Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

108 reviews

crybabybea's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Well, I'm disappointed.

First of all, the dark academia aspect was done very well. It felt atmospheric, grand, with a hint of mystery. It felt gloomy in a really fun way. The settings outside of the tower itself were less immersive, but the majority of the story takes place inside the tower anyway so it wasn't too distracting. The dark academia vibe was a genius way to explore a story about decolonization and racism. The magic system was inventive and interesting, and I liked how it stood as a metaphor for the industrial revolution.

The characters were just okay. We get to see Robin, the main character, the most, and I felt really attached to him by the end. The other characters had interesting stories that I felt didn't get explored enough. I understand this book leans in to its literary side, and the characters and arguably the entire plot are just allegories for bigger issues, but I think this made the character work suffer and it made the explosive ending pack less of a punch. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending, and I still cried, but some of the other moments that were meant to be heavy-hitting fell flat because I didn't feel the connection to the characters. The found family aspect didn't feel fleshed out enough because of this as well.

I think the character work is a side effect of Kuang's tendency to overexplain things rather than actually have things happen. Some of the messaging was so on the nose that it felt pedantic and almost condescending at times. I wanted to read this book to challenge my thinking, and I hoped it would leave me with lots of thoughts to reflect on afterward, but everything gets explained to you so plainly that it completely ruins the amazing research and work Kuang put into telling the story of racism and colonization in academia. I mean, there were literally times when something racist or sexist would happen, then the narrator would have a whole paragraph to say something like "Robin wonders if this white person realized how racist they were being". It got irritating... I felt like I was on Sesame Street. I will say the writing itself was done very well, the prose was accessible despite the scientific, historical, and literary references used, and I appreciated a lot of R.F. Kuang's comments and her sarcastic footnotes.

The last issue is the pacing, which I think is also a side effect of this "telling not showing" issue. This book only gets good around the 60-70% mark. It had an extremely slow start with very little intrigue. We spent a long time in lectures and I felt not enough time was dedicated to furthering either the charcters OR the plot. It was a lot of sitting around and waiting. I don't mind books that have a hill into a snowball second half, but I almost put this book down multiple times because nothing was happening, then one minor action would happen and I would finally think we were going somewhere, just for it to slow down again. 

All these issues made for a really weird reading experience where I absolutely dreaded picking the book back up, then when I started reading it was just fine and I wanted to know more, then it would get boring and the cycle repeated. I expected more from the rave reviews but left feeling like its potential got wasted. I still do think it's a good read overall, but it could have been better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Addiction, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, War, Xenophobia, Death, Vomit, Murder, Drug abuse, Sexism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, and Genocide

mpeach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Colonisation, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Drug use, Blood, Death, and Racial slurs

broken_biscuits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

As a political thought piece, great. As an actual story, a little rough. While the magic system was *so* cool, I was a little disappointed in the character writing. Still felt like a worthy and important read. I feel like it did a lot of telling the reader how to feel about things, which kind of took me out of the experience, even though I agreed with what I was "supposed to feel." I didn't feel hardly any connection to the characters, since they felt like they were created to make a point. Especially the main character. Victoire and Ramy were the most real to me, but they still kinda felt like plot devices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Blood, Hate crime, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Murder

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, Drug abuse, Gore, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Deportation, Medical trauma, Drug use, Emotional abuse, War, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

leonkaspar's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The way Kuang manages to use symbols and fantasy to recreate the structural issues of our world is mesmerising. 
I love the way the footnotes are embedded into the story and how they highlight the necessary passages with a poignant and scarcastic undertone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Violence, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

aralynn26's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was fascinating, enlightening, and emotional. I loved the school setting and the lectures about translation. The magic system with the silver bars was very unique. This book dealt with a lot of serious topics and it was very thought-provoking. The ending was quite sad and violent. I wish that it had ended a different way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Racism, and War

amaldae's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Colonisation, Violence, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Racism

Minor: Drug use, Slavery, and Genocide

josiebrown's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

definitely one of my new favorite books ever. i dont have the words. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, and Death

em_of_swags's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

wow this book destroyed me ok.

what a powerhouse of a read, a love letter to languages, translation and research, while simultaneously criticizing so in depth the way academia is linked with privilege and imperialism. much to think about.

but also there's a huge list of trigger warnings so don't disregard those.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Torture, Hate crime, Colonisation, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicide, War, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Genocide, and Islamophobia

samick23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read. I also don't know when I'll be able to handle reading it again. I know I want to but I am devastated. You should read this book, it is incredible. R. F. Kuang's world building never ceases to amaze. Equally so her ability to let you live and breathe in the world and really make you feel like you understand it moments before she pulls the rug out from under you. I am equal parts in mourning and in love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Racism, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Abandonment, Genocide, Colonisation, Torture, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, and Grief