Rating: 
Summary: A great book.
Review: I truly learned quite a bit about Gandhi as a person from reading this book. But there was a need to include a short history of India during the Era around Gandhi's life. Why? Because Gandhi speaks about issues that India faced in his day, and as an American reader I didn't understand the issue nor the reason he took his stance on it. This reason is why I is a 4 stars book instead of five stars in my eyes.
Rating:
Summary: A great book.
Review: I truly learned quite a bit about Gandhi as a person from reading this book. But there was a need to include a short history of India during the Era around Gandhi's life. Why? Because Gandhi speaks about issues that India faced in his day, and as an American reader I didn't understand the issue nor the reason he took his stance on it. This reason is why I is a 4 stars book instead of five stars in my eyes.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't know
Review: I was a huge fan of Ghandi. I had read every article written about him. I had bought the movie that was made about him and now when I bought his autobiography and read it. I am more then dissapointed!
This great man didn't actually reveal his recipe clearly to future generations on how to be like him, peaceful and non-violent to insults and violence! Sadly I came across so many chapters when he wrote about Vegetarians clubs and books he read about diets.
It is only my 'at the moment' opinion but Ghandi about Ghandi didn't actually wrote that wisely. His writings about himself are simple yet very confusing and even boring.Anyways, I had great difficulties finishing Ghandi's Autobiography and usually I finish a book within two-three days at most. But of course this doesn't mean that you'd find this book the same way I did. So instead of recommending this book to you I'd reccommend you to read a couple of pages in random before you purchase it.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Emotions
Review: I write this review with mixed emotions. I am struck by the overwhelmingly positive comments written by others because on many levels I was disappointed in this book. On the otherhand, Gandhi is one of the men I respect most in this world and reading a book written in his own words in itself sheds light on this remarkable man and, for that reason, makes it a book worth reading despite my many criticisms. CRITICISMS: - As alluded to by others, much of this text, which purports to be "The Story of [Ghandi's] Experiments With Truth", is taken up by the most mundane of subjects including the non-stop dialogue about his vegan eating habits, fruitarianism, sanition, dietics, and his never ending experiments with holistic/naturalpathy type medicine (much of which he surprisingly refers to as quakery). - The book covers far fewer spiritual truth-type experiments than I would have expected from this remarkable man - especially given the title. Much of the spiritual truths he discovers are not applicable to the common person. Rather much of his discussed spiritual truths are for Mahatmas. For instance, a tremendous amount of the book is devoted to topics of brahmacharya (celibacy), aparigraha (non-possesson - ie: not owning possessions), fasting and living communally in his various Ashrams. - The book was written by Gandi in prison in the early 20's and was completed in 1925, 23 years before his assasination and just as he was starting to have an impact using his variation of Tolstoy/Thereau/Christ's concepts of passive resistance - what Ghandi called - Satyagraha - a combination of the Sanskrit words "truth" and "firmness"). As a result, most of the more important events of his life had not yet occured. It was only in the last 75 pages of this 500 page book where Gahndi started to detail the early events that occured and actions Ghandi took as India started taking its first baby steps towards home rule. - He only briefly touched on some of his most important South African Satyagraha events - some of which he doesn't discuss at all. - The book is replete with italisized Sanskrit and other foreign words that are not defined in the book. There is no glossary (or at least not in the 1957 Beacon Press volume that I red). Most of these words cannot be found in a typical English dictionary. So, I was left not understanding much of what he was writing about. - Much of the text assumes the reader is fully conversant with the political events and personalities of the day and specifically those from South Africa, England and India. You need to consult encyclopedias regularly to understand the events and context of much of what he writes about. By way of example he frequently references both of the "Khilafat Question" and the "Rowlatt Committee Recomendations" but never tells the readers what these are about. So, his substantial commentary on these topics was totally lost on me. As an FYI, I have since learned that: 1. The "Rowlatt Committee Recomendations" related to legislation drafted by Sir Syndey Rowlatt drafted in 1919 empowering the British colonial government to search and arrest people without warrant, detain suspects without trial, and try people before courts without jury or right of appeal. 