The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla: Book Review

I’m not the biggest reader of non-fiction. I take forever to get through them and it’s hard for me to find a particular topic or person that I genuinely find interesting – i’m more of an essay or article reader when it comes to that. But seeing as I made it a goal of mine this year to read more non-fiction, I thought The Good Immigrant (2016) – which is a collection of 21 essays by UK based BME writers, would be a good one to start with.

There are so many different stories, views, perspectives and experiences in this book, in relation to the word Immigrant – some that I related to, learned from, some that made me laugh, some sad and a few that really made me uncomfortable.

In an era where social media has made it so easy for everyone to share their stories and experiences (both good and bad) via posts and threads, there was something about reading these essays which made them so much more engaging – almost as if I was getting a glimpse into their personal diaries. They write about their mothers and fathers, siblings and experiences with those they meet and encounter in ways that made me think about my own experiences with the word immigrant and what it means to be a ‘good immigrant.’ – I could honestly write an entire essay myself on this topic… maybe one day..

❝Integrate well. Move upwards in society. Be praised – until people worry that you’re doing too well, and then they remember that you’re foreign.❞

A couple of standouts for me were:

• Darren Chetty’s essay,
‘YOU CAN’T SAY THAT! STORIES HAVE TO BE ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE’
– which is about representation in children’s literature.

• Sarah Sahim’s essay, ‘PERPETUATING CASTEISM’
– which is about the ‘Caste System’ in India, and a form of discrimination i’d never heard about until reading this essay.

• Musa Okwonga’s essay, ‘THE UNGRATEFUL COUNTRY’
– which is about his experiences trying to be a ‘good immigrant’ both during and after his time at a private boarding school.

The only negatives I have about this book is that there are some essays that are both written and expressed better than others. Some essays ended far too soon and others felt either too long or repetitive. One thing that I noticed but don’t think is a negative per-say, is that I found myself not relating to as many essays on a more personal level as I thought I would which I think is a testament to how unique and specific every story is …And now that I think about it, the only people who would be able to entirely relate to my experience, are my siblings.

Overall, I think this was an interesting and informative collection of essays.

And if you haven’t already, I highly recommend that you give The Good Immigrant a read!!

4/5

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