتما غاندي وسيرته الذاتية في حقل المحاماة وتجارب الدراسة في بريطانيا و العمل في جنوب افريقيا والبقية تأتي. بدت في البداية ممتعة، وممتعة جدا حتى أني تجاوزت المائة صفحة في مدة وجيزة، سرني أن أتعرف عن قرب على جزء من المجتمع الهندي وهم الهندوس وبعض عاداتهم في القرن الماضي..
الجزء الأول تحدث عن طفولته وصباه بشكل مركز ودقيق. وعن شعوره وبعض مغامراته.. ودراسته وزواجه المبكر جدا والذي أحززني كما أحزنه.. ومن ثم انطلاقه للحياة في بداية التجربة للد...more كتاب ضخم ان صح التعبير.. يحتوي علي تفاصيل دقيقة عن حياة المهاتما غاندي وسيرته الذاتية في حقل المحاماة وتجارب الدراسة في بريطانيا و العمل في جنوب افريقيا والبقية تأتي. بدت في البداية ممتعة، وممتعة جدا حتى أني تجاوزت المائة صفحة في مدة وجيزة، سرني أن أتعرف عن قرب على جزء من المجتمع الهندي وهم الهندوس وبعض عاداتهم في القرن الماضي..
الجزء الأول تحدث عن طفولته وصباه بشكل مركز ودقيق. وعن شعوره وبعض مغامراته.. ودراسته وزواجه المبكر جدا والذي أحززني كما أحزنه.. ومن ثم انطلاقه للحياة في بداية التجربة للدراسة بالخارج وتدبر اموره والعهد الذي قطعه بأن لايأكل اللحوم ولا يلمس النساء ولا يشرب المسكرات.

ثم بدأت تصبح مملة ومحشوة كثيرا بأحداث و مقاطع غير ضرورية . إضافة إلي التكرار الكثير في مجمل كلامه وبعض المواقف. مما جعلني اشعر بالملل والفتور.. وكنت أقفز بعض المقاطع من شدة الملل. الأسلوب في الترجمة لم يكن كما تمنيت. شعرت أنه ينقصه من السلاسة الشيء الكثير.. لا أعلم لم لكني فعلا وأنا أقرأ أشعر أن في الجمل شيء من عدم السهولة او الوضوح او المباشرة، في حين كان بامكان المترجم أن يكون أكثر سلاسة.. ربما لأني سمعت عن ترجمات منير بعلبكي المحترفة فتوقعت شيئا أكثر.. لكن لم يسعني الا ان الاحظ ان الترجمة كانت احد انتقاداتي للكتاب. طباعة النسخة غير جيدة و وغير واضحة مع ان نسختي جديدة وبتغليفها البلاستيكي لكن وجدت الكثير من الصفحات علي وشك التمزق.. وبعض النقط الغير واضح مكانها..

المهم كانت سيرة محملة بالمواقف والعبر والدروس.. عرفت ان الذي لايستسلم هو الذي ينتصر . وان الثبات على المبدأ بحد ذاته انجاز.. هالني ما رأيته منه في حين كانت زوجته - هو - اولاده أقرب للموت لكنه يرفض التداوي بمرق اللحم او قطع الدجاج . بسبب مبدأه الديني. على الرغم من اني لا اوافقه طبعا لكن ثباته على المبدأ مذهل حقيقة.. بدا لي ان المهاتما جدا متسامح مع الاديان ومنفتح، كان خلوقا جدا ويظهر ذلك جليا في تبنيه لللاعنف والذي انقذ الهند من الاحتلال البريطاني.. أعجبني جدا أنه لم يأبه كثيرا بكلام طائفته حين قرر السفر للدراسة في حين انهم قاطعوه واعتبروه منبوذا..

في هذه السيرة الكثير من الاشياء المحفزة والمملة والعظيمة والعادية. والاشياء التي تجعلك جدا سعيد لان العظماء او الذين فعلوا شيئا عظيما بدأوا حياة عادية لهم نقائص وشكوك وماضي. هم بشر قبل أي شيء اخر..

