Courage: Eight Portraits
£0.97
Not what I expected - I suppose I m a little cynical but I had expected this to be a kind of a political creedo or Brown setting out his political stall or philosophy as PM but its nothing of the sort. This is more a statement of personal principles and a social creedo, Brown affirms courage in a variety of forms and really goes to lengths to make points about its worthiness. The writing style is good, Brown has some literary talents and I m lead to believe this isnt his only book, I suspect he s an avid reader too from the way in which some of the text reads. In the end I was heartened to have read this book, perhaps it is a book which people will be more inclined to borrow from their library than buy but its worth a read. It is much more interesting and rewarding than any of the books or introductions to books which Tony Blair wrote and there is less of the general cynicism provoking suspiscion of spin and platitudes which you may find with the writing of politicans in general.I really wish that some of the things Brown writes about in this book, which essentially transcend political boundaries and barriers or should, were more commonplace than the CHAV or nihilistic cultures that are or seem to be.
Free the author inside of you. - I would have thought that the role of Prime Minister of the UK would have yielded a more interesting insight than this. So I was slightly disappointed. I think the author should continue writing, however, should there be time to do so. I suggest the titles: Responsibility, Honesty and Fairness for future books. I await the deputies book on Family Values also.
Keep your money in your pocket - As far as I can see, the only reason to buy this book is to enjoy the irony of Gordon Brown writing on courage .
Anodyne claptrap - This book is full of empty platitudes, as you might expect from a politician with no bottle, desperate to become associated with the traits he so mind-numbingly describes.
What is courage? - What is courage? is the question Gordon Brown sets out to try and answer in this book and he does so by providing pen portraits of 8 very different but undoubtedly courageous people. All of the essays are well written, except the one on Edith Cavell, which could have done with tighter editing. He highlights the similarities between the 8 but also the differences, each was faced with individual choices in extreme circumstances and all chose the harder path. Would we have done the same? He ends the book by sharing his sense of wonder at the greatness of the human spirit, which enriches us all, and challenges us to be the best that we can be. Not a bad manifesto for a Prime Minister