2 I still don't know what the Khilafat Question was about but you gleen from the book that it was something very important to Muslim Indians which, as part of his plan to unite Hindus and Moslims, Ghandi was in support of. - The book assumes you understand the Indian class system of the time and he speaks often of the "untouchables" which I didn't (when I read it) understand. I have since determined that the "untouchables" were lower than the lowest caste under Hinduism. They were referred to as untouchable because physical contact with these people was viewed as defiling. - He constantly refers to his other writings if the reader wants to find out about a particular subject that he chooses not to discuss - and he chooses not to discuss a great number of topics. Most of those writings are not available for us to consult in the new millenium even if we wanted to but, and, more importantly, many of these are critically important topics for understanding his leadership of India/Pakistan out of British rule. For instance, he mentions that the Bagh (Amritsar) Massacre caused him sadness but didn't discuss it at all. Yet, this very massacre was of critical importance in terms of drawing attention to him and his cause and galvanizing the movement and the world behind his cause. - More often than not dates are not given and he jumps around in time making it very difficult to follow the order of events. - Given that Gandhi moved a lot it sure would have been nice to have a map since, as a North American, I know virtually nothing about Indian/South African geography, states and cities. CONCLUSION Despite these many limitations, I have come to better understand this incredible man and would generally recommend it to anyone wanting to understand this man on a more personal level. But, if you are expecting a book that recounts the events that were depicted in the movie Gandhi, you will be very disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly thought provoking
Review: I'd strongly recommend everyone to read Gandhi's bio (http://www.gandhismriti.org/index1.htm) and learn about India's freedom struggle before even touching this book. This book is an unedited translation of Gandhi's original work in Gujarati. As others have mentioned, it not a history textbook or an encyclopedia of Gandhi's acheivements. As the title says, the book is about only the personal experiments that Gandhi had conducted from his childhood to the 1920's when he was imprisoned at the Yeravada jail. It is a very personal account and includes the smallest of the details of his daily life. It is not for casual reading. Personally I found the autobiography to be very very thought provoking. Being an Indian, Gandhi was always a "mahatma" to me. But only after reading this book, could I truly appreciate the greatness and super human qualities of this man. I was completely blown away by the transparency. This book was written when Gandhi's popularity was at it's peak in India. I don't think anyone but Gandhi could have admitted their mistakes and transgressions so matter-of-factly. Every single decision that Gandhi made in his life, the composition of his diet to the political strategies he espoused, was given equal thought and was grounded on truth. Many think Gandhi's concept of satyagraha and non-cooperation were brilliant political strategies. I always thought his fast-unto-death concept to be emotional blackmail. After reading the book I realized that Gandhi adopted those techniques only because he thought that those paths would take him nearer to the truth. In fact it appears that Gandhi's only all consuming passion in life is to achieve the truth and nothing else. India's independence appears to be a by product of that process. Many of his controversial and not so popular decisions - his initial allegiance to the British throne, his support for the British during the Boer war and the First world war, the suspension of the non-cooperation movement - now make sense. He made those decisions only because he actually thought he would deviate from the truth if he did otherwise. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring!
Review: If there is one book that makes you crave for more, and the search for Self-realization is definitely this one. This book explains the search of one mans' own and 'his' way of pursuit.
Rating:
Summary: Full of headscratchisms, but still essential reading.
Review: If this were the ONLY book you were to read about Gandhi, it would be an inadequate look at his life and work... for the obvious reason that he went on to live for a couple decades from the point where this Autobiography ends. This is like a Part 1 in which a Part 2 was never written. But, having said that, there is still an authority and an inner look in these pages that make reading it essential (in my opinion). To begin to understand such profound "ideas" as Gandhi had, you need to look at the personal origin of those ideas. Who better than Gandhi to explain these origins?
But the author seems to presuppose that the reader will have a supplementary knowledge of events. There are frequent gaps in the continuity of the story, digressions, and names crop up without prior introduction. (For instance, just when the reader thinks Gandhi and his followers are all tucked away on the Phoenix settlement, all of a sudden they are at Tolstoy Farm, with no explanation of how, why, or when they got there. Also, Gandhi begins talking about "Andrews" without ever introducing him to the reader. The book is replete with these type of headscratchisms). If they were included at all, gap-filling footnotes alone could easily have equalled the length of the book. The short, short chapters were a redeeming factor.
