Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

206 reviews

crunchycrystals's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

i really loved the use of languages to talk about colonization, racism, and classism and how it relates to academia. i love languages and the use of it to explore the themes felt like it was made for me. it felt pretty dense at times since it's a thick book but i really enjoyed it 

i connected a lot with robin's story as an asian who doesn't know much about their own culture and grew up fairly disconnected from it and more connected to western culture. the scene where he commits to not forgetting cantonese despite them trying to force it out of him hit hard since i've also been told it's useless for me to learn/ use the language since it's not as useful as spanish for example. this book made me want to learn more about my own history and culture etc and i appreciate it for that 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, and War

Minor: Car accident

racism, colonization, and classism are very important parts of the story. its set in the 1800s so people do say slurs and derogatory terms towards the non white characters (ex the word "chinaman" is used multiple times)

electricdryad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

decie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

speechless. rebecca, you've done it again. :')

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Suicide, Islamophobia, Grief, and Death of parent

kayfab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

painausten314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

r.f. kuang takes a little bit of history, some of her own life experience, and a bit of magical thinking to create the story of babel, 19th century oxford's prestigious translation institute. babel is a fantasy, but with accurate reflections on empire, colonization, whiteness, and racism. promising children from around the world are taken from their homes to be taught and trained in the english way, so they can someday attend babel and use their language skills to work for the empire. 

this book explores what happens when the life you want to live directly conflicts with your personal identity and values. it's a harrowing story of heartbreak, resistance, and the ripple effect of white saviorism. but it is also one of love, friendship, sacrifice, and solidarity. 

maybe my favorite part of kuang's writing in babel were the footnotes. it's not often that i read a novel that has footnotes, and she writes them beautifully. some of them are historical references that support the plot line and others are fictional elements that explain the story or characters. if you read babel - and you should - definitely don't skip the footnotes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia, Grief, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

alisonvh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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

5.0

This book is so good and so well written! Although my first instinct is to say the author doesn’t give people enough credit for their capacity for empathy, I can’t deny that white people don’t have a great track record when it comes to empathy for people of color. In that way the book is similar to Power, which I loved. I’m going to have to sit with this one for a while before I can determine how I feel about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

butterfly_seraph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War

martinj's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

krows_ink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"A permanent dialogue with oneself and an increasingly obscene narcissism never ceased to prepare the way for a half delirious state, where intellectual work became suffering and the reality was not at all that of a living man, working and creating himself, but rather words, different combinations of words, and the tensions springing from the meanings contained in words." - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Transcribed by Dominic Tweedie.

Initially, when I picked up Babel I didn't think that I would like it nearly as much as I do now that I have finished. There is something hauntingly beautiful and soul-wrenching contained in these pages. The world feels real because it mostly is. The characters are deeply flawed - each one of them. The writing is exceptional and the use of language use is so profound that I cannot seem to comment on it. Truly, most of my words (ironically) seem to have escaped me even almost 24 hours after completing the novel.

R.F. Kuang's commentary on imperialism and colonialism is incredibly well crafted. Not to mention her exploration of internalized oppression, white supremacy culture, and white feminism. While some may state that the commentary or exploration of these themes felt heavy-handed, I cannot bear to agree. I believe that there are times to be blatant about what you mean and this novel is a perfect example. However, it is not without nuance and room to explore. I will be rereading this book, possibly later this year.

The rest will be marked as spoilers because there are some things I cannot express without possibly delving into the book's later sections.

R.F. Kuang's use of parallels and mirroring of previous scenes in the book blew me away. Everything surrounding Ramy and Robin broke my heart. Not to mention Victoire's backstory and how she was orphaned and the relatability of that to Robin's backstory. To say that I am heartbroken after reading this book is an understatement. A piece of me almost simply wrote "I am empty inside". However, that would be a disservice to this book.

The final scene. The final scene took my breath away. I was a sobbing and incoherent mess as I read it, blabbing nonsense as I broke down all over again reading "She smiles. She says his name." I couldn't have ended Robin's story better. The use of present tense? Amazing. Bringing it back to the first chapter - to the first scene? Heartbreaking. I was so engrossed by these last chapters and felt numb and empty after reading them. Truly one of my new favorites which I consider difficult to earn the title of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Medical content, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Slavery, Islamophobia, and Sexual harassment

paduckling's review against another edition

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

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

4.75

Thematically, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The use of language as fuel for colonialism is just so brilliant. Kuang is truly brilliant. However, I feel like this book could have been virtually perfect if it had just had some more editing. The pace felt off a lot, particularly in the third act. I absolutely know that Kuang can write compelling scenes and characters but a good amount felt lackluster. The misuse of a few words throughout the book also felt especially glaring considering the novel’s premise. I also felt that trying to write it as an academic book was 1) inconsistent and 2) got in the way of good characterization. The four main characters had such good bones to them but in the end I didn’t find them as compelling as I wanted to. It’s just ultimately disappointing how stunning this book is for many aspects but falls flat in others for me personally.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic