Barack Obama and the importance of books in his life

U.S. Iulia Postelnicu
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As the president has few days left as the commander in chief, he leaves some final legacies behind. In an interview he gave on Friday for The New York Times, the president discussed about books and their importance.

Obama shared some books with his elder daughter, Malia, who prepares for college. He sent his daughter books on Kindle, some that for him were really powerful. Some of the titles are: “The Naked and The Dead” and “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, but he is not sure whether she read them or not. Then there are books that he says everyone should read: “The Golden Notebook” and “The Woman Warrior.”

He and his daughters have constant conversation about books, he likes to discuss about them. Malia is really into storytelling as she is interested in becoming a filmmaker.

The president reveals that he always had a passion for books, ever since he was a little kid. He traveled a lot when he was young and many times he was an outsider, so he always had books with him.

“The idea of having these worlds that were portable, that were yours, that you could enter into, was appealing to me,” revealed the president.

In high school, he lost some of his passion for books, but rediscovered it while he was in college.

While he lived in New York, he liked to read and write when he arrived home from work. He wrote many short stories.

He liked to write about older people, who “had invested their hopes and dreams and raised their kids starting to decay.” He describes his work as melancholic and reflective.

He says that by writing he figured much of his identity, because he integrated much of what he is and what he believes in.

During his time as a president, he didn’t write as much as he wanted to since he had no time. He did keep some journals and wrote his speeches.