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Summary: President Jimmy Carter writes yet another wonderful book....
Review: Any of you that have the chance to read this book, please do. It is about President Carter's childhood in Rural Georgia growing up. It tells about his entire family, his growing up/ and around black families working his father's land, and all the black friends he made early in life, and the wonderful influence they had on him throughout his life. It tells about how they planted, worked from dawn till dark with the "earth". If you are from the City, you especially need to read this book. It is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. I am super-impressed with it, and I have once again, learned things I never knew, I just love books that teach me, and this one has. There are so many parts in this book that will simply make you smile, some parts that will make you feel badly, and many parts that will teach you things. I really enjoyed every page of this book. I especially like books that teach, keep me happy while reading them, where I can't stand to lay them down, and where I actually hate for the book to end. This is one of those wonderful, wonderful books. This book is also so very easy to read, not filled with all those fat-filled words that so many writer's enjoy writing. This book is written for plain people, for all to enjoy. In my opinion, this book deserves a Pulitzer for Literature, because it has everything a book should have.
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Summary: A Great Story
Review: Former President Carter has produced a wonderful story of his early years in Plains, Georgia. His father was a powerful man by local standards who owned a large farm which was cropped on shares by the poor blacks of the area. Mama was a nurse and it is clear that she was very much admired by her children. Carter gives an unvarnished account of life in south Georgia in the 20s and 30s. There are vivid accounts of Mama, Daddy, Uncle Buddy, and the farmers who sharecropped on the Carter's land and who became close friends. The social ways of the rural south are written about and Carter shows that it was a place where things are not always what they seem and good church going Baptists can look the other way when it meets their needs. This is a strong work, well written and a joy to read.
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Summary: Jimmy Who?
Review: Had this engaging and conversational journey through President Carter's early days in Archer, Georgia been published prior to his '76 campaign, Americans would have understood better the thinking of the man they were to elect that year. Was his earnestness and honesty so surprising? This narrative strolls the reader through the gritty, but innocent, formative years of one of our country's most respected leaders.A personal tribute to a place and the people that this man loves the most, the reader will find themselves enveloped in the minutiae of neighborhood scuttlebutt, hog slaughtering, Depression era agricultural economics, and of the (then) easy bigotry of the Deep South. The author lauds the passing of evils of the time and examines his own anxieties about the future of his family's generational farming heritage. As a Georgian and as an American, I was delighted and entertained by President Carter's honesty and humor once again. Entertaining for all ages and a great introduction to rural life for young people. A fun & easy weekend read!
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Summary: my goodness
Review: I enjoyed this book tremendously. I am always fascinated to learn of the humble beginnings to peoples lives. Especially those whove made a difference in our world. While I doubt he will ever be remembered as a great President, he will always be thought of as a great man.
His childhood days come to life in this story of his youth. He looks back on those people whose lives touched his. Whether in a positive or a negative way, Mr. Carter always seemed to be able to learn from his experiences and find the best in people. This story expresses that more than anything else.
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Summary: a detailed and affectionate memoir
Review: Jimmy Carter, one of our most under-rated Presidents, here brings his formidable intelligence and his shining integrity to bear upon a wonderful memoir of his early years. His account will grip your interest from the first page. His boyhood in rural Georgia will surprise some readers with its primitive living (no electricity in the early years), and its very hard work. Carter's description of the complexity and self-suffiency of life on the farm is among the best I have read.
You will discover that his mother, who became the nation's "Miz Lillian", was unconventional in ways beyond her fair-minded attitude toward blacks. She insisted upon a life of her own and was independent in ways that were highly unusual for that place and time. His father, Earl, was more conventional outwardly, observing what was then southern propriety, yet he also had enlightened attitudes toward blacks, as well as in other areas. Carter is frank in describing his family's history on both sides, which is full of eccentricity. You may react as I did--"What a rich life!" As viewed through the eyes of the child Jimmy, who was very bright, sensitive, eager to please and hard-working, here is southern life depicted with its miserable aspects (disease, poor nutrition, snakes, bugs) and its great joys (Shetland riding ponies, hunting dogs, feasting at butchering time, socializing at Sunday school "proms"). As detailed as a great novel, this book will enrich your life. Jimmy identifies the five people, other than his family, who had the most influence on his life. Not surprising, only two are white. Rosalynn and Jimmy now make their home in Plains, where they enjoy life-long friendships with the people they never really left behind, throughout their successful lives and their rise to the highest pinnacle of power in this country. Jimmy remains true to the values he learned as a youngster. Highly recommended!
