Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

287 reviews

evan_tually's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.0

I chewed through Babel in a little over a week, and it’s the kind of book that eggs you on. The clock says it’s 1AM but there’s an inherent need to know what happens next. Its characters live and die by the colonial machine that is the British Empire, and it would kill you to wait till tomorrow to learn how they survive. A boy’s journey to resistance and liberation is painful to put down for a weekend. And towards the end, when you find yourself running out of pages, there’s simply not enough time for them to win, to thrive, and for their lives to be satisfying. How could they live? How could they love?

And yet, it’s over in a quick, confident decision.

In short, the book is fun to read. In my English classes I struggled with Victorian authors like Dickens and the Brontë sisters, but the way Kuang writes is so approachable. She maintains a Victorian-style voice peppered with contemporary dialog and colonial analysis. It feels old and new. Even though these characters would live over a century ago, their struggles are still relevant in our present struggles. Capitalism and colonialism have been and still are gluttonous. They’re still killing us.

Perhaps that’s why Kuang’s prose reads more easily than the authors of the time. She’s crafted characters and stories that are fantastical yet still informed by history. Much research went into its historical pseudo-accuracy, its magic system, and its linguistics. Kuang writes so lovingly and respectfully that you can’t help but empathize and relate Robin’s struggles to your own. You can’t help but wonder- what could I do for liberation?

For those who are very informed on history and politics, a lot of the themes won’t feel new. For some, Babel will feel like the first decolonial/anticolonial novel you'd introduce to someone. It arguably doesn’t add anything new to this discourse, and is more interested in fantasizing what acting towards our liberation looks like. And it does that well for the most part.

Where I take some issue with Kuang’s prose is the heavy hand she takes with her messaging. The result is little room for subtext, as when Griffin explains to Robin how Babel is not actually a place to discover knowledge:
‘How does all the power from foreign languages just somehow accrue to England? This is no accident; this is a deliberate exploitation of foreign culture and foreign resources. The professors like to pretend that the tower is a refuge for pure knowledge, that it sits above the mundane concerns of business and commerce, but it does not. It’s intricately tied to the business of colonialism. It is the business of colonialism. Ask yourself why the Literature Department only translates works into English and not the other way around, or what the interpreters are being sent abroad to do. Everything Babel does is in the service of expanding the Empire…’ (100)

One of Babel’s central themes is about how all parties under a colonial state are complicit in its colonial violence, regardless of the degree of direct involvement. A soldier who murders people to make room for settlers is aided by a scholar who negotiates on the state’s behalf. And the people who enjoy resources extracted from this land enjoy settler-colonial violence whether they realize it or not.But Kuang doesn’t necessarily let the reader come to this conclusion themselves. As Robin spouts revolutionary ideals to cover for his friends (263) or realizes his disgust at how British opium affects the Chinese (317), all this messaging is direct to the reader. The room for analysis is shrunk, and thus, by the end it can feel that Babel has overstayed its welcome. This further exacerbates feelings that none of the messaging is new, though, if this is your first time learning about these topics, it’s still a fun exploration.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty and Toxic friendship

goldenlake's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Torture, Violence, Toxic friendship, Racism, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Classism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Body horror, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Gore, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Grief, Colonisation, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Genocide, Drug use, Child abuse, Cursing, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, War, and Sexism

Minor: Deportation, Slavery, Infidelity, and Alcohol

spookylettuce's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

I cannot express how much Babel resonates with me (reference intended) as an Indigenous person, a person with both colonised and coloniser heritage, in academic spaces. I also work in a colonial institution where artefacts are displayed that include some of my direct ancestors. This is some of my positionality that I think is why Babel echoes my experience.
Some things explored within Babel (or at least how I interpreted it while reading) that really resonated with me and that I grapple with in my life were:
In colonial institutions whose foundations are built on systemic classism and racism how far must we go to decolonise? Does it require the complete dismantling of these institutions? Is violence necessary and/or justified, and how much of it? If colonised people are used by the system and benefit from it, are they complicit in the lateral violence against their own people? And how much are they willing to tolerate the inherent racism/classism/colonisation they are subjected to within these systems to survive? How far does their personal responsibility to advocate for their people extend?  And many more but I feel like this is already a lot.
I also loved the magic system and the way that it considered the effects of globalisation/colonisation on evolving word meaning and that the effectiveness of match-pairs changed as a result.
The two languages I am fluent in (and dream in) are both languages of colonising nations while I only know bits and pieces of Indigenous language, learned in other dialects in colonial academic institutions. I’m in the sciences where despite Western methods often corroborating Indigenous Knowledge and Ways of Knowing, and holistic understanding being so integral to innovation and understanding, non-Western traditional methods are still widely frowned upon. Which I feel like Babel mirrored with a particular character and a particular character’s upper-year project respectively.
Ultimately, I don’t think Babel will have such an effect on all readers. But for me as an avid enjoyer of magical realism, magic in academic settings, magic systems, and with my personal lived experience it was profound. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Sexism, Racism, and Classism

potatogrr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Racism, Gun violence, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Genocide, Torture, Colonisation, Child death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Confinement, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit

e_asw_97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

Kuang has broken me for the better

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Xenophobia, and Suicide

Minor: War and Slavery

d6ni_3la's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is about the might and beauty of different languages. About identity crisis, human relationships, sacrifices and morals.
If you love languages, their structure, their history, their characteristics, then you'll love this one. Later in the book, you'll also see Robin, a boy who was teared away from his hometown Canton and brought to England, struggling with his identity. Is he now Chinese or English? 
Also the friendship between the four students is worth reading.
Beautiful, beautiful book.
Loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

ineedmorecoffee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

I loved this book. An epic tale, with so many incisive observations about the nature of colonialism and power.

Ramy’s death, I felt like I’d been injured, he was that well written that I rooted for him.

A long book, but definitely worth getting stuck into.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Death of parent, Drug use, Trafficking, Suicide, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

not_asha01's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Blood, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Medical content, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Abandonment, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

Minor: Addiction

emsavors's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Confinement, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Child death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Xenophobia, Genocide, Grief, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Hate crime, Torture, and Toxic friendship

lizzie_b99'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book. Wow. Just wow. It's amazing. Make sure you check triggers as needed because this books has A LOT of triggers. I love the reimaging of the Industrial Revolution as powered by silver rather than coal and the focus on how academia is implicated in colonial systems. The ending was so good. I wished for more, but the elisions I think are intentional and are part of Kuang's point. I both have too many thoughts and no thoughts. Be prepared to stay up super late once you get to the latter parts, because you'll need to know how this book ends immediately. I'm going to have to get The Poppy War trilogy ASAP now to read more of Kuang's amazing work. 

Did anyone else see Ramy/Robin's relationship as queer-coded? I'm wondering if part of the reason Ramy doesn't see Letty in a romantic light is because he's queer? (Though to be clear, there are A LOT of reasons why Ramy might not want to be in a relationship with Letty. Like so many). In a lot of passages throughout the novel, but especially Ramy/Robin's instant connection and Robin's response after Ramy's death really made me see their relationship as being more than just a close friendship

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Violence, Torture, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Child death, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug use, War, Classism, Slavery, and Police brutality

Minor: Confinement and Infidelity