وجدت انه جدا جدا صريح بخصوص عيوبه. مثل كثرة الشهوة وعلاقته الزوجية وتربيته لابنائه الذي يعتقد انه قصر في الجانب الادبي خصوصا، وحين تركهم لمدة طويلة.. لا أظن أني سأعود لقرائتها مرة أخرى.. كانت عملية مرهقة مع هذه الطباعة. لكني علمت الكثير من المقاطع للرجوع لها منفردة

(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Apr 03, 2008 Miles Kaufman rated it 5 of 5 stars

In Gandhi’s Autobiography (which was hand written by someone else, but told supposedly word-for-word by Gandhi.) the book starts off with Gandhi as a child and his recollections. From here to his teenage years its pretty exciting and an overall page turner. I don’t want to give away anything, but his childhood was pretty weird in comparison to the American lifestyle.

Anyway I found that the chapters later on that involved his life in England overall drab and boring. Gandhi seemed to recall borin...more

10 likes · like · see review

Jan 31, 2013 Dimple rated it 4 of 5 stars

"My experiments with truth" describes perfectly the stoic life of Gandhiji! How he developed himself through 'good company', 'good books' and 'self-will'.
This writing is an Apotheosis for showing,"Winners are not born, they are made!"

I thought this book will be more about British East India and our Freedom struggle but its basically about "experiments" of Gandhiji in his journey and it's remarkable how he sticked to his beliefs!
Though many of his beliefs or rules I didn't find right(or orthodox,...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jul 23, 2007 Apelger is currently reading it Recommends it for: apathetic people

I should probably wait till I actually finished the book to write a review. But I feel like writting now because I've got something to say now. I tentaivley picked up this book and that is how I am making my way through the pages. I've only just begun, Gandhi is about thirteen. But I find myself angry at him. I can't get through a page without watching his struggle with a thought, idea or truth. His life, from the very early stages, reveals his struggle towards ahimsa,non-violence, and brahmacha...more

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 17, 2012 Jijo Varghese rated it 1 of 5 stars

Gandhi..called as Mahatma??? A self deceiver can be called as Mahatma?? I call him self deceiver only because of his rules and regulations which was maintained or still maintaining in his ashram..

He calls Gita his mother!!then what about Quran or Bible?? What about Buddhist scriptures?? And there are still people who goes on calling these people as Mahatmas???People like him were always against rebels..I calls him traditional..the very stupid mediocre mind of vedic period..and this so called Mah...more Gandhi..called as Mahatma??? A self deceiver can be called as Mahatma?? I call him self deceiver only because of his rules and regulations which was maintained or still maintaining in his ashram..

He calls Gita his mother!!then what about Quran or Bible?? What about Buddhist scriptures?? And there are still people who goes on calling these people as Mahatmas???People like him were always against rebels..I calls him traditional..the very stupid mediocre mind of vedic period..and this so called Mahatmas have been curse of India..very own root curse..They goes on telling about simplicity..or shows simplicity..See there are millions in India whom cant even wear a dhoty Gandhi used to wear..there are millions again who cant even think about one time food..there are again thousands who eat their daily bread by cleaning toilets..but when all of this were done by a Gandhi..he is Mahatma!!

Thats why I calls them self deceivers..just giving poor people a feeling that they are doing much for them..very much so that they dont feel any inferiority complex. Just other day I read an article written buy an American saying that even beggars in India are content and happy but America is so tensed.. This has been the slogan of all leaders of India..India is spiritual so it is content and happy..This is called a mediocre mind..Beggars in India are happy because they have a hope for better future..better tomorrow and America is unhappy because they have known all things of life..money..power..fame..I met a man during my tour to Rishikesh who stays there for nearly last five years practicing Sadhana..and he says nothing fails like success..it's just a mirage for a desert traveler.But to realize that one has to taste it..then come out of it..without knowing what is success or money..or fame how you can lead a life against it.

This type of people have great visions for nourishing villages; and strange enough we Indians follow these principles and nothing happened..It's sinking deep and deep.

India can win only if people get out of the clutches of these kind of people..parasites..blood suckers..It needs a revolution both spiritual and material.. It needs a revolution which is both religious and scientific..It needs revolution of Capitalism and birth control..Capitalism in my sense is freedom for every individual out of dogmas of religion..caste..all which is oppressive and repressive.

People like Gandhi were against this type of revolutions..he is spiritual in "Indian sense" but not materialist..He is religious again "in so called Indian sense"..but not scientific..and always We Indian's have there own way of approaching things..and result was of "CONTINUOUS SLAVERYOF 2000 YEARS"..and of course we have a great name for it"HOSPITALITY"..

