Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Babel: An Arcane History

Buddy read with Sharron Joy. ^^

Where do I begin. This was perfection in a novel... Bold words, I know.

This straight away reminded me of a recent read, being Jonathan strange and Mr norrel in tone, but I would say more accessible, which is funny because one of the main things I loved about this novel was how academic this was. I've always liked the idea of dark academia but always thought I'd struggle to understand the information, (probably why I leaned away from this for so long), but it was so reader friendly in its prose and so fascinating that I couldn't help pour over every word. It was so surprisingly easy to read that I barely minded the lack of consistent short chapters.
As well as being visceral in the vibe of the genre, it wasn't shy on having substance.

The plot was thick and intricate, with threads of conspiracies and beautiful detailing on the science behind silver-working (the magic system in this world). The conversations on interpretation, colonialism, building into a corrupt Empire was just so powerful to read about.

The victorian setting was lush, filled with jaw dropping descriptions of an imagined Oxford in what you could call this alternate history, and the early tour of the Institue of Language itself was fascinating.

Speaking of language, the etymology was so thorough, fascinating and deep. I loved seeing how different languages connected, and in this case, paired together to create something quite magical, yet equally dangerous in the wrong (and of course, powerful) hands.

Our characters..Oh what can I say that hasn'y been said before?
I Ioved the friendship demonstrated here, especially between Robin and Ramy. Seeing our main four characters explore Babel from their varying and diverse perspectives and as novice scholars of language was such a delight.
I appreciated getting interludes of the other threes upbringing and history, because the story is mainly told from Robin's perspective, so it was nice to change it up a bit and appreciate a bit more of the other characters. Even if we didn't have that, I could never accuse Robin, Ramy, Victoire and Letty of being flat characters. They felt real.

The whole time, pacing was brilliant. This was especially noticed at times when I was listening to the audio.

I feel like I learned so much during my time in this world. I'm left heartbroken and in awe at the sheer aduacity of excellence R.F. Kuang had in crafting this whole piece together. Coming into this as the first novel I've read from this author, I now understand that all the praise is well deserved and I look forward to trying out her other novels.

A note on the audio - the voices and accents the narrator could flit between was so impressive. He sounded like a BBC news reporter for the first time, but this was quite endearing as time went on.
I loved blended reading this one (physical and audio). It felt like my own little match-pair.

Content Warnings

cepbreed's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

“Anger was a chokehold. Anger did not empower you. It sat on your chest; it squeezed your ribs until you felt trapped, suffocated, out of options. Anger simmered, then exploded. Anger was constriction, and the consequent rage a desperate attempt to breathe.”

I AM INCONSOLABLE BECAUSE OF THE ENDING. This is my favorite book of the year thus far.

I knew it was coming. I knew the name Babel was a prophecy of the end, but I am still inconsolable. They were pure, intelligent and gentle kids and they were forced to live through one injustice after another. I can’t believe anyone would read this and not understand it. Sweet Ramy, Robin, and Victoire. I know you as well as I know any friend and love you the same. Even Letty I feel for despite thinking I was going to hate her in the middle of the book. It’s irrational because of what she’s done, but just like them she was just a child. I am scarred by Victoires epilogue and tortured by not knowing what will become of her, not knowing what was in Griffin’s letter to Robin. I am happy knowing that in his last moments Robin heard his real name. However I am filled with hope to know that Victoire stayed true to her self, stealing some silver and keeping the list of contacts. She’s my hope and I love her. I just wish we saw more of Victoire sooner.

I am so incredibly impressed by this book. The concept of translation/etymological magic is so enchanting and creative I’m amazed. There are so many poignant lines that have left me speechless. R. F. Kuang is meticulous and a true talent. After reading two of her books I’m convinced she has become an instant buy for me. The entire time I was nearly convinced silver working was real and I was simply suffering the misfortune of being born too late and in the US instead of the UK. Babel is brilliant and despite being set in the past has many lessons applicable to today, as any brilliant novel should. I can’t say it enough: I love R. F. Kuang!!!! I’ve been seeing scathing reviews from ignorant people online and I must confess it gives me the strangest sense of satisfaction. They are exactly who are being called out through Babel and yet they can’t comprehend that and choose to be irrationally angry instead. It’s just a testament to their stupidity. On the contrary each time I understood a historical reference, had read one of the books/passages that began every chapter etc, I felt so intellectual. It’s a good feeling to have and I truly believe it enriched my experience with the text. I definitely wouldn’t recommend reading this if you aren’t willing to look things up at times or really read through the footnotes. It’s really helpful to have some basic understanding too of the subject matter like the philosophers mentioned or the historical context.

