Reviews

Identitti by Mithu Sanyal

Only show reviews with written explanations

raconteurs's review against another edition

5.0

Wow mir schwirrt der Kopf. Ein rasanter Roman der sich wie direkt aus der Gegenwart anfühlt (und es ja auch ist) und ungefähr 1000 Fragen aufwirft. Dazu dann noch Dutzend Buchempfehlungen um sich mit dem Thema Identität auseinander zu setzen. Großartig!

bookishkitkat's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

This book was thought provoking, but very strange. Even if I LOVED this book, I would still feel uncomfortable recommending it. For one the phrase "I just adored the notion of nipple sucking as a form of social exchange" appears not even 10 pages into the book. That wasn't even the wildest part of the novel at that point, I just genuinely don't want the actual craziest parts of the novel on my digital footprint.

This book follows our main character Nivedita, an Indian-Polish girl in Germany doing post-colonial and race studies under her beloved professor Saraswati. We see throughout the novel that Nivedita is clearly insecure about being biracial, and tries to claim her Indian identity through the validation of her professor, the people she sleeps with (both white and brown), as well as her cousin Priti. This quest spectacularly blows up in her face when it comes to light that Saraswati is actually a white woman in brownface. What follows is an examination of race, social constructions, and identity politics all through the lens of Nivedita processing this scandal.

The novel alternates between Nivedita's debates with Saraswati post-scandal and anecdotes of her life up until that point. It honestly felt like this book inserted shocking anecdotes to keep the readers interest in what would otherwise be a very long, imagined, dense debate about post-colonial race theory. Seriously there were some wild sexcapades that felt purposeless. Some of the other anecdotes were poignant and relatable. The debates, while long, had some really interesting gems and takeaways. I don't agree with everything the author was trying to assert, but I appreciated the conversation nonetheless.

Another major part of the novel is Nivedita's imagined conversations with the goddess Kali. I had so many thoughts about this. I think I was mostly frustrated that the basically the only portrayal of Hinduism was Kali being the girlboss feminist sex-positive icon. Admittedly, I'm not the most perfect nor most knowledgable Hindu out there, but it still struck me as such a superficial depiction. There were ideas that were touched upon (such as fluidity of gender and identity and the notion of a soul in Hinduism) but never fully explored. I honestly just wish the the book did away with this and had Nivedita in conversation with someone else instead.

All-in-all an interesting read. I wouldn't necessarily recommend, but I still want others to read it so they understand what I'm feeling right now.

katiide's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jcarolm's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

anh_read's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Als eine Person mit Migrationshintergrund konnte ich mich mit vielen Sachen identifizieren. Generell war das Buch ein interessantes Gedankenexperiment. Ich fand es faszinierend, wie Saraswati die Argumente, die gegen Rassismus sprechen, für sich nutzte, um ihr eigenes Handeln zu rechtfertigen. Auch stimmte ich ihr in vielen Aussagen zu, was sie in ihren Vorlesungen predigte. Doch mit dem Hintergrund, dass sie ihre Herkunft „vortäuschte“, fand ich es schwierig, diese ernst oder an mich zu nehmen. Aber das fand ich wiederum genial an dem Buch, weil es mich dazu bewegte, mich weitaus mehr mit den Themen auseinander zu setzen.

Was mich wiederum an dem Buch störte war die Länge. Denn die Geschichte zog sich ab einem gewissen Punkt hin. Man bekam von Saraswati keine richtigen Antworten und irgendwie drehte man sich mit ihr im Kreis. Das Ende kam dafür zu abrupt.

Die Idee, dass Nivedita zuvor noch mit Kali sprechen konnte, fand ich anfangs faszinierend. Doch wurde für mich der Reiz gebrochen als diese sich den anderen offenbarte. Ich hatte eher damit gerechnet, dass die Geschichte näher an der Realität bleibt. Nach der Offenbarung und dem Attentat in Hanau ging alles schnell dem Ende zu. Und irgendwie störte mich der Fakt, dass Saraswati kaum Konsequenzen von ihren Taten zog und fröhlich weiter machen konnte.

line_magnus's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book has an intriguing premise and raises and discusses some really interesting questions. It dives deeply into matters of 'race' and identity, and I appreciated that. However, it was also too chaotic, long and rambling for my taste. That's just preference though. Your mileage may vary.