When India can wake from it's stupid safeties of Caste..Religion..then only it have future..or again there will be Mahatmas to dig grave for India..
(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Nov 12, 2009 Jeff Lanter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

After seeing the movie biopic, I knew I needed to find out more about Gandhi so I picked this up. Don't let the width of the book fool you, it isn't a thousand pages like it appears. The translation of the book is actually pretty good and it reads easily. For the most part, Gandhi spends time talking about the little details in his life before he became famous. That is sort of the opposite of what you would expect in an autobiography, but as he says, his life was well known by then. This may lea...more

11 likes · like · see review

Nov 01, 2007 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a fascinating read. Gandhi's writing is oddly simple, even almast naive in places. He faithfully records small personal struggles, giving them the same wieght as major political battles. Gandhi's zeal and idealism comes across powerfully, as does his lifelong concern with self-discipline and purity (bramacharya).

I was especially interested in his evolving understanding of satyagraha and his increasingly strict vegetarianism. His ascetism increased in direct proportion to his growing po...more

9 likes · like · see review

Mar 13, 2012 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Self-revealing and fascinating to read alongside Erik Erikson's at-a-distance psychoanalysis of the saint, Gandhi's Truth (1960). The autobiography is full of surprises: At one point in his youth, Gandhi became convinced that India was behind the times because of vegetarianism, so he vowed to convert all of his homeland to carnivorious wisdom. Perhaps the only vow he did not keep.

Would that his teachings on non-violent resistance (satyagraha) were more widely applied. Detractors argue, however,...more

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 15, 2009 Jun Kawai rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Tak ada hal baru yang bisa kuajarkan kepada dunia. Kebenaran (truth) dan antikekerasan (non-violence) sama tuanya dengan gunung-gunung."

"...Tuhan adalah kebenaran."

"...Orang yang tidak murni hatinya tidak dapat melihat Tuhan. Karena itu, proses pemurnian diri tentu harus diupayakan dalam perjalanan hidup. Dan proses pemurnian diri akan mudah mempengaruhi orang-orang yang ada disekitarnya."
(M.K. Gandhi)

Toleransinya terhadap perbedaan keyakinan mengingatkan saya akan Gus Dur,dan inilah yang palin...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 26, 2012 Mohamad Dahrouj added it

تحدث غاندي في هذا الكتاب عن طفولته في الهند، كيف تزوج وهو ابن ثلاث عشرة عاما وكيف أكل اللحم خلسة وكيف هاجر الى بريطانيا، حيث درس الحقوق.
كما تحدث عن قصة نضاله المثيرة في جنوب افريقيا من اجل حقوق الهنود ضد عنصرية الرجل الابيض، حيث رُمي بالحجارة والبيض الفاسد.
كذلك تحدث غاندي عن رأيه في المسيحية والإسلام، ولماذا أيد المسلمين في مطالبهم بإقامة خلافة اسلامية في الولايات الهندية ذات الأغلبية الاسلامية . وكيف كبح غرائزه واستغنى عن المرأة.وعن صيامه الطويل والمتكرر كأسلوب لتهذيب النفس وتطهير الجسد.
ويروي...more
تحدث غاندي في هذا الكتاب عن طفولته في الهند، كيف تزوج وهو ابن ثلاث عشرة عاما وكيف أكل اللحم خلسة وكيف هاجر الى بريطانيا، حيث درس الحقوق.
كما تحدث عن قصة نضاله المثيرة في جنوب افريقيا من اجل حقوق الهنود ضد عنصرية الرجل الابيض، حيث رُمي بالحجارة والبيض الفاسد.
كذلك تحدث غاندي عن رأيه في المسيحية والإسلام، ولماذا أيد المسلمين في مطالبهم بإقامة خلافة اسلامية في الولايات الهندية ذات الأغلبية الاسلامية . وكيف كبح غرائزه واستغنى عن المرأة.وعن صيامه الطويل والمتكرر كأسلوب لتهذيب النفس وتطهير الجسد.
ويروي قصة عودته إلى الهند ولماذا قرر البقاء صامتا سنة كاملة قبل أن يبدأ نضاله في سبيل تحرير الهند. وكيف طور أسلوب أو سياسة اللاعنف النضالي وكيف تخلى عن الأقمشة الانكليزية الناعمة ولبس القماش الهندي الخنس كأداة من أدوات النضال السلمي.
من أقواله في هذا الكتاب :
- أستطيع أن أقول دون أدنى تردد، إن أؤلئك الذين يزعمون أن الدين لا علاقة له بالسياسة لا يعرفون معنى الدين.
- كنت دائماً أعتقد بأن على المرء أن يرى أخطاءه بعدسة محدبة، وأن يفعل عكس ذلك بأخطاء الآخرين، وعندئذ فقط يستطيع أن يصل إلى تقدير عادل للإثنين .
- لا تستطيع أن توقظ المرء إلا إذا كان نائما حقا، ولن يكون لايما جهد تنفقه أثر ما إذا كا متظاهرا بالنوم مجرد تظاهر.
- حين يتبخر خوف السجن يوقع القمع في قلوب الناس جرأة وبسالة.
- إن الساعي وراء الحق كثيرا ما يضطر أن يلتمس سبيله في الظلام .
- أنا أدرك الآن أن المشتغل في حقل الخدمة العامة يجب أن لا يطلق أحكاما لم يتأكد من صحتها.
- كل قضية يمكن أن ترى مما لا يقل عن سبع وجهات نظر، كلها قد تكون صحيحة في ذات نفسها، ولكنها ليست صحيحة في المناسبة الواحدة وفي الظروف نفسها. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 17, 2012 Dhrona rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not what I was expecting.

