Mr. Book just finished On Freedom, by Timothy Snyder.

I had very high hopes for this book. I gave this author’s book, On Tyranny, an A in 2017. But, I had also given The Road To Unfreedom a B- in 2019. Snyder always does a great job whenever he appears on podcasts or on MSNBC shows. He is definitely an expert on tyranny, authoritarianism and fascism. Unfortunately, none of the reasons why I’m always interested in his appearances on those shows is on display in this book.

This is one of the very rare books that I gave up on and couldn’t finish. It’s part autobiography, but about as born an autobiography as one can write, part uninteresting philosophy and parts mentions of random people that I could not figure out what relevance they do have.

If there is anything of value in this book, the author was determined to make sure that I gave up on it before I would ever get to it.

I give this book an F.

Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an F equates to 1 star. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book finished reading this on November 19, 2024.