From Reviews

"... not only illuminates many nooks and crannies of Tagore's creativity but is in itself an imaginative and luminous meditation on art and life, the body and soul, and the East and the West."  Indian Express

".... a set of meditations by a thoughtful reader on what Tagore means to him ...the psychobiographical site where the deepest sources of imagination, joy and suffering can be located. For any psychoanalyst, this is a gift."  Outlook

"... paints a fascinating portrait of Tagore seen through the prism of psychological analysis of his own "memory pictures"." The Sunday Indian

"... unravels the puzzle that was Tagore....a pleasure to read."  India Today

"..adds a new and crucial dimension to Tagore studies, especially to understanding his life .... a book without which no Tagore scholar will be able to form an opinion of the poet."

The Statesman

From Reviews

"His superb memoir outlines the making of a modern Indian - how a ruminative and restless mind realized itself in the folds of a vocation of understanding. A Book of Memory somehow makes a gentle read out of Kakar's bruising candour, buoyed by his fluently meditative and occasionally lyrical prose."  Tehelka

"The prime movers of A Book of Memory are identity, relationships and as a function of these, eroticism, and Kakar frequently uses his psychiatric insights to address the crises of the first, the dimensions of the second and the imperatives of the third....in a series of observations that effectively benchmark our condition.... Kakar has this amazing ability to remember the smallest detail of everything he considers pertinent to his narrative." The Telegraph

"One of the delights of Kakar's memoir is his observation of his own feelings... no one has done this better with such finesse as he..... that rare autobiography without a touch of conceit."  Outlook

"..a big throbbing book about a long eventful life. Essential reading...."  India Today

"...intimate and very personal portrait of the author's own life, seen through the prism of memory, and filled with a wealth of detail and anecdote."  Indian Express

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"...a memoir whose recollections, dreams, wishes, ideas and thoughts mingle with the recapitulation of a life lived well... an elegant autobiography by a shrink who narrates how memory and mind shape much of our living consciousness." Business Standard "What helps the narrative to become riveting is that the story recounted is not a linear account but one that meanders just as consciousness does ...an unputdownable book." The Tribune

"Holds up a lens of understanding onto the impact of culture on Indian psyche." Mail Today "...honest, almost brutally so... and absorbing."  The Week

"...peppered with the colour and enchantment of the experience of a South Asian upbringing."  Himal

From Reviews

"This book is a page-turner, replete with references from sociology, neurobiology, philosophy, and Eastern and Western poetry."  International Journal of Psychoanalysis

"....should satiate the intellectual and spiritual hunger of inquisitive souls." Business Standard, India

"...aptly titled and absorbing study." Dawn, Karachi

"To read Sudhir Kakar's books is always a great joy. His combination of knowledge, humour and wisdom is as seldom as his literary and psychoanalytic approach to the world.... highly stimulating."  Die Tageszeitung, Germany

"I do not know of any author who is so convincing in combining the Enlightenment thought of modernity within Asian spiritual heritage without betraying the one to the other."  Spuren, Switzerland

From Reviews

"…a compelling work on the cultural character of the Indian people…both provocative and revealing."  Shyam Benegal, Outlook

"…an important book… a readable and carefully considered statement on the issue of identity."  Pavan Varma, India Today

"…remarkably perceptive analysis of Indian character." Khushwant Singh, Hindustan Times "This is a book which should be read by all Indian executives." Mark Tully, Financial Express

"This stimulating book is a magnificent attempt to understand Indian life in all its fullness…deepens our understanding of not just our lives but our minds as well." The Statesman

"Mr. and Mrs. Kakar display an encyclopedic and deep understanding of the Indian social reality, their "way of looking at things" is surpassed by none….This book is important for those who are just waking up to the India's economic juggernaut."  Far Eastern Economic Review

"This incisive book…succeeds in great measure in understanding and explaining the Indian character." Deccan Herald "Both intellectually rigorous and sensitive, Sudhir Kakar is a reliable guide to how Indians today experience their identity, their sexuality, their conflict between tradition and modernity."  Le Monde, France

"The fascinating portrait of society and culture of a country that will play an ever more important role in world politics in the future." Die Zeit, Germany

"The book is a treasure trove full of Aha-effects—not only for India lovers but for all those who in times of globalization seek to look beyond the rim of their own culture." Der Spiegel, Germany

"A very readable and richly nuanced book which seeks to uncover the common identity of ‘The Indians’ in their historical continuity, homogeneity and civilizational uniqueness." Neue Zuricher Zeitung, Switzerland

From Reviews

​"The Inner World takes giant strides in its efforts to formulate a different psychology of the Hindu, a psychology that fully takes into account the social and cultural milieu. The book undoubtedly will set the framework for future psychoanalytic work in India." Psychoanalytic Review

"As scholarly as it is an exciting journey into Indian childhood." Neue Zuricher Zeitung

"This book is recommended to everyone who is interested in India and its people, and everyone who wants to discover the self and the other in transcultural comparisons." Psyche