Of late I have been more and more interested in Gandhi and Gandhisim. Born and brought up in India, Gandhiji was a well known figure introduced to all children very early and quite frequently. However, what we heard where only glimpses of what transpired during the freedom struggle. So, I wanted to read more about Gandhiji to understand his thoughts and ideas about non-violence and Satyagraha, which he pioneered in the early nineteen hundreds. I became more interested in...more Not what I was expecting.

Of late I have been more and more interested in Gandhi and Gandhisim. Born and brought up in India, Gandhiji was a well known figure introduced to all children very early and quite frequently. However, what we heard where only glimpses of what transpired during the freedom struggle. So, I wanted to read more about Gandhiji to understand his thoughts and ideas about non-violence and Satyagraha, which he pioneered in the early nineteen hundreds. I became more interested in Gandhiji after watching Shyam Benegals "Making of the Mahatma", which provides a glimpse of Mohandas K Gandhi became Mahatma Gandhi. Earlier movies only focused on the freedom struggle and cursorily skimmed over his stay in South Africa.

To quite some extent, the book did satisfy my desire to understand Gandhiji. His early life during childhood days and then his days in South Africa do provide and adequate introduction to Gandhiji as a person. Gandhiji as a Mahatma is well known to most Indians. I also read some reviews of the book and a few complained that the book was fairly mundane and went into several details that weren't necessary to understand him. However, I beg to differ. The very fact that Gandhiji goes into those details, we get better acquainted with him. He was a humble person was well know and very few might ever refute this. So, obviously, he spoke more about his environment than himself in the book. It provides a human side to the Mahatma. Quite often, I felt that he wasn't quite right with this decisions but it was clear that Gandhiji rarely ever did something that he himself didn't believe in. He obviously was a learned man and build his philosophy over several years, correcting it on the way. True some of his methods did seem to be outdated but then this was in the early nineteen hundreds. Had he been born in this era, he might have just been the same, albeit modern w.r.t other aspects such as his beliefs in medicine and tradition.

Overall, this is a good read. If you like to understand the mundane aspects of Gandhiji and his early life then this is worth reading. You might want to read other biographies to understand the history better as this book delves more on the why than the what and when.(less)

like · see review

Mar 05, 2012 Elliot Ratzman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Orwell: “Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proven innocent.” Gandhi may be a saint, but he is one fussy holy man. His autobiography only takes us to 1927, before the campaign to free India of British rule. He had become famous for leading a civil rights movement for Indians in South Africa where he lived for years before taking the “satyagraha” movement back to India. On the way, he is a young anglophile who admires the Empire, studies law in London and sides with the colonial...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 02, 2012 محمود أغيورلي rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

مقتطفات من كتاب في سبيل الحق للمهاتما غاندي
-------------------
قلت لنفسي . اذا كان علي ان اكون وفياً لزوجتي فان عليها كذلك ان تكون وفية لي .. وتحولت تحت تاثير هذه الفكرة الى زوج شديد الغيرة حتى جعلت لنفسي من واجبها في ذلك حقاً مشروعاً يجيز لي ان انتزع منها اخلاصها انتزاعاً .. ولم يكن لدي من الاسباب ما يحملني على التشكك في اخلاص زوجتي واكن هكذا شأن الغيرة , فهي لا تحتاج الى اسباب ! و من هنا كان علي دائما ان اكون حذراً ارقب حركاتها وسكناتها ولا اسمح لها بالخروج الا بإذني .. فكان ذلك مثار نزاع مرير...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Tyler Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-violence

Excuse the ramblings of a mind coping to understand...this really is a book review...of sorts.

