The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley (MAXNotes Literature Guides),   ISBN:9780878910045

Customer Rating: 

it was not clear to me upfront: this book is not the acutal autobiography. These are the notes for the book. they summarize chapters and importance of them. so if you want to read the actual book, do not purchase this one.

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People who would like everything to be all different in a society in which everybody operates in a mentality like John Lennon on heroin will be interested in many of the changes that Malcolm made in his own life. The characters that he encountered did not disappear entirely on Y2K, but our own image of things continues to shift and shuffle continuously and perhaps more so and faster from now on than ever before even without Malcolm to lead us.

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Before reading this book, I thought Malcolm X was a black boxer. I don't know why, but the few times I've heard people mention him, they've always focused on his anger. So, I naturally assumed that this man, who had such a strange last name, would be a fighter. How wrong was I.

Malcolm X was a fighter, but not in the physical sense. Sure, he supported his beliefs with a fervor that was almost violent, but he fought his way through his difficult life with words. He trained himself to make a point, regardless of what other people, black, white, red, yellow, would think of him. He so believed in his passion for basic Afro-American human rights that he was ready to die for his beliefs. As a Muslim, he also firmly believed in Allah, who he claimed changed his life. More importantly, as a Muslim, he experienced the oneness of humanity as he traveled internationally.

Overall, this book appealed to me because even though Malcolm was a devout Muslim and a civil rights leader with firm views, he was sincere in his concern for humanity. He even admitted, that he's "a human, being first and foremost" and that he's for "whatever benefits humanity as a whole." To me, Malcolm's extraordinary accomplishments were just a shadow of what can be done if mankind put concerns of humanity before itself. Picture a world where everyone worked toward a common goal. Imagine all the wars that would end!!

I recommend this book to people of all races and color so that they can be inspired by Malcolm's radical belief in humanity. His message transcends time and all racial boundaries.

Customer Rating: 

I had a hard time reading this book because I didn't like the format of talking biography as it makes reading boring for me. But there is alot to absorb in his short, but very meaningful life, and his candidness and his personality that comes out more in this talking form, so I stayed on. His conversion to Islam and his comments on Islamic brotherhood and hospitality seem to me rather prejudiced and anecdotal, particularly so much about this religion has been exposed since his death. I thought that it is rather ironic to quote this religion to promote humanity when this religion is so oppressive towards women. But who knows what transformations he might have gone through if he had lived longer and matured? After all, he was an incredible person who lived fully and earnestly according his convictions, a remarkable person.

Customer Rating: 

I'm not sure if this had to do with the product, seller, or website, but I never got my order. I contacted the seller and got no reply, so I don't think there is any way I am going to get it resolved.