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sidharthvardhan's review
5.0
I give you two ideas of dystopias. In the first, there is a world most of humanity is scared of touching even by accident some people - there is no visible reason for it, but the fear is real. Not only you can't touch the person, but you also can't touch things they have touched And this is a source of humiliation for those that can't be touched. In the second, half the population of the world is raised with the idea that the mere sight of their body is an offense to decency. I could go on - and talk about other such worlds - one where guns are left out in open and books are kept in shelves under locks but these whole social issues talk presented as dystopia talk has started boring me already. My point is untouchability is one of those things that should seem too fantastic if it was something imagined and not real - a bit like slavery that way.
Mulk Raj Anand's novella was powerful even for me though, being an Indian, I knew its evils. It shocks me that it is not read more by western readers to whom some scenes would seem really dystopian. The first 70 percent of the novella is quite powerful - even trying to capture its protagonist's stream of consciousness at times. Later, it does turn contemplative though (I have no problem with that but it can be a turn-off for many readers); it seems to conclude that the solutions like conversion to Christianity, Gandhi, or having western toilets can solve the problem.
Unfortunately, that's far from the case. A few weeks back, some upper-caste children at government schools refused to eat food prepared by lower-caste workers. Untouchability had nothing to do with the kind of work people did; it is born of the privileged too willing to think lowly of others in order to think better of themselves.
Mulk Raj Anand's novella was powerful even for me though, being an Indian, I knew its evils. It shocks me that it is not read more by western readers to whom some scenes would seem really dystopian. The first 70 percent of the novella is quite powerful - even trying to capture its protagonist's stream of consciousness at times. Later, it does turn contemplative though (I have no problem with that but it can be a turn-off for many readers); it seems to conclude that the solutions like conversion to Christianity, Gandhi, or having western toilets can solve the problem.
Unfortunately, that's far from the case. A few weeks back, some upper-caste children at government schools refused to eat food prepared by lower-caste workers. Untouchability had nothing to do with the kind of work people did; it is born of the privileged too willing to think lowly of others in order to think better of themselves.
saba13's review against another edition
dark
2.0
The first three quarters of the book are thought provoking and interesting. Yet, the final quarter is kinda preachy and boring. But nonetheless a very important book that tells us about the sad reality of a sect of people.
garglytical's review
challenging
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I read this book to help my research and understanding for my EPQ (on the Hindu caste system) and it truly was an outstanding book. I am fortunate to have read it, even if it was for research because I can now talk about it with others who share my interests. I look forward to reading more novels by Anand :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide
Minor: Colonisation
jesshaleth's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
sydniearielle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
dimlight's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A touching narrative on evil social discrimination and the practice of untouchability. From the viewpoint of the protagonist, who belongs to the untouchables, one understands the ground reality of the conditions in which the socially oppressed live. The entire story is based on a single day of the protagonist but is enough to make us really feel for the suffering, pain, abuse, inhumanity and despair experienced by them.
shaambhavipathak's review against another edition
4.0
"How a round base can be adjusted on a round top, how a sphere can rest on a sphere is a problem which may be of interest to those who think like Euclid or Archimedes. It never occurred to Sohini to ask herself anything like this as she balanced her pitcher on her heat and when to and from her one-roomed home to the steps of the caste-well where she counted on the chance of some gentleman taking pity on her ad giving her the water she needed."
Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable gave me a taste of my own medicine as an Indian. Not saying that I am biased towards the caste, but there were several instances where I felt that why this sect has still not progressed even after 60-70 years of Independence.
I am a Brahmin, yes, just like the infamous Brahmin caste in the book. However much I try to say that I do not discriminate, somewhere down the line, I do remember growing up with this. Towards the end of the book, I could relate to Gandhi's speech, about how he never found them to be different, yet had to follow certain customs out of regard for family.
I remember my mother condemning me for playing with the kids of my maid or talking to the street urchins, supposedly from this caste. She said, "they're bad company". 20 years later, whenever I travel, I am not sure who I sit next to in the train, or metro or on a plane. A Thakur, Brahmin or Untouchable. As long as people don't know things are fine here, when they do know, though, some deep seated stigma switches on, forcing them to judge.
Coming back to the book, Mr. Anand did a great job putting the real face of an outcast personality. If I imagine Bakha today, I don't think I will be able to spot any difference between him and myself. He probably might be more well-read than me, well-settled and earning well.
The story talks about the misfortunes happening to the protagonist one fine day. Bakha is a character who is easily forgettable, yet, difficult to forget, once you know what goes inside his mind. Somewhere, in taking pride of one's own caste, we have forgotten that basically we are humans underneath this superfluous crap of caste and religion.
Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable gave me a taste of my own medicine as an Indian. Not saying that I am biased towards the caste, but there were several instances where I felt that why this sect has still not progressed even after 60-70 years of Independence.
I am a Brahmin, yes, just like the infamous Brahmin caste in the book. However much I try to say that I do not discriminate, somewhere down the line, I do remember growing up with this. Towards the end of the book, I could relate to Gandhi's speech, about how he never found them to be different, yet had to follow certain customs out of regard for family.
I remember my mother condemning me for playing with the kids of my maid or talking to the street urchins, supposedly from this caste. She said, "they're bad company". 20 years later, whenever I travel, I am not sure who I sit next to in the train, or metro or on a plane. A Thakur, Brahmin or Untouchable. As long as people don't know things are fine here, when they do know, though, some deep seated stigma switches on, forcing them to judge.
Coming back to the book, Mr. Anand did a great job putting the real face of an outcast personality. If I imagine Bakha today, I don't think I will be able to spot any difference between him and myself. He probably might be more well-read than me, well-settled and earning well.
The story talks about the misfortunes happening to the protagonist one fine day. Bakha is a character who is easily forgettable, yet, difficult to forget, once you know what goes inside his mind. Somewhere, in taking pride of one's own caste, we have forgotten that basically we are humans underneath this superfluous crap of caste and religion.
bookingmad's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Great book to highlight the turmoils and reality of a Dalit man, slightly damaged by the distance of the author from the content and lifestyle of who they are depicting.
interlibraryloan's review
4.0
The caste system is something utterly unknown to a Western audience, and not even reading about it brings our minds closer to what it means to live within it, to live oppressed under it, to have one's very essence boiled down to nothing more than defilement, something that has been enforced for thousands of years. Anand's narration style is strong and reveals to the reader Bakha's convoluted psyche, plagued by the effects of being an outcaste (a sweeper, no less, something beneath even a slave in that his essence is boiled down to nothing more than filth) as well as the events of his morning poisoning his day in whole. Insightful and detached, Bakha feels like a real individual, not simply a one-dimensional interpreter of the world and philosophy about him.
Anand closes the novel with the presentation of three solutions to the case of untouchability, at least for Bakha, making the structure of the novel simple and easy to get through, despite the profound message behind it.
Anand closes the novel with the presentation of three solutions to the case of untouchability, at least for Bakha, making the structure of the novel simple and easy to get through, despite the profound message behind it.