Yesterday, a man in Oslo set off a bomb that killed seven people then went to a kid's camp and killed eighty four young people. The world is sickened. Why do these things happen? Details are still coming out. At first I heard an Islamic militant group had claimed responsibility. Now it seems that the killer may be an extreme anti-islamic; a christian fundamentalist. What is clear is that somehow he was...more Excuse the ramblings of a mind coping to understand...this really is a book review...of sorts.

Yesterday, a man in Oslo set off a bomb that killed seven people then went to a kid's camp and killed eighty four young people. The world is sickened. Why do these things happen? Details are still coming out. At first I heard an Islamic militant group had claimed responsibility. Now it seems that the killer may be an extreme anti-islamic; a christian fundamentalist. What is clear is that somehow he was able to justify his actions because human life was less valuable to him than his ideals.

Societies sometimes justify violence (war, torture, capital punishment...) by saying they are protecting certain ideals. When violence is justified on such large levels, it can not be too surprising when an individual finds ways to justify violence as well. It could be a single man in Oslo. It could be a million men who beat their wives and children.

Violence is violence. In its most extreme and violent manifestations, we can plainly see that it is senseless, but in its more commonplace variations it can be tolerated or ignored. It seems that to many of us there is some line between acceptable and unacceptable violence and maybe this is part of the problem; we can compartmentalize and label the violence we do not like as the work of the evil or insane.

Back in university I read this book by Gandhi. Those who think that they cannot defend or promote ideals without the use of violence are either ignorant or (more likely) lazy, because the non-violent path is much, much harder to walk than the violent one. Violence is easy. Revenge is natural. But Gandhi was able to lead an entire nation to freedom without bombing police stations. The writing of Gandhi is all about the individual having dignity and independence - that self respect comes from respecting others. Gandhi's writing is a roadmap to a better world. I think that those who have not read Gandhi have an overly simplified vision of the man; that he was simply a pacifist or an unrealistic dreamer. I know that's what I used to think. But he was primarily concerned with erasing social injustice; non-violence was simply the best means to his ends. The best and most difficult.

It is time for us to reject "by any means necessary" and revenge seeking and punishing and all the eye-for-an-eye bullshit. All this generally condoned social violence just seeps into individuals where it collects as pure hate.
(less)

5 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2011 Pawan rated it 5 of 5 stars

http://iandbooks.wordpress.com/

This is the first post I am writing on my blog where I want to write about the books that I have read and how they have changed my life or sometimes just given me moments of happiness in otherwise stressed life.
There cannot be a better book than “My Experiments with Truth” to start this journey. A book that helped me 20 years ago when I had read it for the first time and now again when I read it last month. The author of the book “Mahatma Gandhi” is probably one p...more http://iandbooks.wordpress.com/

This is the first post I am writing on my blog where I want to write about the books that I have read and how they have changed my life or sometimes just given me moments of happiness in otherwise stressed life.
There cannot be a better book than “My Experiments with Truth” to start this journey. A book that helped me 20 years ago when I had read it for the first time and now again when I read it last month. The author of the book “Mahatma Gandhi” is probably one person whom I have admired more than anybody else. There have been many other people whom I have admired and looked up to but then all of them have failed in my eyes at some time or other but not Mahatma Gandhi. This does not mean that he has not made mistakes in life. There are parts of his biography where I do not agree with him, where he has made mistakes. But at no point I find him going against his conviction. He is always the first to admit his mistakes. His whole character has an integrity which is flawless. He is doing what he is preaching and he is preaching only what he firmly believes in. There are no two faces to him.
The book which is his autobiography brings out this aspect in such an inspiring way that you feel wonder at his frankness.
Last time when I read his book, I was at a stage in life where my confidence was at all time low. I was shy, introvert, could not speak in groups. I used to feel that all my friends are much ahead of me in life and I have lost all hope in life and I will never be able to catch up with them in the race of life and I was 16 years old. I guess lot of people at that stage suffer from this. The life when it is just starting looks as ending already. This book brought in me that confidence and faith which I needed at that time. The fact that the person who being a lawyer could not speak facing a judge could move 30 crore Indians with his speach later in life told me that life is not over for me. What is important is to follow your convictions and desires and the results will come out some day. I have seen this change happenning in me over the years. I have found that in the end it is my faith and conviction which has seen me through the darkest times.
I know there are lot of people out there who do not agree for what he has written in this book and in fact criticize him for his experiments on education, medicine, celibacy, religion, freedom struggle. But he still did those experiments with courage that is unparallel. He was the biggest scientist in that sense doing his experiments. Many of his experiments did not give results. But who says that a person has to be right all the time. Yes, he must have failed and in some cases even if he succeeded there were no followers for those results but that is what makes him a human being, a scientist. He is not saying that he is telling sacred words which have to be followed like words of God. All he is telling is about his experiments. The idea that they are experiments mean that they can be wrong or may not give results. But the fact remains Satya and Ahimsa did bear the results for India and its people.
In the end, I would say it is a great book by a great human being and I thank him for giving us this gift.
Till next time(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 23, 2010 Nicholas rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir, books-i-quit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Couldn't get into it. It was just so fucking boring. I never made it past his childhood.