"….. an excellent example of applied psychoanalysis." Library Journal

"Only a non-Westerner like him could give us such a thoughtful book….. invaluable." Journal of Psychohistory

"….…the best application of psychoanalysis to Indian culture… A thoughtful and well-written exposition of the field, it achieves an elegant balance between conciseness and comprehensiveness….. stands as an authoritative statement." Journal of Psychological Anthropology

"The most important and the most daring of his works to date… Kakar has provided us with a paradigmatic achievement." Economic and Political Weekly

"Every student of psychology and anthropology in this country should read the book… an important contribution to the literature on Indian society." Social Action

From Reviews

"Candid look at how Indians think about a subject rarely discussed in public: sex and intimacy between men and women." Time

"Kakar is scrupulous in insisting that he is not writing about India so much as he is in delineating an “India” created by the texts he is so skilfully taking apart for us. It is this hidden India which is the subject of his fascinating book. One from which the real India – and all of us as well – can only benefit." The Japan Times

"An interesting and scholarly psychological study of the relationship between the sexes in India…… The author states his thesis with clarity….. rewarding." Psychoanalytic Quarterly

"Narrative is Kakar’s “interpretive a priori”. Culture, social form, and mind are all finally grounded in story and take their distinctive shapes from it. Kakar is deeply committed to the narrative movement in cultural studies, finding in psychoanalysis simply one – although the best one for him – among many kinds of possible narrative competence." History of Religions

"Explores with as much scholarship and glorious insight as one has come to expect from Sudhir Kakar. He has the rare ability to combine the technicalities of his work with sheer readability." India Today

"Brilliant expose…… Kakar’s thesis is sound scholarship of the highest order." Sunday

From Reviews

"With extraordinary sympathy, open-mindedness, and insight Sudhir Kakar has drawn from both his Eastern and Western backgrounds to show how the gulf that divides native healer from Western psychiatrist can be spanned." New York Review of Books

"Kakar insightfully draws cross-cultural analogies and points out, where appropriate, how western and Indian practice vary and the areas of common ground in perception and practice. Highly recommended for psychology, anthropology, and religion collections." Library Journal

"Kakar describes all these encounters with verve and a novelist’s eye for detail…. he’s a uniquely privileged observer, with a fine English style and a droll, ingratiating presence. An extraordinary cross-cultural “field report.” Kirkus Reviews

"Fascinating are the rich observations and insights that Sudhir Kakar gives the reader, and his capacity to understand the techniques and ideas of each healing tradition from its cultural background." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"Offering ethnographic portraits of fifteen different healing systems, ranging from those of Dravidian shamans to Ayurvedic doctors, Kakar combines vivid novelistic descriptions of particular curers and their clients with insightful “inside” accounts of the conceptual system underlying each tradition." Medical Anthropology Quarterly ​

"Ce double regard donne son extreme saveur a ce livre passionnant. Son experience du terrain, sa prise de conscience de la relativite medicale font de lui un heraut du dialogue des cultures." Le Nouvel Observateur

From Reviews

"…informative, thought-provoking and unputdownable."  Khushwant Singh, India Today

"…succeeds in lighting up its subject with intelligence and tact."

 John Gross, New York Times

"…engrossing and thought-provoking…each chapter is worthy of much discussion and deliberation..hard to put down." David Davidar, Sunday

"…one of the fringe benefits of reading this passionately written book has been getting to know the great love legends in unusual detail…exceptionally thought provoking." Indian Express

"…always illuminating. The juxtaposition of the stories with the analyses, the clarity of expression and the diverse range in the choice of legends make this a highly readable text."

Rita Joshi,  Hindustan Times

From Reviews

"Presents more lucidly than anything I have read so far the fears and prejudices which bedevil relations between Hindus and Muslims." Dileep Padgaonkar, Biblio

"A magnificent book which certainly deepens our understanding." Outlook

"A serious, scholarly work that deserves to be on the bookshelf of anyone who is interested in studying the growth of communalism in India." Sunday

"This is an immensely insightful book, clearly and powerfully written, which takes us to the heart of one of the most important and enigmatic phenomena of our day." Charles Taylor in IWM

"What Sudhir Kakar offers in this impressive, sensitive work……. can serve as a model for future studies – such as the violence in Rwanda, ex-Yugoslavia, China and Tibet, in the states of the former Soviet Union or even between North and South Ireland." Sud-Deutsche Zeitung, Germany

"This is a captivating book which is as exciting to read as a novel… (Kakar) is a modern Indian intellectual who tells fascinating stories from a fascinating country……. a book that can be read easily by individuals from a broad range of disciplines." Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany

"Will fascinate anyone interested in religious and cultural conflict." Journal of Indo-European Studies

"Has written a readable, important book on an important subject which invites the reader to concern himself with the social and psychological problems of contemporary world." Psyche

"A book that can be read easily by individuals from a broad range of disciplines." International Journal of Psychoanalysis