Quicklet - Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth: Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi, Mahadev H. Desai and Sissela Bok's

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ABOUT THE BOOK

In his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Gandhi describes his experiences as objectively as he knows how, while remaining humble and cognizant of his hesitations and errors. The author himself does not consider the book an autobiography in the strict sense of the term used in Western writing, but presents what he describes as a connected account of experiments. His narrative is about his efforts to adopt a manner of conduct that allows him to achieve self-realization. These experiments are spiritual and moral, demanding both introspection and open-mindedness.

Gandhi stresses that he is far from reaching any final or seemingly infallible conclusions. He believes that his spiritual quest has fueled his political activities, which only serve to provide illustrations of how his spiritual principles apply in the real world. Political positions and actions thus reflect a deep spiritual conviction, which has taken a long time to form and solidify. Creating the moral principles that guide practical decisions becomes the most challenging part of the journey.

The book focuses on the ideas of non-violence, co-existence between different religious groups, human rights, and organization of public campaigns. Close co-workers of Gandhis, most notably Swami Anand, urged him to describe the background of his public campaigns in particular, so that the autobiography could appear in series in the weekly magazine Navjivan. Perhaps because of the involvement with magazine, the entire book itself may read as though it assumes the reader has basic knowledge of socio-political events in India in the 1920s, which the magazine readers certainly did.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Alexandra Grashkina-Hristov has a B.A. degree with honors in political science from Williams College and a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University. As a writer, she has contributed to AtlasObscura.com, Public-Republic.net, WatchingAmerica.com, Americanbar.org, RawStory.com, and others. Like many theater lovers, she really enjoys writing reviews for plays, dance performances, and movies.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

As Gandhi was growing up in the western part of India, he became a shy child who preferred to sit by himself in school. His father was a state official had a lot of practical experience although he was not formally educated. His mother, who was his fathers fourth wife, spent her time observing religious customs devotedly through fasting and prayer. When Gandhi had barely turned 13, he got married to the 13-year old Kasturbai through an arrange marriage and tried to play the role of a husband. He made a lot of mistakes attempting to perform that role, though he tried his best and learn from them.

In 1888, he went to study law in England in the hopes of taking his fathers place in the state service.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE

• Quicklet on Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi, Mahadev H. Desai and Sissela Bok's Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth
• Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi, Mahadev H. Desai and Sissela Bok's Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth
  • About the Book
  • About the Author
  • Overall Summary
  • Chapter-by-Chapter Commentary & Summary
  • ...and much more