Freedom: Short Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

by Amnesty International

Inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which starts memorably with Article 1: we are all born free and equal, "Freedom" is an enthralling anthology of short stories by some of the world's top writers.

Most of the stories have been written especially for this anthology by a renowned array of internationally acclaimed writers, including Paulo Coelho, Yann Martel, AL Kennedy, Ali Smith, Amit Chaudhuri, Ariel Dorfman, Helen Dunmore, Marina Lewycka, Walter Mosley, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, James Meek, Kate Atkinson, David Mitchell, Hector Aguilar Camin, Ishmael Beah, Boris Akunin, Alice Pung and Banana Yoshimoto. Each acclaimed contributor has chosen one of the thirty UDHR rights as the basic inspiration for his or her story, and the result is an anthology that contains a complete mix of thoughtful, serious, funny and thrilling stories that provide some completely unexpected takes on the issue of human rights.

Published in association with Amnesty International, "Freedom" is an eclectic collection that will prompt readers to engage imaginatively with what human rights mean for all of us.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Politics

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Preethi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d put this book under Must-Read category. Sure, we can all read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights online and memories the Articles. But the short stories in this book, one per Article, drive the point home and make you realize how so many people in this world are not given these basic rights which are actually a privilege for these people.

Some stories that I can never forget -
1. The Long Ride Back Home by Mohammed Naseehu Ali
2. Innocent Passage by Ariel Dorfman
3. The War on Women by Kate Atkinson
4. A Special Boy by Banana Yoshimoto
5. Where I keep my faith by Helen Dunmore
6. In the Prison of Repose by Paulo Coelho
7. Warriors of the Sky by Mahmoud Saeed
8. The moon above his head by Yang Martel
9. Sola by Chimamanda Adichie
10. An internet baby by Xiaolu Guo
11. The Shed by Alice Ping
12. The classroom by Olja Knezevic

I picked up this book because I was looking up one specific author (I forget who, now), but I got such good content out of this, I am grateful!

[Paige Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories to make you think, and then appreciate how fortunate you are to be born in a country where the freedom to read and think is a given.

[Jack Heller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very mixed collection of short stories. There are some I enjoyed, plenty that seemed to have an overly earnest sameness about them, a few in which almost nothing happened, and one or two that were offensive, though perhaps unintentionally (first person point of view of a child rapist, anyone?). About the sameness: in a volume dedicated to Amnesty International, how many stories can there be in which a character is arrested and disappeared or arrested on bogus pretenses? Human rights abused abound; do they have to abound for a book to be on topic for Amnesty International?

I am glad to have read the stories by Walter Mosley, Joyce Carol Oates, Ariel Dorfman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adechie, and maybe one or two others. I suspect even their best works are elsewhere.

[Bea]

I read "Be Careful About Playing With the Path of the Least Resistance" by Alexis Wright. This book fills into the Reading Women Challenge 2021 (25) A Book by Alexis Wright.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some incredibly powerful stories in this book. I couldn't read some of them without cringing and flinching and that gives me hope for myself, that I haven't become completely desensitized to suffering and injustice in the world.

As an English teacher, I have loved being able to teach creative writing and language analysis using some of these stories as examples. They're not only extremely well written, but more importantly they are meaningful. They have sparked some great classroom discussion and introduced my students to some brilliant writers from all over the globe.

Reading this book is an uncomfortable experience even as you can enjoy the writers' craft. And that's as it should be. Read, think, feel! Look at the world with your eyes open and maybe even do something about the situations highlighted by this book. At the very least spread the word in whatever capacity you can.

[Izzy McGrath · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Meek, The kind of neighbour you used to have.
I thought the story was quite confusing and I didn't quite get the point of the story. I didn't really enjoy it as it didn't make sense and I couldn't quite put the pieces together. At the end one of the characters said something and it kind of made the plot make some sense. I didn't understand why the man was put in jail in the first place and then when one of the other characters said that sentence I realised he wasn't meant to be in jail and the police had mistaken him for someone else.
I wouldn't recommend this particular story in the book to anyone as I think it wouldn't make much sense.

[Elian Haliman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories read more like poems and are hard to digest, but some were written based on actual facts. They cover all the declarations of human rights so I got a wide view of people's struggles in fighting for their rights (freedom of speech, peace, economic justice, obtaining education, etc). Good read to open my eyes to the injustices that are in the world.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories themed to the points of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Only one or two clunkers. Most were very good. Many were brilliant.

[Christine]

Everyone should read this book.

