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Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang
172 reviews
trashbinfluencer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Blood, Confinement, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, War, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexism, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, and Slavery
fionamclary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
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
4.5
If you've ever found yourself wondering what it would take for you to give up your current way of life and join an uprising, this book is for you.
As a huge language nerd, I was absolutely delighted with the magic system. It's clear that Kuang is also a language lover and has put a lot of research and passion into all the many languages that play a part in Babel. It's not a complicated magic system by any means, but it doesn't have to be when the intricacies are SO fascinating (at least to me).
Also, as a current physics grad student, the descriptions of Robin and his classmates' first few years at Babel were all too familiar and at times painfully relatable. The intense workload, the way it makes you a bit crazy, the closeness it can bring about when shared with others. The first third of the book set up the perfect premise for dark academia: golden summer days of picnics with your best friends, long nights in the library, and many hints that all is not right within the institution. And Kuang certainly delivered on that premise, escalating matters all the way.
I'm aware that this book made several white women quite angry. As a white woman, I can see why. Through one particular character, Kuang delivers an unflattering portrait of how white women can harm their friends of color simply by inaction and ignorance, and how they can fail when presented with the opportunity to commit to liberation. Although in some ways simplified for the purposes of fitting within the story and conveying the author's point, this portrait is not exactly wrong. I think there's some validity to criticism that the book does not do enough to address Robin and Ramy's internalized sexism, which hurts both Victoire and Letty. I think the fact that only Robin and to a somewhat lesser extent Ramy are fully fleshed-out for about the first half of the book does hamper some of the book's messages. But to say that this book indicts white women or even white people is ridiculous. The climax involves an immense show of solidarity across class and racial lines. ProfessorCraft , in my mind, serves to show what Letty could have been if she had fully confronted her biases and her complicity and done the right thing.
Speaking of which, the climax of this book was beautiful and destructive. I cried for fully the last 20 pages, which never happens. In the end, I don't think I fully agree with Robin. I'm not sure if Kuang does, either. I don't think we're meant to feel one way or the other -- just consider his choices and his beliefs, and hopefully we understand how he came there, having grown up with him, as it were, and seen him through all the events that led up to his decisions in the last chapters of the book.
Highly recommend for language lovers, academics who feel complicated about their funding sources, and first-world leftists trying to understand their place in the world and their role in a frightening future.
As a huge language nerd, I was absolutely delighted with the magic system. It's clear that Kuang is also a language lover and has put a lot of research and passion into all the many languages that play a part in Babel. It's not a complicated magic system by any means, but it doesn't have to be when the intricacies are SO fascinating (at least to me).
Also, as a current physics grad student, the descriptions of Robin and his classmates' first few years at Babel were all too familiar and at times painfully relatable. The intense workload, the way it makes you a bit crazy, the closeness it can bring about when shared with others. The first third of the book set up the perfect premise for dark academia: golden summer days of picnics with your best friends, long nights in the library, and many hints that all is not right within the institution. And Kuang certainly delivered on that premise, escalating matters all the way.
I'm aware that this book made several white women quite angry. As a white woman, I can see why. Through one particular character, Kuang delivers an unflattering portrait of how white women can harm their friends of color simply by inaction and ignorance, and how they can fail when presented with the opportunity to commit to liberation. Although in some ways simplified for the purposes of fitting within the story and conveying the author's point, this portrait is not exactly wrong. I think there's some validity to criticism that the book does not do enough to address Robin and Ramy's internalized sexism, which hurts both Victoire and Letty. I think the fact that only Robin and to a somewhat lesser extent Ramy are fully fleshed-out for about the first half of the book does hamper some of the book's messages. But to say that this book indicts white women or even white people is ridiculous. The climax involves an immense show of solidarity across class and racial lines. Professor
Speaking of which, the climax of this book was beautiful and destructive. I cried for fully the last 20 pages, which never happens. In the end, I don't think I fully agree with Robin. I'm not sure if Kuang does, either. I don't think we're meant to feel one way or the other -- just consider his choices and his beliefs, and hopefully we understand how he came there, having grown up with him, as it were, and seen him through all the events that led up to his decisions in the last chapters of the book.
Highly recommend for language lovers, academics who feel complicated about their funding sources, and first-world leftists trying to understand their place in the world and their role in a frightening future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Murder, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Racial slurs, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Hate crime, Blood, Sexism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Suicide
Minor: Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Addiction, Islamophobia, Slavery, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pandemic/Epidemic
snugglor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
A really enjoyable critique of colonialism and cultural theft, parcelled in the easily digestible form of fiction. I loved this story and couldn't read it fast enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Violence
Minor: Drug abuse
rafritz1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Death, Abandonment, and Misogyny
Minor: Drug abuse, Genocide, Car accident, and Classism
namelessreader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Colonisation, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Slavery, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and War
neonskylite's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
Hard to quantify the scale of this book. Such a deep and deconstructive approach to language and how we express ourselves. A stark reminder for academics and translators and linguists, anyone, what we are upholding and how to fight it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Gun violence, and Slavery
Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
If you put aside all the magical elements you have a bunch of realistic characters and many are vile. You may see your own decision making reflected in certain characters. For example choosing to not take actions in order to keep oneself comfortable despite what effect that has on unprivileged people. This is no [Child Wizard Series] book so if you go in expecting the 'good people are good because the author says so' treatment you will find the characters disappointing.
The character arc of Letty choosing to take actions that doom her supposed close friends because her idea of protecting them is to chain them into a life that is comfortable for her while refusing to accept that society prevents them from being able to live that life. I think Letty will be a very aggravating character for many but she embodies 'white woman tears.'
