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2021: An amazing human, but a subpar memoir.
I really enjoyed learning about Maathai, a woman I had never heard of before. Her efforts to teach her fellow Kenyans how important it is to take care of the environment are admirable, and her achievements deserve to be shared. However, this was such a passive memoir. There's hardly any dialogue, and barely any reflection / analysis. It was merely a restating of events in the passive voice that I eventually grew bored with.
I agree with all of her comments about how social justice = climate justice, and I so appreciate the work she did to pave the way for women in Kenya. The whole saga of her literally BEING ARRESTED FOR WANTING A DIVORCE is a wild ride, and makes me so glad that I live in the time and country that I do. But the way the book is written paints Maathai as very self-righteous and a know it all. She comes across as "if only everyone had listened to me from the beginning, I could have solved all of Kenya's problems". This might actually be true, but it was off-putting to read.
By the end of Maathai's story, I should have been engaged and anxiously awaiting to hear how her many run-ins with the police would be resolved. Instead, I felt more like I was tediously waiting for the end of the book to come. Not the way you want to feel at the end of a very important person's life story. I enjoyed the content of the tales from Maathai's life, I just wish they had been better presented.
I really enjoyed learning about Maathai, a woman I had never heard of before. Her efforts to teach her fellow Kenyans how important it is to take care of the environment are admirable, and her achievements deserve to be shared. However, this was such a passive memoir. There's hardly any dialogue, and barely any reflection / analysis. It was merely a restating of events in the passive voice that I eventually grew bored with.
I agree with all of her comments about how social justice = climate justice, and I so appreciate the work she did to pave the way for women in Kenya. The whole saga of her literally BEING ARRESTED FOR WANTING A DIVORCE is a wild ride, and makes me so glad that I live in the time and country that I do. But the way the book is written paints Maathai as very self-righteous and a know it all. She comes across as "if only everyone had listened to me from the beginning, I could have solved all of Kenya's problems". This might actually be true, but it was off-putting to read.
By the end of Maathai's story, I should have been engaged and anxiously awaiting to hear how her many run-ins with the police would be resolved. Instead, I felt more like I was tediously waiting for the end of the book to come. Not the way you want to feel at the end of a very important person's life story. I enjoyed the content of the tales from Maathai's life, I just wish they had been better presented.