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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I love, love, love Samuel R Delany's Science Fiction. I may still have a slight preference for Nova, but Babel-17 and Empire Star take the generic space opera and absolutely explode it to profound, mind bending effect; Babel-17 playing with language and Empire Star playing with time, both about altering perception and thereby altering reality in powerful ways.
First, let me say that I didn't read the entirety of this book, only the "Babel-17" portion. I read it because I'm reading all the Nebula Award winning novels... eventually.
It begins with poet Rydra Wong being enlisted by the government to break a code. This code ends up being the language Babel-17. This language is a weapon used by "the Invaders" to learn those who learn it into traitors.
That's the basic premise of the book, I think, which I only puzzled out by reading several things about it on the internet. Being honest, I was able to zero in on and contemplate some of the things it was saying about language and the way it effects how we perceive everything, but I think a lot of it was lost on me.
It was very readable and enigmatic enough to keep me flipping pages, but being honest here, I think a lot more may be discovered by a repeat read, which I don't know if this book intrigued me quite enough to merit.
*- This book was co-winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel for 1966, tied with Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon".
It begins with poet Rydra Wong being enlisted by the government to break a code. This code ends up being the language Babel-17. This language is a weapon used by "the Invaders" to learn those who learn it into traitors.
That's the basic premise of the book, I think, which I only puzzled out by reading several things about it on the internet. Being honest, I was able to zero in on and contemplate some of the things it was saying about language and the way it effects how we perceive everything, but I think a lot of it was lost on me.
It was very readable and enigmatic enough to keep me flipping pages, but being honest here, I think a lot more may be discovered by a repeat read, which I don't know if this book intrigued me quite enough to merit.
*- This book was co-winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel for 1966, tied with Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon".
Unfortunately, I dropped it because I couldn't understand the text. How shameful lol.
read for “contemporary fiction” course
**planning to do a reread to get a better understanding of everything i’ve just read because this novel is so ambitious, i know for sure i can’t just be simply done with it by having read it only once
**planning to do a reread to get a better understanding of everything i’ve just read because this novel is so ambitious, i know for sure i can’t just be simply done with it by having read it only once
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder
I don't have a lot to say about this one. I tried reading one of Delany's short story collections and couldn't get into it (I have a hard time with finishing short story compilations), so I picked Babel-17 at random based on the description. I ended up reading Empire Star first, because I didn't realize the book was set up that way. I liked Babel-17 better, but they were both interesting. The language stuff in Babel-17 was cool, but I don't feel strongly about the story overall. The characters were fine, but they didn't have particularly deep or well-developed personalities. I might try some of Delany's later writing, but it could be that it's just not my thing.
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
*read for counterculture of the 1960s*
I honestly did not like this one, not so much because of the plot, but because of the writing and the characters. The world was fascinating, but really hard to get into because the details of this world were not fully explained. This would not have been a big problem for me, but I also found the characters hard to like, as they all seemed pretty one dimensional, even the main character Rydra.
I honestly did not like this one, not so much because of the plot, but because of the writing and the characters. The world was fascinating, but really hard to get into because the details of this world were not fully explained. This would not have been a big problem for me, but I also found the characters hard to like, as they all seemed pretty one dimensional, even the main character Rydra.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes