The unabashed racism and just general ignorant ideals in this book make it a generally stupid read. I suppose one could say that if the book weren't by Hitler no one would take notice, but since it IS by the mighty Führer it gains points simply for historical value and also the general entertainment one might garner from reading the ravings of a mad man. However, as an auto-biography it is painfully written to be as slow and grueling as possible. As a part of fascist literature it comes off as even more useless because, as Mussolini put it, it is "little more than commonplace clichés." If you're particularly fascinated by this period of history, I wouldn't necessarily drive you away from reading it, because it's relevant to see just how STUPID these ideas were. ( )

Oy! This guy could repeat himself and repeat himself and not make any sense. And people listened to this drivel. Except for the parts about the communists. That made a little sense. ( )

DFYAA

How do you rate a book like this? Do you rate it according to literary merit, according to how influential or important it is, according to how much you "enjoyed" it, according to how fascinating the subject, or according to the validity of the opinions voiced in it? Obviously I do not agree with the opinions the man voices, nor do I think the arguments he puts forth are valid. If the book is an attempt to justify himself, he fails. If it's an attempt to convert people to his way of thinking, he fails again. But that doesn't mean I'm not glad I listened to his arguments, nor does it mean that I didn't find the book interesting. In the first part of the book, when he is talking about his childhood and teenage years, Hitler seems like an educated and rational man: he adores books, believes firmly in the power of education, has a passion for history and geography, and his biggest ambition is to become a painter or an architect (!). Not only that, but he dismisses antisemitic theories "on grounds of human tolerance" and believes everyone should have a right to practice whatever religion they want to. His explanation of the reasons that compelled him to make his "greatest transformation of all" - his conversion to antisemitism - is ludicrous, at best. (Jews smell bad? 90% of artists he dislikes are Jews? Jews have formed a conspiracy to control all the newspapers? and nonsense like that) From that point onwards, the book becomes an outlet for his hatred towards Jews and for expressing his dreams of the expansion of Germany. The book is two-thirds tedious and one-third interesting, two-thirds nonsensical (in terms of arguments) and one-third rational. My rating is based purely on enjoyment, although I do not think that is fair. My conclusion would be the following: even though a big part of it drags on and even though no one in his right mind could justify Hitler based on this book, I do believe everyone should read it, so that they can understand better one of the people that changed the history of Europe and the world. ( )

Of course it is an influential book, yes, and if I rated it solely on that, it would easily rate five stars.

My rating is solely on literary merit, and Hitler is not Goethe. His writing is dry and wanders from topic to topic.

Nevertheless, it is a terrifying read. ( )