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A review by vickywong710
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This was an interesting book that’s part-memoir and part-history book, although I must admit I did find it a bit muddled and messy at times.
I found the first half to be quite strong, especially the section about bodies, but then after that the rest of the book just felt like a slog just to get through (which is surprising given that it’s just 384 pages). I think Hirsch’s section on class was quite shallow and at times failed to properly address the intersection between class and racism.
The memoir sections were strong and powerful, and as a British-born Chinese Hongkonger there were elements struggling with your identity that I could relate to, but I do think mixing memoir with history at times made it repetitive and muddled.
It’s hard to not compare this book to Reni Eddo-Lodge’s “Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race” which was published a year earlier, and on many counts I feel like Eddo-Lodge’s book is the better one. I feel like Hirsch’s book while fascinating, it doesn’t add too much that is new to the conversation about racism and identity in the UK.
I found the first half to be quite strong, especially the section about bodies, but then after that the rest of the book just felt like a slog just to get through (which is surprising given that it’s just 384 pages). I think Hirsch’s section on class was quite shallow and at times failed to properly address the intersection between class and racism.
The memoir sections were strong and powerful, and as a British-born Chinese Hongkonger there were elements struggling with your identity that I could relate to, but I do think mixing memoir with history at times made it repetitive and muddled.
It’s hard to not compare this book to Reni Eddo-Lodge’s “Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race” which was published a year earlier, and on many counts I feel like Eddo-Lodge’s book is the better one. I feel like Hirsch’s book while fascinating, it doesn’t add too much that is new to the conversation about racism and identity in the UK.