“Let us pick up our books and our pens,” I said. “They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
I really wanted to be m0ved by I am Malala: I am the mother of daughters in a free and equal society and when Malala's story first made the headlines, it hit home for me as a horrifying glimpse into the Talibanised society in which she lived. I wanted to know more of her story, was eager to read her memoir, but honestly, it's just not that well written. For all the world this book reminds me of those days when the newspaper's letters page is taken over by a high school Civics class -- so much earnest and opinionated writing that makes few compelling points. And this is with a ghost writer -- leading war correspondent Christina Lamb must have been constantly conflicted about when to maintain Malala's teenaged voice and when to guide her towards a more journalistic style. An example of the jumbled writing:
The new girls had horrible stories. Ayesha told us how one day on the way home from Sangota she had seen a Taliban holding up the severed head of a policeman by its hair, blood dripping from the neck. The Sangota girls were also very bright, which meant more competition. One of them, Rida, was excellent at making speeches.
There was much interesting history included -- and I don't think Malala's story would be complete without explaining how the Taliban got a foothold in her beloved Swat Valley -- but for a memoir, it failed to find a coherent autobiographical balance: it was both too personal (talking about constant bickering with her brothers) and left so much out (there is mention of travelling with her father to make a speech or do an interview here and there, but suddenly a town is naming a school after Malala and Desmond Tutu is nominating her for awards and I had gotten no sense that she would have been famous at this point). Even after Malala was targeted and shot (an event that I thought was a random attack when it hit our headlines) and her father was asked to accompany her to Britain for further treatment, he said: "I cannot leave the area. I am president of the Global Peace Council, the spokesperson of the council of elders, the president of the Swat Association of Private Schools, director of my school and head of my family." I had no idea he was that important despite his history and his passion for education being major parts of the book.
Some things that intrigued me that I would have liked to have read more about: the fear and distrust that the Pakistanis have for the Americans, initially after drone strikes that killed many innocent bystanders, but especially after the covert mission to kill bin Laden (it never occurred to me that anyone not involved in hiding him would have been opposed to whatever it took to root out bin Laden -- but of course we would have been going nuts up here in Canada if any other country subverted our autonomy like that); Malala's mother, despite being married to a dedicated educator, was illiterate and was at a school, finally taking her first reading lesson, at the same time her daughter was shot -- did she ever recommence her lessons?; by the end of the book, after the medical care and rehab is over, Malala and her family are settled in Birmingham, England for poorly explained reasons -- will they be returning to Pakistan or has Malala become too big to return to normal life?
The message of I am Malala is too important to be lost in the pages of a poorly written book -- which if it was simply rushed to print in order to capitalise on the small fame she received after the attack, well, that's understandable in our era of fly-like attention spans -- so I simply hope that Malala remains safe and carries on with her efforts to increase awareness for equal education all around the globe. Getting shot in the face by a terrorist didn't make Malala a hero, but where she goes from here just might earn her that status.
How interesting that Birmingham is apparently a hotbed of Muslim extremism. What must Malala be thinking?
