Response, also previously under comments

Reaching the middle of Carnegie's autobiography, his creative sense seemed to drift from the beginning of his writing. I found the beginning of his life to be entertaining and towards the middle of his writing it was more informative. He went into great detail about his career evolving, steel mills, and other details that i actually found quite boring. Maybe it's because I'm an English major and i love the narrative of a good story verses the informative text. I also sensed a change in Carnegie's mood; he seemed to go from a playful soul to more of a corporate suit. I could visualize the mental transformation of a young boy trying to earn his first dollar, to a business man trying to earn his first million.

Carnegie stated, "A wise man is the confirmed optimist." Aside from Carnegie shining a huge spotlight over his career achievements, i actually found that statement to be very meaningful. As a self proclaimed cynic, i actually find optimism to be endearing and a trait that i highly admire. I have learned (even if difficult at times), that even the worst thing in life can simply not be the worst thing in life. It simply means that at times if it seems the world is ending, life goes on. I believe that's what Carnegie was trying to say. It's like the saying "there is no use crying over spilt milk," just clean it up and realize that there are more important things in life to focus on. I also found it interesting that Carnegie focused so much of his writing on his achievements. Let me clarify, it just made me wonder that if i ever wrote an autobiography would i want to insistently brag about all of my accomplishments and still try to come off as humble? Countless times Carnegie tried to play off his accomplishments as if he were so grateful and that every single accomplishment was the best thing that ever happened to him. I realize that Carnegie did amazing things, thus giving him a right to essentially brag about these amazing things. However, when does the bragging and constant repetitiveness of gratitude come to a believable approach? I simply cannot believe that Carnegie held every achievement at the same level, and analyzing his writing there is a huge difference from the boy that earned his first two dollar raise to the man that traveled the world on a growing salary. I also found it interesting that when mentioning names (and trust me, he mentioned countless names), he always had to provide some sort of dialogue or documentation to go along with what was said about the relationship with that particular person. It just didn't feel realistic that Carnegie could remember the exact words said amongst colleagues, or the steel workers, or anyone that told him how great he was (as was the implication i received from the book). Furthermore, it seemed odd that Carnegie had to offer some sort of "proof" that the things he said were true about these people, like saying i really was a good soul and here is a letter from so and so to prove it! I realize Carnegie was a powerful man, but perhaps setting this picture perfect image of him wasn't the way to go. I would have just preferred a real depiction of Carnegie, instead of the lets sweep the dirt under the rug and I'll only tell you about the people that admired me story.

Going along with what i said, Carnegie lost me at the start of naming numerous people that i really sense had no purpose in the book except to make him look like an ideal citizen. I would have preferred more detail and his references almost seemed to go all over the map, thus losing me from going to one point to the next. Carnegie seemed too caught up in explaining the success of his work to consider adding emotion to the text. Even if a story is completely outlandish but has soul, you can use imagination to believe in it. As much as Carnegie talked about having a heart and being a caring individual, i sensed none of that in his writing. He lost me when his words and actions fought against each other, also when he transitioned into more of an informative state

Why does he focus so much on banking and finance? It was his life. Even if one knew nothing about Carnegie, just reading the last ten chapters of his autobiography you can tell were his heart was. As much as Carnegie tries to play the innocent boy who had to work to the top, he cannot leave out the role of the greedy business man pushing his way through the corporate door. In a sense it was like he was trying to educate his readers on banking and finance, however, i saw it more as it was simply what he mastered and loved.