A Promised Land by Barack Obama is a masterclass in political memoir.
Title: A Promised Land
Author: Barack Obama
Rating: 4/5
Barack Obama is a gifted writer. Even in this political memoir, his instincts as a writer produces such gems as “The day was cold, the wind cutting, the sun a dim watermark on the gray sky, and no one said much as we trudged up the steep stone ramparts that snaked along the mountain’s spine.”
That said, the real value of the book lies in the exquisite details Obama offers readers of the complex issues he faced as the President of the United States (POTUS) from 2009 to 2011, along with forays into his life before becoming the most powerful person in the world. …
As we say goodbye to a year that none of us will forget in a hurry, it’s a good time to reflect on the new age that we are living in.
An age when the catastrophic consequences of events such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic are engulfing large swathes of humanity, leaving a trail of economic devastation in their wake.
An age when political and social stability is wobbling as waves of injustice, fear, and anger inundate even mature democracies and institutions around the world.
An age when humans are immersed in and often pitted against algorithms far smarter than we are, leading us to question if any of the choices we make are truly ours. …
“Revenants rule on thrones of vengeance”
Chapter 1: The Pain
The pain split her head. Naina retched into the washbasin, spitting hard and letting a wave of agony wash over her. She looked up at the mirror — her face was pale, her large grey eyes deep in a dark pit of insomnia. Her sari was dishevelled from the hours spent writhing in pain.
The headache had been haunting her for more than a day now. She will go to the doctor the moment the day breaks, she decided. For now, she just wished she could pluck the throbbing vein in her head and fling it into the tumultuous night.
The sky was coal black with ominous rain clouds threatening untold mayhem. Peals of thunder reverberated through her tortured skull, preceded by blinding lightning. …
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