The Audacity of Hope: Spoilers

[Lori, Super Mod]

Spoil me, please!

[Emma]

How can you really spoil this book?

Oh, it's AMAZTASTIC.

There.

[Linda]

I listened to this book on CDs and was captivated by it. I really got the sense of family closeness that doesn't just appear on camera. His discussion of his wife's family made me cry.

[Spudsie]

This is the Spoilers thread, right? So it's okay to talk about how he won the election? It won't spoil the results for anyone?? ;-)

Seriously, I really enjoyed reading this! It gave me a much better sense of who President Obama is. It gave a glance behind the campaign face, the debate face, the trying-to-win-a-campaign face. I hope he'll be able to hang on to his core beliefs through all of the turmoil he'll face now. I'm comforted to know he came from such a strong base of beliefs.

[Lisa]

I guess I am the odd one out. I read this book last year before the election.

To read this book, you would think the guy never did anything wrong or for the wrong reasons. Please!

Putting the sanitizing aside, his ideas frightened me as well. Too much socialism.

As you can tell...I'm not a fan of Obama.

[Stephanie]

I just finished this over the weekend and really liked it. It did take me a while to get through, but I not extremely motivated by politics or non-fiction, so no suprises there.

Lisa - I got a different feel from the book - I was actually impressed with the shortcomings he did bring to light about himself (not that he shine a spotlight on the whole lot of them, but I didn't think he portrayed himself as saintly), and I appreciated the candid way he spoke about different issues - doubts he has had and how he often sympathizes with opposing viewpoints, even if he doesn't agree.

Was there a substantial bit of political rhetoric? Sure. He is a politician after all, and that's sort of an inherent quality for them. And he's a unapologetic Democrat, so it definitely doesn't toe the party lines. But I thought it was well written and well organized, and it gave me a better feel for the man now running our country.

Props to you, Lisa, for reading it even though you're not a fan. I think that's admirable! :)

[sara frances]

Wow, Lisa. I don't think I could read a book written by a person I didn't really like. Maybe a book about them but not one written by them.

Did you read it and then not like him or the other way around?

[Lisa]

From the beginning, I wasn't a big fan. I thought the media wasn't digging into his background much, so I read a couple of books by/about him. I was trying to decide if I didn't like him due to the media coverage, or if I really didn't like him...I really didn't like him.

He performance during the first few weeks has reinforced my opinion. I guess that's not too surprising since I lean conservative and he is definitely a liberal.

[Rebbie]

I guess I first need to say that I didn't vote for Obama, I didn't think he was qualified to be president, but having said that, I sure hope he succeeds because we need success right now! So my evaluation of his book is probably prejudiced by the fact that I simply don't agree with his philosophical viewpoint. And that viewpoint came across loud and clear in the book. When I finished the first few chapters, I had the same impression I did before I even started the book: this is a very very young man. An immature man. A man who sees the world through one lens only, the lens of politics. I know, I know, he is a politician and that's how he has to see the world. But I just had the impression that this is a dreamer, a kid who wants everyone just to get along and be happy and love one another. I didn't see a man who understands that people and cultures are very complex entities and that they cannot be simplified to "if only we could help them" approach. I thought the book was extremely revealing about his personality, as a good memoir should be, but unfortunately, when I finished it, my reservations about him were confirmed.

[Jill]

I'll never stop being amused at how people keep referring to Obama as a "kid." He's in his mid-forties. My mom doesn't see that as a kid and she's in her sixties.

And there's nothing wrong with being idealistic so long as you're also realistic. Having actually listened to the man speak, I see an idealist with his feet firmly planted on the ground. And that's what I got out of this book.

[Liesl]

Hey, Lori - I thought politics (and religion) were banned from this group?

[Rebbie]

Sorry if my post overstepped the boundaries of the group. I was trying to convey my opinion about the author and the memoir.
I apologize if I took my post in the wrong direction.

[Liesl]

Rebbie wrote: "Sorry if my post overstepped the boundaries of the group. I was trying to convey my opinion about the author and the memoir.
I apologize if I took my post in the wrong direction."

Rebbie -- I didn't make muy comment because of your post. I'm surprised that this book was chosen because it's just asking for the kind of posts I thought Lori had banned.

[Melissa]

I didn't finish this book. Not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because I got it from the library and really didn't have enough time to really take it in without feeling rushed. I don't have a problem discussing what I did read.

Let me start with that I did vote for Obama and do believe in a lot of the things he believes in. I have a bit of trouble reading this book, because he writes about being in the minority; I work for the Senate and the democrats are now in the majority. His section on partisanship and how the minority is treated was a little annoying to me, because of the fact that whent he Democrats came back to the majority, they did the same things to the Republicans -- having said that, I realize that he did expect that to happen and he even says that in the book.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to going out and buying this book, so I can take my time with the rest of it. I'm sure that I'm not going to agree with some of the things that he writes, as I can completely understand some people seeing him as an idealist and all that jazz and I see it sometimes, too.

[JG (The Introverted Reader)]

I finally finished this and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I do like Obama, and I enjoyed Dreams From My Father, but I was afraid this one would be boring and hard to get through. It took me a while to read it, because he does push you to think, but I'm glad I read it.

I was a little surprised by how forthright and blunt he was about some things, but how he still walked that fine line between honesty and political correctness. Of course, I can't think of any examples of what I'm trying to say right now.

His stories about how opponents "spin" some of his ideas opened my eyes somewhat, but at the same time I wondered what spin he's put on someone else's ideas. All that frustrated me and left me wondering why they can't just present things as they are.

I liked the way he balanced history, politics, and personal memoir. I also liked that he backed up his thoughts with the reasons he felt the way he did.

Overall, this left me saying what I've said all along: I love the way this man thinks.