I'd be lying if I said it was an easy read. I usually fall in love
with books readily and am also not typically discouraged by very thick
specimen, but this one did test my willpower. It's not that I have anything
against Nelson Mandela. On the contrary, after reading his personal
account I admire him all the more for what he has accomplished and how he
kept his dignity throughout his long ordeal. And the story is fascinating. It's
just that the writing itself didn’t captivate me as much as that of other
authors. His is a more or less mechanical writing style, the sentences aren't
always flowing that well, and there are a ton of details in there that felt
like road blocks keeping me from getting on with the story.
Maybe I haven't read enough autobiographies, maybe they all are
very self-centered, just by their very nature, and maybe this is one of the
better ones. I have to admit that I'm a much bigger fan of memoirs, since I
care less about absolute accuracy and more about a good story, giving you a
feeling for the times and places they are set in. What the book does do very
well is highlight the roles of all the different people who Nelson Mandela came
in contact with over the years. If you were part of the "struggle,"
you would of course love to find your name mentioned in these pages, and it
feels like Mandela was very careful to give everyone his due.
One thing I loved about this book is the humble tone it is written
in. For all that he has been through, Nelson Mandela could very well come
across as preachy or grandiose, but you will find nothing of the sort in these
pages. He writes without self-pity, without embellishment, he freely admits
mistakes he has made, and he never gloats. What you do learn from these pages
is that he saw himself as a leader of his people from an early age, and
constantly worked on improving his leadership skills, even during those long
years on Robben Island
Most of all he always was a team player, putting the interests of what
he calls his people first and foremost, and insisting on consulting the ANC
leadership in vital matters, even when he was close to being released from
prison and in secret talks with the government. It goes to his great credit
that he saw as his people all South Africans, black, white, and everything in
between.