But Gandhi was not trying to write the world's most eloquent bio, his concern was to set forth a "faithful narrative" about his experiments with truth. And secondly, he wanted to encourage other seekers after truth with this glimpse into his own discoveries. He believed that man's natural propensities would not lead to "truth" of their own accord. He said that "man is man because he is capable of, and only insofar as he exercises, self-restraint" (317). Say what you will about his ideas, the fact remains that Gandhi's influence (political and otherwise) was a direct result of the fact that he was a man who practised what he preached. This book lays bare the process, the almost superhuman process of the brutal honing of the conscience. His conclusion? "The concupiscence of the mind cannot be rooted out except by intense self-examination, surrender to God, and lastly, grace." (329) Some key terms covered in the book:
- satyagraha (active, non-violent resistance).
- moksha (salvation).
- ahimsa (non-hurting, non-violence).
- bramacharya (celibacy).
- aparigraha (non-possession). Not exactly an out-on-the-beach-towel book, but that's O.K.
Save it for rainy days, for days when you want to do some serious thinking.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone should read this book
Review: In his own words, Gandhi takes us through some of the experiences in his life, with each chapter forming at least one important learning lesson to him. All experiences, whether good or bad, had a positive learning lesson on him and contributed to his goal of seeking the truth. One of his main beliefs was using non-violence as a means of protesting against acts of oppression and using international law to seek justice. This meant he never raised his fists or lowered himself to barbarism however much he was provoked, violated or attacked. In fact this seems to be the opposite attitude demonstrated by all terrorists and most countries (West, Middle East and East) where the belief is that violence and war works. As Gandhi says "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". As we have now entered the third of the world wars, where the weapons are horrific and the consequences unimaginable, Gandhi's words have never been more important. All politicians and world leaders should read this book. In fact everyone should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A transparent glimpse into the mind of a truly great soul
Review: In many ways, this is a somewhat unusual autobiography. It is as remarkable for what Gandhi decides to leave out as for what he includes. He obviously didn't intend to deal with every major event, and delve into every area. It is less a comprehensive narrative than it is a series of reflections on his life. Some have criticized the book because he often deals more intensely with questions about what kind of diet he would follow than many of the great historical achievements of his life. But Gandhi was who he was as an international figure because of who he was as an ethical individual. The moral seriousness with which he broods over his diet reveals a great deal about who he is as a person. As a side note, I should add that when I read this book, I had been thinking about becoming a vegetarian, and while I found no new arguments for doing so in this book, his moral example gave me the courage to do so. The greatest quality about this book is one it shares with most of Gandhi's writing: when he writes you get the sense that he is giving us his unedited thoughts. During even the greatest crises in his struggle for Indian independence, Gandhi's writings have the quality of a transcription of what he is thinking. More than any figure I can think of, Gandhi revealed precisely what he was thinking. The almost complete lack of artifice in his writing is one of the most impressive aspects of his writing as a whole and of his autobiography in particular. One is struck by his honesty, by his humility, and by his intense, almost overwhelming, moral passion. This is not a literary masterpiece. If one goes into it expecting it to rival such other autobiographies as Rousseau's CONFESSIONS or Nabokov's SPEAK, MEMORY or even Franklin's AUTOBIOGRAPHY, one will be disappointed. Although he was a prolific writer, Gandhi was not a great writer. He was unquestionably one of the towering figures of the 20th century, but it was because of what he did, not because of what he wrote. But for some of us, encountering so directly on the printed page such a fundamentally great soul can be close to overpowering.
Rating:
Summary: What the Truth Reveals
Review: In the book's introduction, Gandhi ascribes these words of the Hindu poet to himself: Where is there a wretch
So wicked and loathsome as I?
I have forsaken my Maker,
So faithless have I been. The cause of this wretchedness, Gandhi wrote, was "the evil passions within that keep me so far from Him, and yet I cannot get away from them." These thoughts echo those of the Apostle Paul who, while desiring to do good, found that evil worked within him. He bemoaned, "Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?" Both men realized they could not perform what the truth required, and because they loved truth, it made them feel wretched. Who then is righteous, if not Gandhi and Paul? The prophet Ezekial spoke of God's promise to "put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes." But such righteousness is seldom seen. Gandhi wrote disapprovingly of one Christian acquaintance "who knowingly committed transgressions, and showed me that he was undisturbed by the thought of them." Paul saw among his own converts in Corinth such immorality "that does not even exist among the heathens." The promise does not fail, but faith wavers. The promise must be put to the test, as an experiment with truth. Then those who love the Truth may be revealed.
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