出版社: Vintage
出版年: 2005-5-31
页数: 1056
定价: USD 25.00
装帧: Paperback
ISBN: 9781400030033
内容简介 · · · · · ·
In the acknowledgments, former president Clinton thanks his editor, Robert Gottlieb, for helping him make the book half as long and twice as good. That man should get five stars! This book is way too long in its current form and not good enough.
Unless you are a friend or a big fan of Mr. Clinton, you will find this book not worth the effort. Fully half is devoted to descriptio...
In the acknowledgments, former president Clinton thanks his editor, Robert Gottlieb, for helping him make the book half as long and twice as good. That man should get five stars! This book is way too long in its current form and not good enough.
Unless you are a friend or a big fan of Mr. Clinton, you will find this book not worth the effort. Fully half is devoted to descriptions of daily events during his two presidential terms. Almost all of the events you will probably remember from living through those years. Although these events were needed for completeness, there was little added that was new. I found the background descriptions of assisting the negotiations between Israel, Syria, and the Palestinians to be the most interesting part of the presidential section.
The best part of the book comes in the period before his first election in Arkansas. How did a young man from a very troubled home end up on the fast track for early political success? Although you will not be able to totally answer that question from reading this book, you will certainly know a lot more than you did before you started. I was especially impressed by the incredible loyalty that he showed to his stepfather, despite the awful treatment that his mother received. I did not realize that Mr. Clinton had only legally adopted the last name of Clinton after his mother remarried his stepfather.
If you are looking for lots of insights into his personal inclination to cause pain in his marriage through affairs, you won't find anything new. You will find out the day when his wife stopped making him sleep on the sofa in the White House.
Although the book is mostly a diary of what he did and when, there are occasional moments of reflection in the book that make reading it rewarding. Unfortunately, the new reflections only occur about every 50 pages or so. Most of the best reflections are in the first half of the book.
The main ingredient that is missing from the book is the tremendous personal appeal that Mr. Clinton excites in many people. That element of his success is largely hidden in this account. He has a genuine liking for others, a sense of commitment to helping them and an incredible stamina for taking on challenges. It would have been good to combine this book with a CD of reminiscences about peoples' reactions to him at very times.
You also don't get much of a sense of his high intelligence, encyclopedic memory, and grasp of complex situations. I have heard Mr. Clinton go on for hours about difficult policy questions without notes and without knowing what questions would be asked. In fact, he tends to downplay those skills.
The material about his presidency would have been greatly enhanced with advice for future presidents.
The end of the book has an almost whiny tone in complaining about Right Wing conspiracies and recalcitrant Republicans in Congress. That part could have been edited down further. You'll get the idea after the first few pages of this discussion.
Frankly, I would not have finished the book except that many of my friends are in the book, and I found myself looking forward to their appearances in the text and what would be said about them.
For most people, you can read the first half and skip the rest.
If you really want to know about certain parts of his life and want to skip the others, the index can give you a condensed books version of his life.
If you did not find him to be a person who inspired you, I suggest that you skip the book.
Seek to do the best for all!
My Life的创作者
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比尔·克林顿 作者
作者简介 · · · · · ·
比尔・克林顿,1946年8月19日出生于美国阿肯色州霍普市一个小店主家庭。法学博士学位。妻子是同班女同学希拉里。1976年,当选阿肯色州司法部长。1979年,他就任阿肯色州第40任州长。时年仅32岁,被新闻界称为“孩子州长”。1992年11月3日,他在大选中以压倒性优势获胜,击败布什,当选美国第42任总统。
原文摘录 · · · · · ·
My Life的书评 · · · · · · ( 全部 38 条 )
没见过比这本书更罗琐的
Bill Clinton:My Life 半路读感[2]
> 更多书评 38篇
论坛 · · · · · ·
在这本书的论坛里发言这本书的其他版本 · · · · · · ( 全部7 )
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译林出版社 (2004)7.2分 1655人读过
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時報文化 (20040809)暂无评分 12人读过
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Arrow (2005)7.6分 410人读过
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Vintage (2005)8.8分 59人读过
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订阅关于My Life的评论:
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0 有用 henry 2013-04-03 02:43:47
太tm长了,看了后边忘前边
0 有用 ROROTO 2012-11-05 23:01:58
这本书实在够长(800来页),如果不是对政治有兴趣,或者对克林顿的生涯有兴趣实在没必要读。克林顿如何从一个阿肯色州小镇男孩在30岁当上州检察长,然后32岁当上阿肯色州州长,46岁当上美国总统。另,如果想知道更多关于莱温斯基丑闻的事,不用费心读这本书了,因为它几乎没提这茬。
0 有用 henry 2013-04-03 02:43:47
太tm长了,看了后边忘前边
0 有用 ROROTO 2012-11-05 23:01:58
这本书实在够长(800来页),如果不是对政治有兴趣,或者对克林顿的生涯有兴趣实在没必要读。克林顿如何从一个阿肯色州小镇男孩在30岁当上州检察长,然后32岁当上阿肯色州州长,46岁当上美国总统。另,如果想知道更多关于莱温斯基丑闻的事,不用费心读这本书了,因为它几乎没提这茬。