Review: Gold Boy, Emerald Girl

With only three books under her belt, Yiyun Li has already received many accolades - she was voted one of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40," was selected as a 2010 MacArthur Foundation fellow, and was chosen as one of Granta's "21 Best Young American Novelists."  Impressive! 

Li was born in Beijing in 1972 and moved to the U.S. (currently an Oakland resident!) in 1996.  She was trained as an immunologist and came to the U.S. to study medicine.  She ultimately decided to pursue writing and got her MFA from the Iowa Writer's Workshop.  Gold Boy, Emerald Girl is a collection of short stories written with sensitivity and gravitas.  Li's work provides insight into Chinese culture, and while her stories are contemporary, events of the past often shape them.  Yiyun Li is undoubtedly a talented writer.  I can't say that I immensely enjoyed reading these stories, but I learned from them and appreciated their subtlety and power.

Review: Lives of Girls and Women

Alice Munro is a wonderful writer, and, I imagine, a great short storyteller, but a novelist she does not seem to be.  Munro is known for her short stories, but being in the mood for a novel, I chose to read her only one to date, Lives of Girls and Women.  The book tells the story of Del Jordan, who comes of age in rural Ontario in the 1940s. 

Many of the sentences crafted by Munro I read more than once, they were that good.  For example, Munro writes,"...I felt remorse, that kind of tender remorse which has on its other side a brutal, unblemished satisfaction."  And also, "I had not had a friend before.  It interfered with freedom and made me deceitful in some ways, but it also extended and gave resonance to life."  The book didn't work as a cohesive novel, and is more of a series of disjointed vignettes.  I would recommend reading Alice Munro, but I would suggest you start with one of her short story collections.

Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is an autobiography written by William Kamkwamba. Kamkwamba tells the story of his childhood in Malawi, growing up hungry and poor.  Since his family was not able to afford the school fees necessary to keep him enrolled in school, he began visiting a small library in his town and stumbled upon books about energy and physics.  The books inspired him to build a windmill.  With his resourcefulness and determination, Kamkwamba was able to build a windmill out of scrap metal and bicycle parts.  His hope was to bring electricity and running water to his town.  Having survived famine, Kamkwamba realized that a windmill could rotate a water pump which would allow for irrigation.  In addition, only 2% of Malawians have electricity, meaning that most Malawians are not able to be work or study after dark. Kamkwamba knew that if he could help to bring electricity to his town, it would increase productivity.

Kamkwamba's first windmill was able to light four light bulbs and power two radios in his home.  Soon, word spread of his invention, and Kamkwamba was invited to attend the annual TED (Technology, Environment, Design) conference, which brings together innovators from all over the world.  

This is a well-written, unflinching account of the power of innovation even in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances.  Kamkwamba now attends Dartmouth College.  His inspiring book reminds us that one person's ideas have the power to transform the world.