Quotes:

"And what will you write? Supposing you reject tomorrow the things you hold as principles today, or supposing you revise in the future your plans of today, is it not likely that the men who shape their conduct on the authority of your work, spoken or written, may be misled?"

"I am far from claiming any finality or infallibility about my conclusions. One claim I do indeed make and it is this. For me they...more Couldn't get into it. It was just so fucking boring. I never made it past his childhood.

Quotes:

"And what will you write? Supposing you reject tomorrow the things you hold as principles today, or supposing you revise in the future your plans of today, is it not likely that the men who shape their conduct on the authority of your work, spoken or written, may be misled?"

"I am far from claiming any finality or infallibility about my conclusions. One claim I do indeed make and it is this. For me they appear to be absolutely correct, and seem for the time being to be final. For if they were not, I should base no action on them. But at every step I have carried out the process of acceptance or rejection and acted accordingly. And so long as my acts satisfy my reason and my heart, I must firmly adhere to my original conclusions."

"But so long as I have not realized this Absolute Truth, so long must I hold the relative truth as I have conceived it. That relative truth must, meanwhile, by my beacon, my shield and buckler."

"The instruments for the quest of truth are as simple as they are difficult. They may appear quite impossible to an arrogant person, and quite possible to an innocent child. The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushed the dust under his feet, but the seeker after truth should be so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth."

"More restraint on my part resulted in more liberty being taken by her, and in my getting more and more cross."

"A reformer cannot afford to have close intimacy with him whom he seeks to reform."

"He who would be friends with God must remain alone, or make the whole world his friend."

"The interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful source of strife all the world over. No matter how explicit the pledge, people will turn and twist the text to suit their own purposes...Selfishness turns them blind, and by a use of the ambiguous middle they deceive themselves and seek to deceive the world and God."

"Of the thing that sustains him though trials man has no inkling, much less knowledge, at the time. If an unbeliever, he will attribute his safety to chance. If a believer, he will say God saved him."

"You are at liberty to proceed as you wish."(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 22, 2010 Aowei Chenqi rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who want to learn more about Gandhi

I read this book for my literature circles, we were required to pick an autobiography written by anyone. Immediately the biography that came to my mind was Gandhi's. I expected the autobiography to blow me away with his philosophies and experiences.

It might be because of my young age but the book was very hard for me to read because there was plenty of detail but very little emotion and everything he did seemed very bland, I don't blame Gandhi and still have the same respect for him. The writin...more I read this book for my literature circles, we were required to pick an autobiography written by anyone. Immediately the biography that came to my mind was Gandhi's. I expected the autobiography to blow me away with his philosophies and experiences.

It might be because of my young age but the book was very hard for me to read because there was plenty of detail but very little emotion and everything he did seemed very bland, I don't blame Gandhi and still have the same respect for him. The writing style had little voice and detail but was full of diction, however, the book I read was translated into English so perhaps there is a less boring read behind the original book. The word usage and grammar were translated by Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's personal secretary and friend, I’m sure that many people will still find the book interesting, it has a specific writing style that can be fairly boring especially for teenagers like myself as well as his repetitions about his diet.

