many influences and schools of thought, no 'true Hinduism" now or in past

Covered a lot of ground on many different topics, but I was hoping to read more about the myths and traditions i grew up with, i realize it's only one book and can't cover everything. ( )

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A collection of trees depicting the vast forest of Hinduism, giving a better overview than generalities. The author shifts her focus throughout the history, but there is a subtle design and a variety of themes that reoccur (women, horses, Dalits). One comes away from the book with a myriad of impressions which encapsulates the diversity Hindu experience. The prose is witty but never irreverent. ( )

Whatever the layer of Hindu tradition, or period of Indian history, Doniger has fascinating things to say about it—the sources of Indus Valley civilization, the relationship between the sacrifice descriptions in the Rig Veda and actual practice, the obscurities of the Brahmanas and Upanishads, the narrative strands and evolution of the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata, a bullshit-free take on “Sects and Sex in the Tantric Puranas and the Tantras,” and of course, the Mughals and the British Raj.

Wendy Doniger's style is direct, and she does not hide behind academic jargon or specialized vocabulary. She is witty, punny, and incisive. Yes, she is erudite and yes, the references and complexities do come thick and fast, but she is never deliberately oblique or unnecessarily difficult.

As others have said, The Hindus: An Alternative History isn't by itself an introduction to Hinduism. In the decade since I took a basic undergrad one-semester intro to Hinduism, I have read a modern translation of the Ramayana and a heavily abridged translation of the Mahabharata, and spent about a month studying the Mughals in a grad history seminar. So I had some very basic foundations in place to read this—enough to make sense of much of this text at first go. For others I would suggest, as Doniger does in her introduction, that a little preparatory/supplementary reading would not hurt. There are easier starting points.

It may sound like a slightly awkward recommendation, but this is a perfect second book to read about Hinduism—compelling enough to keep this reader thoroughly engaged through 700 pages of fairly dense prose.

More than enjoyable, it is also important, and not merely because of the well-publicized censorship fight around it. Doniger herself has written (last week in the New York Review of Books) about the censorship fight in India, and also about parallel conflicts over public school curricula in the US. We can’t allow a situation to emerge where only religiously-authorized voices can speak publicly about religions. Scholarship *about* religions needs to have a public face. Our world needs more Wendy Donigers. ( )