There are several characters that I wish had been explored moreGriffin and his group, Ramy, Victoire. Victoire and Anthony feel almost like the 'magical negro' stereotype since one doesn't really do much (until we need the conflict of 3 of the friends secretly being in the same rebel group without telling each other) and the other going on to take action after everyone else is no longer able to.
It also would have been interesting to see the effects Britain was having on other places in addition to China, which may have helped cement each of our four main characters' motivations a bit better. We know explicitly that Robin and Ramy want to help their homelands but Victoire is a little unclear and Letty is Letty.
There is a really great quote about Letty and how her upbringing shapes her world: "And Letty, if she could not belong to a place, would rather tear the whole thing down. " This is a really great demonstration of who Letty is as a person. Her privilege is so blinding she refuses to accept the path her friends are taking and ultimately kills Ramy to protect him. She literally destroys, betrays, and tries to manipulate her friends in order to prevent changes that would be uncomfortable for her in particular and Britain in general. She does not care about China or its people so long as the silver it contains can be acquired and used by Britain. She thinks her friends should be grateful and do whatever they need to so they may stay in Britain and not care about the homelands they were (literally) stolen from because Britain is HER homeland and it could become their homeland if they work/pretend hard enough. I have Opinions about Letty and disturbingly have seen some of her arguably worst behaviors in myself and others when asked to boycott certain products or block certain 'beloved' persons.
The ending was unsatisfactory because of the epilogue. It is set up for two people to have a conflict in the spirit of Javert and Jean Valjean. One is on a quest to see how big the rebel group is and the other is seeming back to their comfortable life after all the events. The actions involving the tower would have felt empty without it however. Babel is set up to have a sequel but the author has been reported to have no interest in writing a sequel or any other book in the Babel universe so that setup just becomes loose ends. The audiobook handles the footnotes very well and the reading experience is best enjoyed by listening and reading simultaneously.
There are several characters that I wish had been explored more
It also would have been interesting to see the effects Britain was having on other places in addition to China, which may have helped cement each of our four main characters' motivations a bit better. We know explicitly that Robin and Ramy want to help their homelands but Victoire is a little unclear and Letty is Letty.
There is a really great quote about Letty and how her upbringing shapes her world:
The ending was unsatisfactory because of the epilogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexism, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, War, Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Ableism, Classism, and Drug use
Minor: Death of parent, Gun violence, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
We see body horror-esque violence precisely in one scene. There is a lot of blood-related description from that scene on.mereas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-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
A contemporary classic in literature. By the end, I felt simultaneously ruined and astonished by Rebecca F. Kuang's work. She covers the most existential questions in the frame of language and translation. The foundation of etymology and epistemology in the scene of colonialism and systematic oppression are narrated under one boy, Robin Swift, who is half-Chinese and half-English. I found the saddest aspect to this novel being that we never truly know his native name, of which was chosen by his late (Chinese) mother, and I cannot fathom the weight immigrants hold when they are told their names are too hard, complicated, or otherwise foreign for the English man. This also includes the erasure that colonial structures translate upon the foreign body, for they are left with no name nor grave. Rebecca F. Kuang leaves us to question whether protest and resistance should be violent or nonviolent to produce systematic change, in similar vein to the Civil Rights Movement.
Besides the foundation to this historical fantasy, the found-family trope touched my soul. I am a sucker for the most of unlikely friends to become a group of four. Between the lines, there are undertones of queer sentiments that also resonated with me, though they do not go further than just that. This, I did not mind because the characters are constantly in survival mode whether physically or emotionally. The reality underneath Rebecca F. Kuang's words is like a goldfish peaking above the water's surface--the social arguments always felt natural and fluid, which hurt the most.
Language holds so much power, yet it can just as easily be lost.
-
On a side note, I love to find authors' favorite diction. Rebecca F. Kuang is biased to: teeter, tranquility, translation.
-
Besides the foundation to this historical fantasy, the found-family trope touched my soul. I am a sucker for the most of unlikely friends to become a group of four. Between the lines, there are undertones of queer sentiments that also resonated with me, though they do not go further than just that. This, I did not mind because the characters are constantly in survival mode whether physically or emotionally. The reality underneath Rebecca F. Kuang's words is like a goldfish peaking above the water's surface--the social arguments always felt natural and fluid, which hurt the most.
Language holds so much power, yet it can just as easily be lost.
-
On a side note, I love to find authors' favorite diction. Rebecca F. Kuang is biased to: teeter, tranquility, translation.
-
"'What you don't understand,' said Ramy, 'is how much people like you will excuse if it just means they can get tea and coffee on their breakfast tables. They don't care, Letty. They just don't care'" (356).
"'Because you're a good translator.' Ramy leaned back on his elbows. 'That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands'" (535).
"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. It revealed the sheer dependence of the British, who, astonishingly, could not manage to do basic things like bake bread or get safely from one place to another without words stolen from other countries" (471). This, made me question what else can stand in for silver. Oil. Petroleum. Fast fashion. And, at what cost?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Death, Sexism, Xenophobia, Suicide, and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders
navayiota's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
A love letter to all who suffered and continue to suffer. A modern classic, heartbreaking and perfect. I cried in the night, staying up late to finish this behemoth of a book. My new favourite of all time.. Bless Kuang and her brilliant mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Murder, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Suicide, Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death of parent, Misogyny, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Islamophobia, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Addiction, and Deportation
fronk10's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
sad
fast-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
4.0
An excellent and thought provoking read. I loved the characters, and Robin’s journey was so interesting to watch. It also has such a unique magic system that I adored, I just feel it got a little bogged down in semantics sometimes - but they are language scholars after all! A hard read at times, but a necessary one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, War, Racism, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Death of parent, and Child abuse