The book is very straight forward and gets to the point and because of this, contains a lot of content about his early childhood to the 1920s.The book had some disappointing moments, I kept hearing about how he wouldn't eat or drink milk and strictly ate fruits and nuts of the sort. He does talk a lot about his travels and sharing what he considers to be the “truth” a lot too though, he recounts how he developed his philosophy “Satyagrapha” which literally means soul force but actually meaning along the lines of holding on to the truth. His philosophy changed many people and helped India finally gain its independence from Britain, the philosophy behind Satyagrapha is cooperating with your opposing side and settling on an agreement.

All in all the book is still really good and you can learn a lot about Gandhi. I read several reviews on Amazon that suggested that if you want to get the full Gandhi experience, consider reading a few different books about him from different authors. If you want to learn about Gandhi's life then read this book but if you just want to learn about Gandhi's important accomplishments than reading a book about him written by someone else maybe better.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 23, 2010 Venkat added it

This is a great book useful as a guide in your life. Hes truly a mahatma.After seeing the movie biopic, I knew I needed to find out more about Gandhi so I picked this up. Don't let the width of the book fool you, it isn't a thousand pages like it appears. The translation of the book is actually pretty good and it reads easily. For the most part, Gandhi spends time talking about the little details in his life before he became famous. That is sort of the opposite of what you would expect in an aut...more

1 like · like · see review

May 27, 2010 Michael Scott rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bio, classics, memoir, politics, thought

Gandhi's autobiography is one of those books that you just have to read, a story of developing oneself and raising the conscience of a people. The Mahatma (Great Soul, name apparently first used in relation with Gandhi by the great Indian poet Tagore) presents with a great deal of detail his life and development of beliefs such as vegetarianism (then fruitarianism), simplicity, brahmacharya (abstinence), non-violence, and pursuit of truth; there are also slight mentions of swaraj (right of self...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 31, 2010 Matt Shake rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was one strange autobiography. But it is this strangeness that, at least, made it original if not riveting. Gandhi's view of his own life is very different than the typical narrative of his life as embodied by the movie Gandhi. He spends very little time discussing his most famous non-violent efforts and instead describes in detail his childhood, his education in England, his philosophical musings, and as he calls it his "experiments with truth." So he talks about--among other things--his d...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 08, 2009 Mike Moore rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had trouble deciding whether to give this four stars or five. This book poses major problems for a contemporary western audience. It frequently alludes to another volume (Satyagraha in South Africa) which I have been unable to procure as a necessary companion volume. The final part (of five) assumes a more thorough knowledge of the birth of India as an independent nation and the events and persons that were involved in it than I possess. It becomes clear in this section that Gandhi was writing...more I had trouble deciding whether to give this four stars or five. This book poses major problems for a contemporary western audience. It frequently alludes to another volume (Satyagraha in South Africa) which I have been unable to procure as a necessary companion volume. The final part (of five) assumes a more thorough knowledge of the birth of India as an independent nation and the events and persons that were involved in it than I possess. It becomes clear in this section that Gandhi was writing for the benefit of the people in his own day, and so assumes that they are already intimately acquainted with things that were distant and obscure to me.

However, I'm going to let my admiration for Gandhi and my appreciation for what has been accomplished in this work override my sense of its shortcomings. This is a wonderful book, detailing as it does the progression of a man from a youth of uncertainty and insecurity to a maturity of discipline, rigor and tremendous emotional strength. Whether one agrees with Gandhi's views is beside the point when considering the power and accomplishment of self-creation that is Gandhi's life. An honest autobiography by such a person is a treasure of literature.

As I mentioned before, the work is divided into five parts, each of which presents a remarkably contained statement of a stage on Gandhi's way, especially given the rather loose chronological treatment. To wit, the first part deals with Gandhi's personal origins and weaknesses. The second with the formative experiences that would define his social and political worldview. The third finds him defining himself as a part of this society, injecting discipline and rigor into a life that becomes centered on his duty. In the fourth, Gandhi is a leader in the struggles of South African Indians and is actively changing the social and political orders which he has embraced so thoroughly. Part five details his attempts to generalize the lessons of the South Africa experience in India.

The first four sections are quick and engaging reads (though the fourth was frustrating given the lack of the aforementioned companion volume). However, the fifth section was hard going. This was due in part to my lack of contextual familiarity, but I think the section also suffers from an uncertainty in how the story ends, as if Gandhi felt that Part 5 was being written prematurely because the fruits of the struggle had not been realized. Many of his attempts at Satyagraha in India are unsuccessful or unsatisfying to him, and there's an underlying uncertainty of how the masses can be taught to be "firm in truth" without sacrificing non-violence. As such, part five adheres closely to the subtitle of the book: these could almost be the lab notes of a social experimenter.

