Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The long walk to freedom

I felt as if I’m listening to a grandfather who relates his personal stories. It was a long read but yet it worth all the time spent. He might not be a great writer yet his huge collection of life experiences make him a great story teller. He describes a horrific part of the human history in a way that gives reader goose bumps.
I believe it’s a book that should be read by every human being just to appreciate how gifted we are to enjoy freedom in many different ways. I was greatly moved by the fact that I myself wouldn’t have had the luxury to cast a vote if I was born in South Africa few decades ago simply because I’m a woman and my skin is brown.
For me the three highlights of the book were first, it’s ordinary men and women who make a huge difference in the world, If one follows his story closely it’s apparent that he was a pretty ordinary person who raised for the occasion. Secondly, one shouldn’t take the right to vote for granted, for many people have paid the price of right to vote of future generations with their own life, and thirdly, the leaders are usually over glorified. There were eight other people who were locked inside for the same time duration as Nelson Mandela, but many don’t even know their names.
In a nutshell I believe a man is not man until he reads “The long walk to freedom”