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Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Minor: Vomit
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution is a WILD ride, but I love the depth of the world and character building. The amount of history, both factual and fictional, in this book is just mind-boggling. I cannot begin to fathom the amount of research that went into the making of this book. The more they got into translation, the more I loved it, being a translator myself. The interweaving of translation into its own magical system is such an interesting and enthralling concept. I just wish it hadn’t been used for such nefarious purposes.
Because this book has broken my wistful heart. The inequalities and themes of colonialism and oppression that were as rampant and destructive in this fictional world as they are in our own are as crushing on the page as they are off it. From at least Chapter 20 and honestly, probably several before that, you can practically see the inevitable end coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to get through - plus Robin’s early years are rough as well, with abuse and neglect for anything but his academic advancement featuring heavily. The last eight chapters of the book are particularly rough. My wistful heart is buried under the weight of Babel’s rubble.
I switched to the audio version after trying to read and annotate the physical copy I’d bought, which felt too overwhelming. Maybe one day, I’ll go back to the physical version, but the audiobook is well-narrated and evocative.
I’ll forever wonder what happened to Victoire....
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Drug abuse
Ein Oxford in einer alternativen Realität zur Zeiten der Industrialisierung. Mir haben die Themen Liebe zur Sprache, Kolonialismus und Rassismus und Widerstand dagegen sehr gut gefallen. Außerdem haben mich die vier sehr unterschiedlichen Hauptpersonen und ihre Geschichten gefesselt.
Das Ende schreit eigentlich nach einer Fortsetzung.
Einzig die etwas ausufernden Fußnoten haben den Lesespaß vielleicht ein klein bisschen getrübt.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation
Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Toxic friendship
Minor: Drug use, Sexism, Slavery, Grief, Cultural appropriation, War, Classism
Even if this is classified as a historical fantasy, I do think the fantasy element is rather more in the background and quite small compared to your usual fantasy book.
But the book made the fanfasy part up with the way it was written and the themes of xenophobia, racism, colonialism, violence and the industrialisation. The characters, especially the main four, had so much depth and all had their own story. The way their background impacted their daily lives in a similar yet different way was beautifully written. Even if it was sometimes upsetting to read as a POC woman myself.
There were so many lines that hit home to me on a personal level. Even if this story was set in a different time period, the struggle between being born and raised in two different places was very relatable. Also, the comments and the open or covert racism Robin had to deal with especially.
As someone who specified in languages it was super interesting to see the ethymology discussed in the book. But in a way that is was not boring or felt too dry.
The references towards the British empire being built on blood and slaves and the industrialisation with it consequences were smart. It was touching to come across a lot of characters in the book who resisted the Crown.
The betrayal of Letty did not surprise me. I was very wary of her when she said to believe her friends almost immediately when they told their hardships when Robin killed Lovell. It seemed too easy and so it was. Her betrayal hert me. Her reasoning were things I hear on almost a daily basis, which made me angry. And also, her shooting Ramy specifically was cold blooded and calculated. Her ego could not handle the rejection of Ramy. As white women nowadays also do when they are rejected by POC men is they seek revenge, albeit unintetionally. That is what ut came down to with Letty. Her white superiority complex could not handle the rejection.
It was great to see Robins character development from a boy who was only able to close his eyes because of priviledge to a man who could no longer close his eyes comfortably and taking action. Even without regard for his own life.
This book nailed it to bring difficult themes into a historical fiction in a way to better see the POV of POC people in that time but also nowadays. I love that Kuang especially took the time to reach out to people to write the characters of Robin, Victoire and Ramy the best.
Some quotes I resonated with:
"And herein lies the difficulty rewriting is still writing, and writing always reflects the author's ideology and biases."
"He hated this place. He loved it. He resented how it treated him. He still wanted to be a part of it."
"Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes."
"He was fine with resistance as long as it didn't hurt him. And the contradiction was fine, as long as he didn't think too hard about it, or look too closely."
"...,it would seem a great paradox, the fact that after everything they had told Letty, all the pain they had shared, she was the one who needed comfort."
"Sterling Jones was just the same as Letty, except without the shallow sympathy of purported friendship. They both thought this was a matter of individual fortunes instead of systematic oppression, and neither could see outside the perspective of people who looked and spoke just like them."
"...when really we are severed from our motherlands and raised within spitting distance of a class we can never truly become a part of."
"Colonialism is not a machine capable of thinking, a body endowed with reason. It is naked violence and only gives in when confronted with greater violence."
"What became clear was how deeply Oxford relied on silver, how without the constant labour of its translation corps, of the talent it attracted from abroad, it immediately fell apart. It revealed more than the power of translation."
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Slavery, War
Minor: Vomit
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Murder
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Child death, Suicide
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Colonisation, War
R. F. Kuang’s world building and character development are so stunning and done so well, with such a deft hand. She draws out hope and dashes it away with violence, but it’s doesn’t just make you feel traumatised, it calls to your humanity.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery