elentikvah's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This was a slower, more challenging read. While learning something new in nearly every paragraph, it falls into the category of treatise in my mind - highly informative, but a bit dry.
The basic premise of the book, that race is a social construct, is something familiar to me. That said, I found the origins of the word "caucasian" to be thought provoking, while the explorations of the ever evolving views of culure and race by artists, poets, and philosphers was interesting (though honestly at times more difficult to engage with!)
While I am glad that I read it, this is not a book that expect to come back to multiple times over the years. If you are interested in this subject, then pick it up from the library and try in on for size!
Rating 3/5 stars "liked it"
14 hrs and 9 mins
Audiobook
The basic premise of the book, that race is a social construct, is something familiar to me. That said, I found the origins of the word "caucasian" to be thought provoking, while the explorations of the ever evolving views of culure and race by artists, poets, and philosphers was interesting (though honestly at times more difficult to engage with!)
While I am glad that I read it, this is not a book that expect to come back to multiple times over the years. If you are interested in this subject, then pick it up from the library and try in on for size!
Rating 3/5 stars "liked it"
14 hrs and 9 mins
Audiobook
scrow1022's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating, dismaying, and often entertaining. Especially illuminating for me to keep in mind as I read 19thC literature. One of those mind-opening books that will forever change how I think about things.
mariocomputer's review against another edition
4.0
It isn't what I expected (I thought it would be a deeper deconstruction of what we perceive to be white, but it's more of an academic historical survey), but I certainly did learn a lot. My favourite parts were reading about courageous progressives, telling the truth about racial oppression in much more racist and backward-thinking times. Also, I didn't know the racist history of the GI bill, and it makes so much sense (so much racial oppression is omitted from the history we learn growing up), and gave me a different perspective on the incessant self-congratulation of my parents' generation, the baby boomers, who act like they weren't born into the most privileged generation in history.
kyladenae94's review against another edition
3.75
an ambitious project that suffers, i think, from its scope. as it stands, this is a broad overview of a generally narrow slice of intellectual writings concerning race across europe. despite being published in 2010, the language used for people groups is often archaic, and race often exists in the author’s narrative as something not-quite-defined, despite the shade cast at folks who do the same thing. overall, probably a good introductory text, but i think there are better ones out there.
eitaneverett's review against another edition
5.0
I initially rated this four stars when I read it a few years ago, but since then, what I learned in this book has influenced my outlook on so much, I think it probably deserves the 5 stars. Put simply, I think it is a crucial read for understanding race in the United States.
It is focused on the construction of the idea of a "white" race, and in that focuses on the European and USA influences on that.
It is a long, dense, and dry read, and I do sort of wish for a more accessible read that I could recommend to others with more of a chance they'd actually read it, as I think having the history of the concept of a white race is a crucial tool in the fight against organized white supremacy, and if more people were better at articulating this history, fewer people would fall prey to the idea of an overarching "white identity".
But at the end of the day, I love this book.
It is focused on the construction of the idea of a "white" race, and in that focuses on the European and USA influences on that.
It is a long, dense, and dry read, and I do sort of wish for a more accessible read that I could recommend to others with more of a chance they'd actually read it, as I think having the history of the concept of a white race is a crucial tool in the fight against organized white supremacy, and if more people were better at articulating this history, fewer people would fall prey to the idea of an overarching "white identity".
But at the end of the day, I love this book.