7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life-changing book...should forever be in print..., February 19, 2002
This review is from: The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Paperback)
I was shocked when I looked up this book on Amazon and found it not in print, and with only three reviews posted. Then I clicked on the paperback version and found 117 reviews...that's more like it. The book made Malcolm X nationally famous, but not in time to save him from assassination by fellow "Black Muslims" who resented Malcolm's disenchantment with Elijah Muhammad, founder of the movement. It also made Alex Haley, the "as told to" writer, renown. What it did for me was to make me much less of a racist than I was before I read it...This book, along with "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and "Stride Toward Freedom" by MLK, were vital steps in my move away from mindless racism. I also credit the singing of Paul Robeson and Harry Belafonte, and the tv news accounts of the civil rights protests in Alabama and Mississippi from 1962-64. But this book is special. I've read it three times. Spike Lee did a good job on the movie, but it doesn't replace the book. If you care about the history of the civil rights struggle, you must read it. Even if you don't, Malcolm's life journey is fascinating and inspiring. He made sense, and his presence scared us whiteys into giving Martin the victories he needed. Without Malcolm X, the "non-violent" wing of the movement would have had a much harder time.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One man's struggle for freedom, May 23, 2002
This review is from: The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Paperback)
Alex Haley and Malcom X weave the story of a lifetime of struggle. X's account of his life is so compelling that it has caused people of all races and creeds to question the way that they have been living their lives.
Malcom X started off in Michigan, where he was discriminated against mildly, and overall well-liked. He got along fine with whites whom he knew. However, one of his English teachers scoffed at his faked vision of becoming a lawyer. X soon moved to Boston to live with his half sister. He became a street hoodlum. It is at this point that the life of Malcom X begins to resemble a Martin Scorcese film. X rises in the ranks of the streets to become a well known hood. He begins to deal not only in gambling, but in drugs and theft as well. However, he also gets addicted to the drugs that he is peddling.
X soon goes to jail, where he converts to Islam. Upon his release, he spreads his new found faith all across the nation.
The scenes in jail exemplify exactly how the white man has mistreated the black man throughout the course of time. Not only does Malcom X's autobiography serve as an account of one man's life, it is also a survey course in the Islamic religion. I knew nothing about this religion upon reading the book, and I thought the idea of a superior race to be obscene. X does not convince me to loathe my predecessors and myself, but he does make the white man think about his actions.
Many whites claim that Malcom X acted out of rage. One needs only to read his autobiography to see that Maclcom X reacted as any other person would react: pragmatically.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
his own story, unfiltered, April 16, 2003
This review is from: The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Paperback)
This book is his own side of the story and is among the most readable of autobiographies. I feel it is important to read this book because it concerns the life of someone who undergoes the most extreme of metamorphoses. The manner in which Malcolm X tells his story ensures that the reader gains an uncontaminated impression of his life. One may not agree with all or any of his ideology, but that's to miss the point. Surely it is more important and profitable to endeavour to understand why this highly intelligent individual believed what he believed. Many questions are raised, few have been answered, even today almost 40 years on.
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