As a mixed kid all this talk of dreaming in a language has made me so incredibly sad. I’m motivated to learn Korean for my mother’s side of the family but in all honestly I feel pessimistic as well. Despite my heartfelt connection to the text and Robin’s experience with his cultural heritage I believe this book is for everyone. No I don’t have to imbue the text with my personal anecdotes in order to enjoy a book, but I keep finding myself doing exactly that (especially with Kuang’s work). My father is a classics professor and proficient in learning languages (including Greek and Latin) so he would fit right in at Babel. Seeing him in the text opens up the possibility of seeing myself in it as well. I love the idea of becoming a polyglot and have never struggled while learning French in school but my envy for the Babel kid’s skill is immense. I’ll put more effort into my French and Korean studies.

Songs:

Alleyways - The Neighbourhood
Family Line - Conan Gray

Content Warnings

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

The scholarship behind this book is astounding. I wish I knew a quarter of what Rebecca Kuang knows about languages and history.

Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy for her to impart that knowledge and the first third of the book is too didactic. The story speeds up considerably when we’re focused on Robin and his cohort, and their scholarly exploits.

I was repeatedly surprised that offhand comments about people and events were based on what had actually happened. The merchants in Canton, the Chinese commissioner, the 20,000 barrels of opium (without quite as much theater) - all were true. The Rebecca Riots, Peterloo - all repeated instances of England crushing the lower classes. And all the etymologies were real, nothing made up to fit the plot.

I really liked this book and am looking forward to reading The Poppy War trilogy sometime. For alternate histories, this one is superb.

Content Warnings

ophillya's review against another edition

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4.0

holt shit

Content Warnings

alisonvh's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

dragonwriter's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Welcome to an alternate Victorian England, where magic is bound in silver, comprised of a "matched pair" of words, words translated into two languages to accurately capture the intent of the spell. Meet Robin Swift, born in Canton, China, but brought to England by his British Guardian, raised specifically to be a translator and silversmith, to continue the British Empire through the magic of silver. He's kept fairly isolated growing up, focused on his studies in Latin, Greek, English, and Mandarin, Robin makes no real friends until he is sent to Oxford and put in the Babel program, where he will be trained to find matched pairs. His cohort of peers are Remy, from India, Victoire from Haiti via France, and Lettie, the pretty daughter of an British Admirable. Robin slides into this group fairly easy, forming a fast friendship with Remy, but when he bumps into Griffin Harvey, his perspective on the world starts to shift. Griffin is his older half brother, the son of the professor who raised him. who was pulled from China too early to be truly useful to the professor and was thus discarded when he could no longer serve his purpose. Pessimistic about the world, Griffin is still determined to undermine the British Empire in every way he can, stealing silver and resources from Babel itself and forming a society he calls "Hermes" to prevent further colonization of the world. At first, Robin joins Hermes as a way to get to know his brother and gain the family he never really had, but when Griffin asks him to help with a particularly violent mission, Robin backs out, not wanting to hurt anyone. Griffin allows this and disappears from Robin's life, letting him fall back into being just a student, and forming deep and lasting friendships with his cohorts -- until he discovers that Victoire and Remy have also joined Hermes. Things truly come to a head when the cohort discovers that Babel professors are purposefully poisoning China with opium and pushing for war, all so that England could maintain its superior silver stores and national pride in itself. Then, Robin is forced to stop standing on the fence and pick a side.

There was a slow but beautiful build of the plot. It really let you get to know the workings of this world that is so close to ours and see through the eyes of those fighting for equality in a white-ruled world. Large sections of the book read like college lectures on magic and etymology, and quite honestly, those were my favorite parts! This book really showed the struggles BIPOC face day to day, as well as how little the government cares for its working class people. It also makes a powerful argument that the repercussions and collateral damage of a strike should lie with those in power, and not those asking the power to stop the injustices they suffer.
I highly recommend this book!

Content Warnings

wad3mil3sgarru2's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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