Do you believe this book?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

It is obvious that he had exaggerated a few parts of it. If not, I would call him God

You have said a lots of things in a few, yet quite strong words. I agree. For him to have all those things happened in the very best positive way, he should had had some super power than an ordinary human being. For whatever the reason, we have to understand that he have exaggerated the details in this book and maybe he have omitted all the negative and bad things that happened

[Gbemisola Akinremi]

To add more flesh, there might have been some little fictional touches here and there I believe. Everything can't be so seamless as accounted. My opinion though.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

To add more flesh, there might have been some little fictional touches here and there I believe. Everything can't be so seamless as accounted. My opinion though.

That is the point. Everything has gone perfectly well from A to Z. How is it possible? Anyone who reads this will think.

It is true that it can be the exact way that the things occurred. But I too believe that there is a high chance for some of these things to be fictional rather than being the truth. For whatever the reasons, Dr. Berrah had gievn a bit of fictional touch to his memoir

[PeterRabitt20]

I imagine that the people "cosigning" his memoir, at the beginning of the book, wouldn't support it if they thought that credibility is an issue. Also, I wonder how much push editors have in this issue. Overall, I'd believe it.

[Apearce808]

I did the same thing in conducting some brief research into Dr. Berrah - especially in the early part of the book (his involvement in the discovery of RNA transcriptase for example). I found what everyone else did - that it was true, but I was still left with the feeling of some unintended slight embellishment. In some parts it almost bordered on a 'Forrest Gump' vibe - how he just happened to be there for all these major events! No disrespect intended in any way - it was a remarkable story - he led a remarkable life. Maybe reading what I'm sure is the condensed version of his career would lead to these feelings and questions in the reader related to the reality/feasibility of being party to so many historical events in one persons lifetime!

[RachelEmmanuel]

I think the book is true. Dr Berrah is a respected public figure and I doubt he would risk his reputation by writing untruths. Could there be some exaggerations? Possibly. But I think the main points, especially events that would have had witnesses, are probably true.

[Eutoc]

While the deeds of Dr. Berrah are true, the reader should be reminded that some parts of the stories would be sugar-coated. And also, one would expect an author to write something pleasing and rosy about a character, where Dr Berrah is the character and author in this case.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I imagine that the people "cosigning" his memoir, at the beginning of the book, wouldn't support it if they thought that credibility is an issue. Also, I wonder how much push editors have in this issue. Overall, I'd believe it.

I don't think that the ones who co-sign the book refer to each and every detail and look for the credibility. As the author is a renowned character, they might have signed it with trust. On the other hand, it is not a legal document. So they don't have to worry much about credibility.

I don't think editors do much changes for the content. Maybe they can change a word or two but not larger chunks of data. So, whatever the exaggerations should be author's inclusions, and I am pretty sure he meant no harm from that

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I did the same thing in conducting some brief research into Dr. Berrah - especially in the early part of the book (his involvement in the discovery of RNA transcriptase for example). I found what everyone else did - that it was true, but I was still left with the feeling of some unintended slight embellishment. In some parts it almost bordered on a 'Forrest Gump' vibe - how he just happened to be there for all these major events! No disrespect intended in any way - it was a remarkable story - he led a remarkable life. Maybe reading what I'm sure is the condensed version of his career would lead to these feelings and questions in the reader related to the reality/feasibility of being party to so many historical events in one persons lifetime!

I am glad that you went for your own research and had the same experience that I had. I have the same feelings as you. It seems quite unusual when a single person is connected to lots of historically important events that happened in a short time span. Thanks for mentioning 'Forest Gump'. With all due respect, this memoir sometimes feels like that

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I think the book is true. Dr Berrah is a respected public figure and I doubt he would risk his reputation by writing untruths. Could there be some exaggerations? Possibly. But I think the main points, especially events that would have had witnesses, are probably true.

I also don't think that he have lied. Not only because he was a remarkable character, but also because of his religious beliefs, I don't think he will try to decieve people by writing a fraudulent book.

But what I say is, with no cross reference and considering the too positive aspect of the occurrings, it is quite hard to believe that a single man achieved so many things in a life time without any failures or draw backs

[Sushan Ekanayake]

While the deeds of Dr. Berrah are true, the reader should be reminded that some parts of the stories would be sugar-coated. And also, one would expect an author to write something pleasing and rosy about a character, where Dr Berrah is the character and author in this case.

If someone else was writing the memoir of Dr. Berrah, then he could have sugar-coated the details and made such a marvellous character. But usually that doesn't happen in autobiographies. Most of the authors are humble when writing their own story and many try to reduce the highlights, but not exaggerate them. Here what is happened is the opposite and that is why it feels a kind of unusual

[Yvonne Monique]

His memoir is surely based on true events, although written from his point of view and therefore maybe a bit more optimistic than mere subjective descriptions.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

His memoir is surely based on true events, although written from his point of view and therefore maybe a bit more optimistic than mere subjective descriptions.

I agree. The events are true and they are not a secret to the world. What we cannot know is whether Dr. Berrah was involved in each of those events to the extent that he has described in his book.

Yes, the book is optimistic. Maybe that is because he wrote his own story. But I feel that it is too optimistic to be totally true

[ciecheesemeister]

I don't see any reason not to believe it. I'm not sure why some are saying that the book is prettied up or glosses over hardships. It seems to me that being imprisoned and separated from one's spouse for long periods of time qualify as hardships.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I don't see any reason not to believe it. I'm not sure why some are saying that the book is prettied up or glosses over hardships. It seems to me that being imprisoned and separated from one's spouse for long periods of time qualify as hardships.

Well, those are counted as hardships. But here, what I see is not the lacking of hardships, but he hitting success each and every time that he tries something. The odds seems hard to believe and that is why majority thinks that either he has deliberately opted out the failures, or he has exaggerated the successes by a little bit.

But, I agree with you. Generally speaking, we don't have any reason no to believe this book