[Władysław Saj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lektura : ofiary, gwałty, lyncze na niewinnych, handel żywym towarem, dystopie, czasami tylko promyki światła ale nawet gdy trafiła się w opowiadaniu jakaś normalna szkocka sekretarka i konsultantka Avonu za chwile okazuje się że jak w Black Mirror (.. no może raczej Opowieści Podręcznej...) to wstęp do Szkocji gdzie wprowadzają burki i kamieniowanie kobiet . Spojrzenie na świat tak amnestyjne że bez logo można poznać. No i meksykańcy komuniści, niezłomni nawet po odsiadce w gułagu : "Jak mawiał Engels, historia chadza złą stroną ulicy. Posuwa się naprzód , zataczając szerokie łuki, może sprawiać wrażenie jakby zmierzała w złym kierunku, ale w końcu dociera tam, dokąd dotrzeć musi".

Przypomina mi to dobrze że do Amnesty sam trafiłem szukając słuszności w własnym życiu i działaniu, odrutki na własny wrzask, krzyk i gniew na świat ale też nigdy nie przywykłem przez jaki cień i mrok prowadzi droga. I to bez specjalnych zakręconych komplikacji, tylko i wyłącznie dlatego że świat jest pełen ludzkiej krzywdy, która w wielu miejscach nie jest pęknięciami mroku w jasnym niewzruszonym fundamencie świata tylko wielkim morzem z którego co rusz wyciąga się kolejnych rozbitków...

[Lindsay Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book very difficult to read, it’s a collection of short stories about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by over 20 different authors. Some of the stories are great and by authors I’m inspired to read more of. But lots of the others I found were ‘worthy’ and I definitely wouldn’t have read more of their writing style.

Overall this took me a long while to read, and I’m glad I did but I definitely won’t be rereading it!!!

[Cocoaletta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally read for my world lit class, its not my favorite book ever but i decided to finish it because i'm a sucker for short stories'. I feel like everyone should read at least 3-4 stories out of this

[Mike Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not all of the stories are perfect, but enough of them are!

[Nathalie Franssen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great idea to link stories to articles from de declaration of human rights. I love the variety of stories, coming from so many different countries. This is definitely a must read.

[Arianna]

read it in less than 3h 3/4. very interesting

[Patricia Posse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cada conto invoca um direito universal, por detrás de cada história, há atropelos, silêncios, conivências que nos obrigam a refletir e a não perder a esperança inspirada no exemplo dado pela Sofia.

[Corin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing but awfully depressing. Not something to read all in one go.

[Anjali Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started reading it with high expectations but couldn't complete it, the stories are weird, uninteresting...not to my liking

[William Maas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freedom is a non fiction book put together by Amnesty International, which is a organization that helps to protect Human Rights and fights against injustices. This one book has a collection of thirty six separate, short, and very different experiences, from real people who have had one or more of their rights violated. There are not just sad and gloomy stories, but funny and suspenseful ones too. I was captivated and intrigued by the authors’ thoughts and points of views, throughout each incident. Overall the book was very informative, but still kept me reading because they were real life events and had lots of detail. This book would be recommended to any person that cares about what is happening in the world and likes a good read.

[Olja · Rating 5 out of 5]

'...short stories by famous writers, including Paulo Coelho, Yann Martel, AL Kennedy, Ali Smith, Amit Chaudhuri, Ariel Dorfman, Helen Dunmore, Marina Lewycka, Walter Mosley, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, James Meek, Kate Atkinson, David Mitchell, Hector Aguilar Camin, Ishmael Beah, Boris Akunin, Alice Pung, Banana Yoshimo' and me, Olja Knezevic. My story in this anthology is the one titled 'The Classroom'. It's an important anthology, if a bit too dark for a summer read. But, it is an educational fiction-textbook on human rights. For the fans of both fiction and non-fiction.

[Kevin McAllister · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprisingly disappointed with the content of this book. "Short Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Sounds great right ? But the stories themselves were for the most part too short, had little or no character development and just didn't move me. There were a few exceptions, but unfortunately they were few and far between.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some stories affect you, and you never forget it, one of these stories was written by Mahmoud Said Warrior of the Sky, it's a great story, wonderful, one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read in my life

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read just the david mitchell entry for now, and you can too : http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/...

[Anurag Ansari-Lahiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the one story by Mahmoud SaeedMahmoud Saeed. Chilling and disturbing story line, very well written.

[Punit Soni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was incredibly bored.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

checked this back out and am enjoying the short stories that are heartfelt and true...

[Abdullah Naeem Ibrahim]

A good short story collection.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing and important. Can be a difficult read, so best read a bit at a time.

[Tracy Trofimencoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed - I love short stories and I found that the book fell short of interesting and thought-provoking stories.

[Betsy]

Short stories (2 Books we can't wait for you to read)