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Summary: Memoirs of a decent man
Review: Jimmy Carter, throughout his political career and since his defeat by the seeminly revered Ronnie Reagan, has demonstrated again and again his basic decency and humanity. In this book, he vividly demonstrates where those traits originated. Carter grew to manhood in rural GA, about as rural as you get, in a society dominated by racists and bigots, but also populated by loving, charitable individuals and families much like the Carters, who, Mr. Carter shows were not entirely free of their own prejudices and bigotry. He describes the members of his community and family in usually loving terms, even as he details many of their human foibles. My favorite passage in the book is when, during Carter's campaign for the presidency in 1976, his colorful and much loved brother, Billy, in answer to some reporters questions about his family and why he seems to be such an anomalie in his family, says something to the effect that, "Well, my mother was a 70 year old peace corps volunteer in India, one of my sisters rides motorcycles all over the country and the other goes around the world preaching, my brother thinks he's going to be president and I run a filling station. Now you tell me, out of that bunch, who do you think is normal?" Well, the normal one certainly wasn't Jimmy Carter, who has proved himself an exceptional human being over a lifetime of achievement and striving for the betterment of humanity. This book tells us a little bit about how this truly exceptional man came into being while giving those of us with different life experiences a glimpse of what life was like in most of the rural south during his formative years. It is a delightful book and goes a long way toward explaining why Jimmy Carter has become America's most admired ex-president, and presents such a high standard for other ex-president to aspire to. Great and inspiratioal book for children and young people and a rare pleasure to read. wfh
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Summary: My grandma loved this book
Review: My grandma sure seemed to like this book a hell of alot. She mentions it everytime we see her. I figres it must be worth 3 stars at least.
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Summary: The sepia toned boyhood of Jimmy Carter
Review: Reading this book, it's easy to understand why the ex-president insisted, "It's Jimmy. Just call me Jimmy." I wasn't much of a Carter fan during the man's presidency but have since come to appreciate him greatly, mostly for his honesty, sincerity, and humanity. An Hour Before Daylight makes it easy to understand how he became the person he still in.
Born on a Georgia farm during the Depression, Carter grew up in the days of rigid segregation, but at the same time all his friends were black children. He writes lucidly, sometimes lyrically and with strong nostalgia for an era of American history long past.
It's definitely worth a read.
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Summary: Authentic and gripping tale of rural depression life
Review: This is the book that every baby boomer and Generation X-er should be required to read. Jimmy Carter provides a wonderfully vivid tale of southern rural depression life. The Carters and their neighbors were, by today's standard, fairly poor. They lived off the land, went barefoot most of the time, had no air conditioning and television. When they needed to go to town, most of the time their feet was the mode of transportation. As a child, the future president sold boiled peanuts on the streets of Plains, Ga,. He picked cotton, slaughtered hogs, milked cows, plowed fields, ate possum. In short, Jimmy Carter's early life was a hard one. Relatively speaking, however, the Carter's were wealthy, especially when compared to the destitute black sharecroppers and day workers who farmed their land. Carter's beautifully written book should serve as a reminder to us all how easy it is to take life's 21st Century comforts for granted and how soft and privileged the American middle class really is. He helped me understand the world in which my father grew up and also made me proud of my country that someone with the humble beginnings of a Jimmy Carter could still be elected president.
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Summary: Needs a colorful cover
Review: This was a wonderful book. Mr. Carter tells the story about how he grew up in a warm and candid manner. He grew up in rural Georgia during the depression era. He tells about the farm life and the chores and the cold mornings when he and his siblings would rush to his parents bedroom, the room with the heater, to get dressed. When he was on the farm he would play with black children and was close to the black families on the farm, but if he went to town to the movies with one of his black friends as soon as they got on the train they would seperate and go to different seating areas and when they got off they would walk to the theatre together and then again go to different seating areas. That was the way it was at that time. He talks about his family and how they interacted with each other. He doesn't try to mince his words, he gives an honest account of his youth. His family is a lot like most families {although not too many have one who was president), with some ups and downs, but underlying it all you can feel the love they have for each other. When you read this book you will understand the man, from the history of his youth. When I got done reading this book, I was left with a good feeling and a more positive attitude about the world. Jimmy Carter, through his religious beliefs, has done a lot of wonderful things for the people.
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