Carolyne K
asked:
This author did an amazing job with "The Warmth of Other Suns." I hope she treats this topic equally well. After you read this one, what do you think?
To answer questions about
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,
please sign up.
Beth Shorten
I am not yet finished with this. I had to put it down because it was too painful to read...and all the more so because it is real and true.
This is incredibly well written; informative and not preachy. Honest but not judgemental. It is making me think and self reflect and I am not even halfway into it.
This is incredibly well written; informative and not preachy. Honest but not judgemental. It is making me think and self reflect and I am not even halfway into it.
Deborah
Wilkerson addresses an important and interesting topic, but I did not finish this book. Her metaphors, which started out intriguing, soon wore thin, and I found the content repetitive. Since I borrowed it from my local library, I opted to let someone on the wait list have it rather than plodding through to the end.
Cindy Leighton
I read Warmth of Other Suns and loved it. This one is much easier and much harder to read. Her style in this one is much easier because it is filled with anecdotes and even though it is incredibly well researched, she just writes with a very readable style. Hard to read, because as others have pointed out wow, it's tough to see the US compared to Nazi Germany and India and see the US caste system in all its brutality. This is even stronger than Warmth IMHO.
Christie P
As others have said, it's difficult to read at times but it really puts things that have happened in the last decade into perspective. As well as current events. It certainly makes me look at the world through a different lens. I really appreciate the work she put into the research and references for this book.
Sue Duronio
YES! And I totally agree with Beth below. Almost had to put it down. The atrocities she describes, without being preachy, are just too unreal to fathom as so many others' realities, both past and present. It's fantastic. I SO agree with Oprah, should be required reading for ALL humanity.
A_mah
Such an important read if you're ready to be vulnerable and really examine America's painful History and culture and how it is still a part of our current social norms. Wilkerson asks you to open your mind AND your heart while reading this book.
K2 -----
I am at the halfway point and picked it up because I liked her first books so well. I have learned almost nothing from this book and feel it needed a better editor. Her first book is one of the best I have read it years. I suppose if this information was new to a reader it would be helpful but I don't get the popularity, but I am sticking to it because of friends going on and on about it. Are Americans really that naive about the roots of racism and class in our country?
Erin Giglia
The books are similar, but the Warmth of Other Suns is more of a historical account based on interviews with people who lived through the Great Migration from the South to the North. It tracks people's lives, families, and experiences. It is very personal, and uses the personal accounts to illustrate the larger movement, and to explain many current issues. Caste is a different vibe, but it is equally powerful and compelling. I recommend both books.
Rajiv S
99pages (99pagesclub.com) is hosting a livestream open bookclub on Caste starting on Aug 30 to discuss this with a diverse group of panelists from a wide range of ideologies and view points. Should be a healing discussion! Please join us!
Aug 30 (730p ET): Parts 1-2
Sep 13 (730p ET): Parts 3-5
Sept 20 (730p ET): Parts 6-7
Aug 30 (730p ET): Parts 1-2
Sep 13 (730p ET): Parts 3-5
Sept 20 (730p ET): Parts 6-7
Nick Anderson
This was the first book of hers that I have read, so I can't yet make a comparison to "The Warmth of Other Suns," but based on the impact that this book had on me, I will be reading it soon.
Ruth Rotkowitz
Excellent, excellent study of caste and how it affects life for everyone. Things you already know are made real and personal, and are explained and connected briliantly.
Gerry Durisin
I liked The Warmth of Other Suns a lot, but found this book at least equally informative and a somewhat more engaging read. Not an easy read, but definitely worth the time and effort.
Zach
Never read the other book and will never, but this book was terrible. She offered no information that wasn't common knowledge and packed her pages with analogy after analogy.
To summarise the entire book. America has a caste system and not all people are treated equally.
To summarise the entire book. America has a caste system and not all people are treated equally.
Faith Wheatley
This is an outstanding and gripping book! Not easy reading, but brilliant! I have not read, "The Warmth of Other Suns", but am planning to do so!
Kaitlyn Varin
I just finished and on the other side of this question. I didn’t like how Caste was written and found the style difficult to read, then the content got repetitive and the main points simplified a lot of history and three very diverse groups of people, countries, and time periods.
I’m hopeful that The Warmth of Other Suns is better and have added it to my Want to Read list.
I’m hopeful that The Warmth of Other Suns is better and have added it to my Want to Read list.
Sharon Tabor
I got so tired of the discussion of India and Germany it was a chore to continue. But I did. The dissertation and repetitive analogies of Nazi Germany and the Indian Cast system will not fix the present or future problems. We just need to make the Declaration of Independence "..... all men are created equal" a reality. I lived integration and I am living the current unrest. Rather than rehash the past, find a solution - no one is doing that other than being destructive, abusive, and creating more divisiveness.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more