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A review by rogoreads
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
4.0
I remembered reading this book when I was in high school, and I was thinking about it again and decided to give it another go. I got so much more out of it this time around. I have been reading tons of blogs, about cultural appropriation and privilege, and picked up a lot that I didn't when I read it 10 years ago--I hardly even understood how awful Gwyn was back then, for example. It was also funny to see the things going on that Dimple was not yet aware of, but were crystal clear just from the little details and dialogue. Kavita and Sabina, for example. Kavita's coming out scene almost moved me to tears, actually, because her nervousness and then relief and giddiness at having done it and been accepted were so palpable.
The imagery was very imaginative and rich (if a tad heavy at times), and I really felt like I was inside Dimple's head. The scene where she smokes pot had this crazy surreal quality that made me feel like I was right there with her. And her family is so wonderful that I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall in their house--her parents are heartbreakingly sweet, and Kavita so loving but also the perfect cool older cousin. I loved how Dimple grew to see them all as human beings with flaws and stories of their own, which is a big part of growing up.
The huge glaring flaw in all of this was definitely Gwyn. Even putting aside her absolute cluelessness, the exotification of her best friend's culture (and family!) and all the cultural appropriation and insensitive comments, she is the worst, most horrible friend. I could not understand why Dimple thought she was so amazing. Everything she did was incredibly selfish and self-centered. Yeah, her backstory is tragic and she's jealous of Dimple's loving family. But all she did was interrupt Dimple, encroach on all her boundaries, condescend, and undermine her at every opportunity to try to make herself look better by comparison. Eating all her best fries, showing up in the exact same outfit (in a smaller size) on purpose, not telling Dimple about Karsh's birthday, completely ignoring her best friend any time there was a boy around. I was really glad when Dimple finally confronted her and they had their big fight, but then felt like it was undermined in their big reconciliation scene, when Dimple decided she had also been a bad friend and apologized first. The only redeeming thing Gwyn did was have the magazine use Dimple's photos (thereby letting Dimple gain recognition for her photos). "Letting" her have Karsh didn't even seem that generous to me, since she could tell the whole time that Karsh was into Dimple and only gave up when she had exhausted everything and still couldn't win him over. I think the book would have been much stronger if their friendship had been allowed to come to an end, since all of Gwyn's cultural insensitivity and undermining of Dimple was very glossed over so that they could reconcile.
Anyway, aside from that I really enjoyed the book and will probably read the sequel when it comes out. I want to hang out with Dimple and her family a little bit more.
The imagery was very imaginative and rich (if a tad heavy at times), and I really felt like I was inside Dimple's head. The scene where she smokes pot had this crazy surreal quality that made me feel like I was right there with her. And her family is so wonderful that I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall in their house--her parents are heartbreakingly sweet, and Kavita so loving but also the perfect cool older cousin. I loved how Dimple grew to see them all as human beings with flaws and stories of their own, which is a big part of growing up.
The huge glaring flaw in all of this was definitely Gwyn. Even putting aside her absolute cluelessness, the exotification of her best friend's culture (and family!) and all the cultural appropriation and insensitive comments, she is the worst, most horrible friend. I could not understand why Dimple thought she was so amazing. Everything she did was incredibly selfish and self-centered. Yeah, her backstory is tragic and she's jealous of Dimple's loving family. But all she did was interrupt Dimple, encroach on all her boundaries, condescend, and undermine her at every opportunity to try to make herself look better by comparison. Eating all her best fries, showing up in the exact same outfit (in a smaller size) on purpose, not telling Dimple about Karsh's birthday, completely ignoring her best friend any time there was a boy around. I was really glad when Dimple finally confronted her and they had their big fight, but then felt like it was undermined in their big reconciliation scene, when Dimple decided she had also been a bad friend and apologized first. The only redeeming thing Gwyn did was have the magazine use Dimple's photos (thereby letting Dimple gain recognition for her photos). "Letting" her have Karsh didn't even seem that generous to me, since she could tell the whole time that Karsh was into Dimple and only gave up when she had exhausted everything and still couldn't win him over. I think the book would have been much stronger if their friendship had been allowed to come to an end, since all of Gwyn's cultural insensitivity and undermining of Dimple was very glossed over so that they could reconcile.
Anyway, aside from that I really enjoyed the book and will probably read the sequel when it comes out. I want to hang out with Dimple and her family a little bit more.