Tough-O-Meter

We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)

(4) Base Camp

This book is pretty straightforward and easy to understand—with one major exception: Gandhi doesn't provide much context for today's readers.

He originally wrote this material in weekly installments for his own Indian press, so his readers were familiar with who he was and his political actions. But, you might not be so sure who so-and-so is or what the significance of the Natal Indian Congress or some other groups are.

Our advice is to realize that these historical events and people surrounding the author aren't really the main point of the book, so you can focus on what is the main point: Gandhi's experiments with truth. He wants to tell you about his ideals, dietary experiments, and thoughts on books and religion, and all those things you can understand without necessarily knowing every name and reference in the text.

Of course, you can always look up the items you're unfamiliar with to see how much more you can get out of the book.