101 Books to Read Before You Die discussion

Discuss parts 4-6 in this thread.

I find myself very torn over a lot of this. I don't know if I could tell someone else what is the "right" way to balance the important things in their life, but I have to imagine that being so involved in your work that you virtually abandon your family (while still free to be with him) can't be entirely praiseworthy. I admire the struggles, the very real political and internal debates, the differences of opinion between the group members. But it seems like his wife has very little say in the matter, even when she is supportive of him, and I have to imagine that would get very old after awhile. What is the right balance between freedom fighting and between spending enough time with your family? Is it responsible to take on a wife and family knowing (as he did the second time around) what kind of life they were probably going to be in for? How much political life is too much, and how much family sacrifice is required? I don't know if those are answerable questions, but they are certainly ones I was thinking about as I read through these sections.

I had no idea that so much of this--the sit-ins, the boycotts, etc--was going on in South Africa long before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s in the U.S. I imagine a lot of what was done in the 60s was inspired by Ghandi and Mandela and others who came before them. It's such an interesting period of history, yet such a difficult one. I can't imagine the indignation they must have felt at the injustices! I can't remember if it's in part 6 or 7, but I thought his story about seeing the African pilot and how his own immediate feeling was that of concern, of "how can a black man effectively pilot a plane?" because that's what his culture has conditioned him to think. It's hard to fight the mindset when it's even ingrained within your own mind! Very sobering contemplations.

I wanted to hear the story from the voice of his wives and his children. At least Winnie was on board when she married him. She was also committed to the cause and knew where his passion lay. But, his first wife did not marry a political activist fully formed. And, then there is the lives of the children. Of course, many children grow up in homes broken by the devastation of war, injustice, etc. How many men are currently in jail in the US who are innocent. Their children are growing up without a father. The difference is knowing that your father chose the political struggle over you.

I did know that the blacks in South Africa and the blacks in the US were fighting for equality at the same time in the 1930s and onward. Going to war against Hitler's treatment of Jews seemed so ironic to many blacks in both countries who knew how they were being treated by their governments. Ghandi was an inspiration to so many. Of course, the ANC never was committed to Ghandi's non-violence strategy. They used some of his resistance techniques as long as they seemed the best strategy, but never had his (and later MLK's) commitment to pure nonviolence.