You should skip Gandhi’s Autobiography

The autobiography of Gandhi. You might want to skip this book and look elsewhere. Sounds crazy to use a book recommended by page to not recommend a book and of all people Gandhi.

I was really excited about starting this book. I wanted to learn the inner thoughts of one of the world’s most recognized names, for good reasons. I went with the audiobook at 2x speed for about 10-hour unabridged edition, and…

Honestly, it’s not particularly good into going into details of big events. It’s seeming to be segmented down to a simple paragraph, then draws out over points and details that are not interesting at all. It breezes over school a lot of the work in London and South Africa. He does speak to good things throughout the book; however, his version of the story is boring and drawn around the wrong important items to discuss.

The main reason I’m upset about the book is his constant reminder that he is a vegetarian. It would be fine to reference it time to time as it was difficult to accommodate this lifestyle, but he beats it so violently and relentlessly that you almost question the passive nature we expect of Gandhi. There is a section where he is a fruitarian and repeatedly turns down the advice to change his diet slightly to help overcome illness and still, he bogs down the whole thing with “I wish to respect my mother’s wishes.” She died while he was in university in London. It’s still 100% fine to have that diet (as a personal choice), it is not a great diet for today without vast supplements and doctor’s visits to confirm no deficiencies arise.

If you want to study the man, the Wikipedia page is a better start than his own words.