I recently reread (this time as an ebook) this gripping biography with a new Foreword from 2017, complete with almost 30 photographs. The title is supposedly the fifteen-year-old author’s answer to the inquiry of a Taliban terrorist seeking to find her and kill her. And it was all because she and her equally determined father were untiring advocates of education for the girls in her oppressed homeland.
The shooting on October 9, 2012, on the school bus taking her home, lead to critical brain injuries and a prolonged recovery as the whole world rallied to save her life and her cause, including skilled neurosurgeons in both Pakistan and Britain. It also lead to international recognition for her and her cause, the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to the youngest person in its history, the Malala Foundation supporting education of children worldwide, and speaking engagements for her, including to the United Nations General Assembly. Her laudable work is ongoing. Her father is given due credit for her accomplishments but seems content to avoid the limelight.
Even with a British journalist co-writer, the writing is straightforward and like that of many other bright teenagers. And, remarkably, there is no braggadocio or sense of self-importance.
It is difficult for this anglophone to master the complex foreign names of people and places, and to understand the cultural norms, particularly with the frequently-inserted Urdu and Pashtun words and phrases. I suspect that many readers also share my difficulty in understanding the vast varied geography (although a map is included), the constant tribal rivalries and the dysfunctional ever-changing politics of her homeland. But the story is more relevant than ever as the Taliban take over neighbouring Afghanistan with inevitable cruel repression of women and girls.
I found only one clear error. Abraham is said to be told by God to sacrifice Ishmael, not Isaac. There are some seemingly unusual features. “The first [shot] went in through my left eye socket and out under my left shoulder.” Much later, a man is shot with a bullet that supposedly went in through his neck and out through his nose. What postures would allow that?
She constantly prays to and thanks Allah with the abbreviation PBWH (peace be with him) always following any mention of his name, and is apparently so indoctrinated into Muslim ways of thinking as to, in spite of her clear brilliance, never question why her prayers are never answered. I realize this form of cognitive dissonance is not confined to Muslims. And it disturbs this secular humanist physician that she heaps more praise on Allah for saving her life than the very skilled neurosurgeons who did all of the work.
This teenager whose brain had not yet even fully developed is a remarkable example of the power of one individual to better the world for all. I suspect this book will become as durable and important as The Diary Of Anne Frank, written by an equally remarkable teenage girl.
The Passionate Reader 