Book Review- " Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Today I finished reading “Becoming”
by Michelle Obama. I enjoyed reading this book. Becoming is about the chronicle
of experiences of Michelle Obama’s life’s journey right from her
childhood to her days in the White House. It feels that you are entering into
her world through this book. This book cannot be finished quickly
as there are about 426 pages to read, with 24 chapters and three sections
named, Becoming me, becoming us, and becoming more. You can also go for the audio
version of this book which is about 20 hours long. It took almost 15 days for
me to complete "Becoming". The book is not an easy read because there
are so many things that will compel you to ponder. You will smile and cry along
with the author.
The preface starts with a beautiful
message that becoming is limitless. As per the author, “what do you want to be
after growing up?” is the most useless question asked by adults to any child.
She feels growing up is infinite and she followed the same principle in her
life. She worked as a lawyer, vice president at hospital, director of NGO, and
eventually the first lady of the United States of America. She ceaselessly grew
in her stature.
Michelle Obama has narrated
everything about her childhood in Chicago, about her parents, relatives,
friends, teachers, and all those who inspired and helped her in her journey of
becoming who she is at present. Her parents had a very humble background and
both of them instilled a strong value system in their children. She has mentioned
in the book that her parents were raising adults. They treated them as grownups
and listened to them carefully. She also mentions how the remarks made by her
college counselor stating that she wasn’t a Princeton material, disturbed her.
But she didn’t bother about the counselor’s judgment and very confidently
pursued her dreams. Her statement "I wasn't going to let one
person's opinion dislodge everything I thought I knew about myself”, has really
touched me. How easily we give charge to other people to decide about our life,
which is so wrong. Whatever we are doing should be for our happiness rather
than to please others. In this book, she has also described her achievements,
disappointments, public and private life experiences, political campaigns,
marriage, and motherhood in her own words.
I also enjoyed reading the love story
of Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson Obama. The incident when he proposed to
Michelle is adorable. Michelle has mentioned their frequent debates over the
topic of marriage in this book. She was in favor of marriage and Barack was not
an ardent believer in marriage. On one such dinner date, Barack triggered the
topic of marriage and both of them started arguing, and both being lawyers the
quarrel was more of attorney-style. After a lot of cross-examination, punches,
dissections, the conversation took a different turn altogether. When I read how
he played a prank on her and later proposed to her with a diamond ring placed
in a chocolate cake, I thought I was watching any movie scene. It was so
awesome. Their relationship, respect for each other, and understanding are
quite emulating. Michelle has shared about how difficult it was for her to
conceive her first child. She has narrated about her miscarriages, IVF treatment,
and how she was able to overcome the pregnancy issues by sharing with her
friends.
There are number of reasons to read
this book. This book is an honest memoir written in a very articulate way. You
will feel a kind of admiration and affection for Michelle Obama after reading
this book. I am so thrilled that I could read this book and could pick up the
bits of wisdom shared by the author. The book deeply inspires the readers and
at the same time gives a refreshing reading experience.
My favorite quote from the book
is
“If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.-Michelle Obama”
Links:
Becoming, by Michelle Obama Audiobook Excerpt
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