Racists

by Kunal Basu

In 1855, an ambitious eugenics experiment pits a British craniologist, Dr. Samuel Bates, against his French rival, Jean-Louis Belavoix: two infants, a black boy and a white girl, are raised on a deserted island by a mute nurse and monitored twice yearly. But doubts surface in London about the scientists' real intentions. Eventually, the ferry captain who supplies provisions to the island agrees to help the nurse escape with the children; but, before he returns to rescue them, an "accident" turns their reunion into tragedy.

Genres: Fiction, India, Historical Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2008

About the author

Kunal basu was born in Calcutta. Raised by unorthodox parents, both litterateurs and political activists, he developed an early love for the arts: painting, acting and writing.

Since 2001, he has published four novels, a collection of short stories, written a few screen plays and (mostly unpublished) poetry.

Reviews

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Racists is a panorama of 19th-century ideas about race, but it is also a sly, penetrating commentary on their contemporary survival, highlighting the cross-fertilisation between social science, politics and philanthropy. Taut, elegant and intelligent, this is one of the most interesting novels so far to chart the history and content of European racism." says Mike Phillips - read his excellent review here; http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/...

[Uma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a quick read. The tale had so much potential for a grand climax......perhaps I expected too much and was dissapointed that it didn't reach the heights I expected of it. The topic in itself had so much possibilities.
I give this book 2 and a half stars.

[Madeleine McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice story about racist experiments in human behavior. A black boy and white girl of the same age are left with a mute nurse alone on an island to see which one will be 'superior'. Alas, it's the scientists themselves who become the savages.

[Danyel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I did enjoy the book and I didn't know how it was going to end right up until the final moments. The story was engaging and the author explored ideas of race, class and gender in a respectful and honest fashion. I sometimes found the dialogue wordy and over verbose but overall the book is a good read.

[Pratistha Das · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't quite live up to my expectations. A wonderful look at the issue of race in pre-Darwinian age; but the book didn't quite know what to do with it. A bit disappointing.

[Northerngirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a lot of potential but I found the climax to be quite short and then it ended...could have been better.

[Meliisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of the dominant race experiment intrigued me. The storyline kept me entertained, but I found myself wanting more. The climax failed to my expectations also.

[Neha Goyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

2/5 stars for execution, 1/5 for the premise.
So much potential, such fodder for thought, let down by the end. Shame.

[Krittika Sen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick and easy read. 2.5/5. This book had so much potential but literally none of it was realised. The reader keeps waiting but the climax is one of the most dull and uneventful ones I've ever read.

[Jethin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the book, knowing that it was a work of fiction, but hoping that it would have some kind of insight into result of the experiment. But it was first a novel about the story on the conduct of the experiment and the small life/incident stories of the individuals being experimented upon and the scientist themselves.

There is nothing that can taken from the book on the major selling point plot. The idea, the core idea was very interesting but the books fails tell anything about that directly. There looks to be subtle suggestions, but I may have missed it. Overall, I was a bit disappointed.

[Praveen Palakkazhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating concept - Two scientists decide to settle the issue of the race war once and for all by letting a black boy and a white girl grow up on a remote island with only a mute nurse to foster them. As the years go by, the experiment becomes more difficult to sustain and ultimately grave consequences await. I loved the book's idea and there is some wonderful writing here. However, towards the denouement, things to tend to get a bit monotonous and repetitive. Despite this, I would still recommend this to the discerning reader.

[Yasmine Alina a · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Book about a scientific experiment in the mid-19th century in which a white girl and a black boy are raised together as savages on a small uninhabited island off the coast of Africa"

The whole story seems to be lacking something and the link between episodes are sometimes too abrupt and completely unbelievable but I definitely enjoyed the descriptions. They are probably the best parts of this book as the story itself could have been taken to a much better level. It is nevertheless an interesting idea.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise that I was super-stoked to read about. I had hoped the author would delve further into the actual experiment versus the scientists, and even now I'm not 100% on his motivation.

It was a good illustration of what pre-evolutionism must have been like. The stark racism and white superiority depressed me and I wonder how the human race ever evolved.

[Priyank · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot has such great potential but it is mostly wasted by author trying to make the story more sluggish and about technicalities rather than making it interesting fiction.
The end was also as bland as the story flow.

Good potential gone wasted!

[Karishma · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting read

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 1 out of 5]

weird book it tried to carry the story by a series of asides and since the people were very strange so was the book content

[Aishwarya]

uhm.. interesting... but inconclusive as far as i could make out.,

[Sanjeev Nv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great plot and good buildup but ending is disappointing. Tries to get deeper into minds of main protagonists but somewhere looses heart to go deeper. Gets superficial at times.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

*The premise of the experiment had a lot of flaws that I can't see the point of getting through with it.
*The plot was interesting but it turned out a dud - the ending was a disappointment.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this novel was sound but I felt the story lost its way towards the end.