Dreams from My Father - Part 1: Origins Discussion

Discussion is open for Part 1: Origins! (my apologies for getting this up later than I said I would - it's been an unexpectedly busy day and two little boys kept interrupting me this afternoon while I tried to compose my thoughts; I'll do better next time as in getting the post drafted before the discussion opens so that things like this won't happen again!)

I hope you've enjoyed reading Dreams from My Father as much as I have. I went into this reading having a little background from listening to Diane Rehm's Reader's Review on NPR (you can listen to that discussion by following the link), which made me curious to read the book myself.

In order to facilitate the discussion, listed below are some thought questions and topics to get us started (don't feel like you need to answer any or all of these - this is merely to get us thinking). I'm especially interested in everyone's impression with the book and their initial thoughts. Let's get the discussion started and we can let it go from there.

* Obama's father was absent from much of his childhood. What kind of impact did this have on him? How did he cope?

* How did Obama's mother's remarriage affect his image of himself and his image of his father? What kind of role did Lolo play as a father to Obama?

* How did Obama's time in Indonesia affect his world view?

* What was it like growing up in Hawaii for Obama? How did race play a part in his childhood and adolesence?

* What kind of influence did Obama's mother have in his life? What kind of influence did his grandmother have?

Discussion for Part 2: Chicago will open in 2 weeks - March 7.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

This first book is going to be a trial book in several ways. First, I'm not sure how things will progress with an online discussion. Second, I've never read this book before, so the content will be new to me as well as to each of you.

The book is divided into three fairly equal parts, so I suggest we read each part and then open up for discussion and so on. To give everyone time to acquire the book, we'll start the first discussion (of Part One) in about three weeks - the weekend of February 21st.

Part One: Origins - to page 129 NOW DISCUSSING
Part Two: Chicago - starts on page 131 - to page 295 NOW DISCUSSING
Part Three: Kenya - starts on page 297 - to page 430 (discussion starts March 21)
Epilogue - starts on page 431 - to page 442 (discussion starts March 21)

*note - pages listed are from paperback edition; hardcover might be slightly different
**edited: red for current reading/gray for future reading - if this pace is too slow, we can adjust it as we go