Book Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – 3 of 5 stars

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book while sitting on my couch, stuffing my face with Starburst jelly beans (side note; best candy ever). Needless to say, I don’t have any freaking clue what Kamkwamba’s life was like growing up. Or now, for that matter. I have no real concept of how hard farming in Malawi is. I don’t know how hot the sun gets or what it’s like to not have light after dark. I don’t know what it means to be hungry even for a day – much less an entire country being hungry in a famine. I don’t know what it feels like to have no money for school, to teach myself science, or to build something great.

What I’m trying say is, Kamkwamba and I don’t have a lot in common. I therefore feel like a D for not rating his book 5 stars. Oh well, it is what it is.

I certainly am glad I read it. There were many parts I won’t forget – particularly how he describe the famine in his country. It was incredible and he did such a great job at pointing out the parts of being hungry that became normal life. It made even a well-fed lady like myself feel cold all over. But that all fell away to the great joy I felt when he spoke about his first TED conference. Kamkwamba’s memoir does a great job at highlighting the highs and lows of his life.

Still, I don’t think this book is for everyone. If you like memoirs, you’ll enjoy it. If you’re not a huge memoir fan, you might want to pass. I found the beginning cumbersome with the stories of his family and the belief in magic in Malawi. I also found many of his descriptions of his learning and actual building of the windmill to be too detailed (probably because I didn’t understand it). I think they were valuable parts to write about and helped to round out the story, but it didn’t make for action-packed reading.

Regardless of the number of stars, I finished this book feeling inspired. I feel humbled and encouraged by the fact that there are people out there doing great things. Even though I know I will never achieve that kind of greatness myself, I hope I help a little just by hearing his story.