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amarj33t_5ingh's review
1.0
Ahh yes, another post-structuralist attempt at deconstructing a religion which posits the absoluteness of truth and its primacy in human life. Nesbitt takes over from where the notorious McLeod left off after being caught red-handed fabricating evidence to back up his fallacious claims on the field of Sikh studies. The entire book is narrated in a monotone voice with Nesbitt resorting to her tried and tested tactic of throwing in the occasional line of hyped-up academic jargon where she fails to make a convincing argument (the whole book is full of this failure sadly) and otherwise dismissing the lived experience of Sikhs themselves. An insult to the Sikh faith and the impartial academics studying it. This would make the Victorian orientalists of yesteryear proud and that should indicate to you how far removed from reality this book is.
eely225's review against another edition
4.0
It's important to restate my rating rationale here; I try to make the lion's share of my rating based on how well a book achieves what it intends to achieve. So there's a sliding scale, in a sense. This very short introduction has very limited aims, but I found that it executed them well. The introduction clearly lays out the fact that this is not merely an overview of religious beliefs and practices; it also addresses the historical events that made the religion what it is today and the many manifestations of the community worldwide. In a sense, it's as much sociological as it is theological. This is all by design, as the author refutes the idea of treating religious beliefs as unchanging, abstract ideas unimpacted by the people who practice them.
As a well-rounded summary of the faith and its adherents, then, this was quite good. I was reading other material that consistently referred to the Sikhs, but I didn't have a good grasp on what made them unique, aside from the oft-cited physical manifestations. I feel much more conversant in the basics of what makes the community what it is, as well as how they differentiate themselves from the broader religious landscape of India. The purpose of the book is in the title, and if that's what you're looking for, this is a great place to start.
As a well-rounded summary of the faith and its adherents, then, this was quite good. I was reading other material that consistently referred to the Sikhs, but I didn't have a good grasp on what made them unique, aside from the oft-cited physical manifestations. I feel much more conversant in the basics of what makes the community what it is, as well as how they differentiate themselves from the broader religious landscape of India. The purpose of the book is in the title, and if that's what you're looking for, this is a great place to start.
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