However, all complaints that I might level are dwarfed by the pleasure and satisfaction I have in getting to know Gandhi better through his autobiography. He was a great man, and this work is a wonderfully candid account of what a great man works on, struggles with and thinks about.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 23, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Shelves: biography, history, memoir, non-fiction, philosophy, political, religion, spirituality, ultimate-reading-list

Gandhi had a profound effect on history. As such, I thought reading his autobiography a must. I knew I had a lot of disagreements with what he believed, big and small, but his attitude as alluded to in his title disarmed me at first. He writes that "far from claiming finality or infallibility" truth is something he believes we seek and learn by testing. At first I found him likeable and admirable. I felt for his struggles with shyness and public speaking. But my respect for his views and my liki...more Gandhi had a profound effect on history. As such, I thought reading his autobiography a must. I knew I had a lot of disagreements with what he believed, big and small, but his attitude as alluded to in his title disarmed me at first. He writes that "far from claiming finality or infallibility" truth is something he believes we seek and learn by testing. At first I found him likeable and admirable. I felt for his struggles with shyness and public speaking. But my respect for his views and my liking for him eroded over the course of his autobiography. I felt his family and especially his wife had a lot to put up with by his own account. And so much of the autobiography was taken up with frankly crackpot notions. Even he calls himself a "crank" at one point and refers to his practice of "quack medicine." That may have been meant ironically but I thought it fit. Long, dull stretches of the narrative were taken up with details of diet and hygiene.

You're not going to get a complete overview of his life and thinking from this work, since he stops the account at 1921 and he lived until 1948. Too often key events would be glossed over and he'd refer the reader to other writings to fill the gap. But having seen the famous film based on his life, it was interesting to read material not covered there from his childhood in India and his time in England as a young man. I was surprised at how accepted he seemed to be studying in England--he didn't relate encountering much color prejudice there--more the opposite--and this was in the late 1880s. It was a very different story in South Africa where he gained his first experience of law practice and political activism. At one time he was literally kicked to the curb as Indians weren't allowed on the pavement. I would have liked to read more about his development of Satyagraha (active non-violent resistance), particularly his use of Civil Disobedience, especially since I know it greatly influenced Martin Luther King. It was interesting to find out Ghandi himself was greatly influenced by Tolstoy's non-violent principles in The Kingdom of God Is Within You. He even called his ashram in South Africa "Tolstoy Farm" and I can see a lot of commonality between the two men. I could wish this was annotated, or at least a glossary provided. There were a lot of Hindu/Indian terms I had to jot down to look up later: ashram, darbar, darshan, dhoti, haveli, vakils, Khilafat, Madras, Parsi, Swaraj, Vaishnavas. Maps would have been nice too. But I found there was value enough in getting a feel for the man that on the whole I found it worth the read.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 02, 2011 Robert Fischer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: spirituality, theology-philosophy-religion, politics, india

If the name "Gandhi" conjures up an image of some fantastical demigod of peace and tranquility, this book will solve that for you. It's Gandhi's own account of his life (written in the 1920s, so it wasn't nearly over yet[1]), and it reveals the inner working of a man who is constantly pushed by his own high expectations for himself and for all of humanity.

On the one hand, the book is frustrating, because it thoroughly demolishes the superhuman reality of Gandhi. On the other hand, this book is l...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 03, 2012 Anil Swarup rated it 5 of 5 stars

Should have read this book long ago...............having read so much about the Mahatama. Absolutely remarkable and inspiring. Experiments with truth, truthfully narrated. Clearly demonstrates the power of mental and physical discipline and public confession.

2 likes · like · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
Contemporary relevance of Gandhi	3	26	Apr 15, 2013 03:02am
Gandhi's Beginnings: Some Questions	9	129	Apr 07, 2013 10:37am

title link	preview: The Story of My Experiments With Truth
avg rating	preview: The Story of My Experiments With Truth Goodreads rating: 4.03 (9805 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112803.The_Story_of_My_Experiments_With_Truth?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320560971l/112803.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112803.The_Story_of_My_Experiments_With_Truth?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mahatma Gandhi[/url]

The Story of My Experiments With Truth

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (80)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Mahatma Gandhi

Books by Mahatma Gandhi

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Story of My E...

Quotes from The Story of My Experi...