Scan barcode
elizzabethanne's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I feel that for every statement Eleanor made that I agreed with wholeheartedly there would be another that would give me pause. However, that is what reading autobiographies or biographies from historical figures is all about in my opinion. What I found the most fascinating is how Eleanor Roosevelt’s ideologies changed over time due to her exposure to some of the best and the worst the world has to offer. While some of her opinions are dated, others are still startlingly relevant. Ultimately, this work helped to fill in some of the gaps in my education around this time in history and I am eager to go down further rabbit holes to better understand the state of the world as it is now.
“Perhaps the older generation is often to blame with its cautious warning: “Take a job that will give you security, not adventure.” But I say to the young: “Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence.”
“It is, I am afraid, true that frequently various religious groups endeavor to exert pressures and control over different legislative and educational fields. It is the job of all of us to be alert for such infringement of our prerogatives and prevent any such attempts from being successful. Like all our freedoms, this freedom from religious-group pressure must be constantly defended. What seemed to me most deplorable”
“Sometimes, even now, I am still taken aback to discover how closely one’s most trivial movements are followed in this day of television. It seems as though one can find privacy only within the silence of one’s own mind.”
“I learned, too, while I was groping for more and more effective ways of trying to cope with community and national and world problems, that you can accomplish a great deal more if you care deeply about what is happening to other people than if you say in apathy or discouragement, “Oh, what can I do? What use is one person? I might as well not bother.” Actually I suppose the caring comes from being able to put yourself in the position of the other person. If you cannot imagine, “This might happen to me,” you are able to say to yourself with indifference, “Who cares?” I think that one of the reasons it is so difficult for us, as a people, to understand other areas of the world is that we cannot put ourselves imaginatively in their place.”
“Perhaps the older generation is often to blame with its cautious warning: “Take a job that will give you security, not adventure.” But I say to the young: “Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence.”
“It is, I am afraid, true that frequently various religious groups endeavor to exert pressures and control over different legislative and educational fields. It is the job of all of us to be alert for such infringement of our prerogatives and prevent any such attempts from being successful. Like all our freedoms, this freedom from religious-group pressure must be constantly defended. What seemed to me most deplorable”
“Sometimes, even now, I am still taken aback to discover how closely one’s most trivial movements are followed in this day of television. It seems as though one can find privacy only within the silence of one’s own mind.”
“I learned, too, while I was groping for more and more effective ways of trying to cope with community and national and world problems, that you can accomplish a great deal more if you care deeply about what is happening to other people than if you say in apathy or discouragement, “Oh, what can I do? What use is one person? I might as well not bother.” Actually I suppose the caring comes from being able to put yourself in the position of the other person. If you cannot imagine, “This might happen to me,” you are able to say to yourself with indifference, “Who cares?” I think that one of the reasons it is so difficult for us, as a people, to understand other areas of the world is that we cannot put ourselves imaginatively in their place.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ewilson0602's review against another edition
Too slow. So much content about wealth and privileged life.
audreyxwg's review against another edition
Not truly read because I had 100 pages left but I feel like reading 400 of it counts. Stopped reading because it started getting quite racist when she was visiting Japan/justifying Hiroshima and her next stop was Hong Kong and Formosa so I saved myself. Didn’t mention Japanese internment at all! Learned a bit of history but I think this is definitely an autobiography and is justifying a lot of her life choices to us. Pretty interesting how much all the world leaders actually met.
kelseymckim's review against another edition
3.0
Eleanor Roosevelt's voice and personality really shine through! It feels like she's talking to you, not writing something formal. And it doesn't hurt that I agree with many of her views about war, democracy, and human rights!
lbhavkillo's review against another edition
5.0
Such a fascinating and inspiring woman-- hands down my favorite US politico.
alwright1's review against another edition
4.0
I got into reading about past Presidents around the time of the inauguration and became very curious about Eleanor Roosevelt when reading about her husband. After reading this three-volume autobiography, I am no longer curious, but I have even more admiration.
If you're very curious about her childhood, then by all means read the first volume, but if not, read the wikipedia article for a summary and skip to the good stuff. The second volume covers her years in the White House and contains many observations about the world and the US at the time. She definitely transforms from a woman unsure of herself at the beginning of her family life to an insightful commentator on world events. Roosevelt spends more time in the third volume detailing her own worldview as a member of the UN delegation and Civil Rights committee. The topics on which she spends the most time are colored heavily by the mounting Communist threat at the time she wrote that volume (around 1961), but her convictions that all people deserve basic human rights and that we all have a responsibility to bring about a world in which possession of these rights are the bare minimum to be expected are still as prescient and important today as ever. I enjoyed getting to know Eleanor thoroughly.
If you're very curious about her childhood, then by all means read the first volume, but if not, read the wikipedia article for a summary and skip to the good stuff. The second volume covers her years in the White House and contains many observations about the world and the US at the time. She definitely transforms from a woman unsure of herself at the beginning of her family life to an insightful commentator on world events. Roosevelt spends more time in the third volume detailing her own worldview as a member of the UN delegation and Civil Rights committee. The topics on which she spends the most time are colored heavily by the mounting Communist threat at the time she wrote that volume (around 1961), but her convictions that all people deserve basic human rights and that we all have a responsibility to bring about a world in which possession of these rights are the bare minimum to be expected are still as prescient and important today as ever. I enjoyed getting to know Eleanor thoroughly.
katiejcorwin's review against another edition
4.0
Eleanor Roosevelt is an incredible woman who was decades before her time. This book was dense and hard to read at times, but it was extremely rewarding to learn about her life through her own eyes. I am in awe of all that she accomplished and am eager to learn even more about her amazing life.