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ckkurata529's review
4.0
I loved the idea of this book, got a little lost towards the beginning. But by the end I could relate a lot to the author’s relation to whiteness, leaning in to assimilation and growing her own sense of self with regards to race and identity in the US.
kiraav's review against another edition
5.0
This was a powerful memoir by an Indian woman who emigrated to America in 1982 but ended up an immigrant. She now lives with her husband and three kids in America itself.
I loved everything about this book, from little anecdotes in India to race culture in America. The part I liked the most was how the author didn't try to paint a perfect picture of India or Indians in the book. She gave due importance to casteism in India and compared it to racism. I was in awe upon reading such raw accounts of how India used to be in the late twentieth century.
I quite liked the final "Not white" stance of author as well and not just a word she chose to describe herself but the whole explanation about white being normative. It got me thinking and I realised we never do use "white man" as someone might use "Asian" or "Black" to describe people of different skin colors. And I just loved the concept of "Not White".
5 stars
I loved everything about this book, from little anecdotes in India to race culture in America. The part I liked the most was how the author didn't try to paint a perfect picture of India or Indians in the book. She gave due importance to casteism in India and compared it to racism. I was in awe upon reading such raw accounts of how India used to be in the late twentieth century.
I quite liked the final "Not white" stance of author as well and not just a word she chose to describe herself but the whole explanation about white being normative. It got me thinking and I realised we never do use "white man" as someone might use "Asian" or "Black" to describe people of different skin colors. And I just loved the concept of "Not White".
5 stars
amylee218's review
3.0
I won this book in a giveaway. It was interesting to read of Sharmila Sen's experience as a new immigrant to America, and how the concept of Race as a way to classify and divide people was different than had been her experience in India. Of course, India has its own way of classifying and dividing, because wherever you go, people are people. Her story of trying to figure out where she belonged, and to what group, were interesting. I taught middle school in an inner city (in Massachusetts, where the Sen family settled) for years, and we had student body that was primarily students classified as black and hispanic, with white students being the next largest segment. We also had a cluster of immigrants, muslims from Africa, mostly Somali. These students were in class together (because of the language barrier, and the lack of translators who could help them, it was hard to integrate them), they sat together at lunch, and, despite well-meaning educators, it was obvious that they were considered "the other," kids who were not the same. Kids who fasted for Ramadan. Who wore scarves on their heads. Kids who had little to no formal educational experience. These students could never "pass". Not even for regular African-American kids. This is what Sharmila's story made me think of-- the struggle and reality of the real immigrant experience.
ollie_again's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Why do blackface and brownface bother me? Because I have been wearing whiteface for so long. Because my Halloween never ends.
A great memoir about trying to assimilate, to become white, to wear the whiteface and inevitably failing because they are not quite... Pushing oneself into the 'model immigrant' role just to be a scapegoat and the 'bad' immigrant when the situation calls for it. Or how thin the line between two really is, or if there is any line at all.
Sharmila Sen recounts her journey to the US of A when she was a child of a middle-class family in India (specifically Bengal region), her want to assimilate, to blend in with the white majority, adopting white American customs, food, and registering the existing racial hierarchy (and above else learning about the concept of race in America), trying to fit the mold of whiteness, and pushing away everything and anything that had to do with her 'Indianness'. And then reclaiming all of it. Her life in India is interwoven in the narrative, comparing the social stratification there and in the US and more.
The only thing that I didn't like as much in the book were the lists of actors, tv shows, etc. when the author tries to provide examples of things she watched to assimilate or which she missed, one or two would be enough for every time but there's four here, five there, etc. (and as someone who watches maybe two movies a year and has no clue about Bollywood OR Hollywood, my eyes just passed these parts without registering any information.) And sometimes rehashing the same thing in almost the same words, but that was just a minor problem.
Overall though, very approachable and informative read.