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Reviews tagging 'Confinement'
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang
102 reviews
charleyyyyy's review against another edition
3.5
I can definitely see why there is so much hype around this book. Most people will agree that it's strongest point is the theme of colonialism, racist systems as a whole, and the violence and action needed to combat it. It certainly packs a punch. And a kick. And another punch. It never shys away from making a strong statement and saying what needs to be said.
However, there is a lack of nuance in the way this theme is writen, it was all telling no showing. Everything is told to you, the reader has no opportunity to think on these things for themselves. Also the ending contradicts everything the book was trying to say???
I liked the magic system. It was realy well developed and so subtle that it felt like it could almost be real. It blended in realy well with this story and its setting.
The plot started out slow, and a tad boring, but it builds into something compulsively readable and heartbreaking. It's clear that so much research went into this book, and while I admire that, the information was often dumped on us. This made the book feel quite dense.
The charicters were underdeveloped, which greatly impacted my enjoyment of this book.
I could not tell you a thing about Victoire's personality, which is an issue because of how much of an important charicter she is. Rami is my favourite charicter, and even him I don't feel like I know beyond a surface level. Even our main charicter, Robin, was lacking in depth. There was supposed to be a strong moral dilemma Robin was going through, but he wasn't developed enough for it to be convincing. His charicter development was interesting, but again not as good as it could have been, if he was a more fleshed out charicter.
I did not feel the strong bond they were supposed to have as a group, which is an issue when the bond starts to break. How can I feel the bond breaking if i didn't feel the bond in the first place? At one point one of the charicters says to another "we would have died for you" and I was like really??? I was not getting the feeling that they were that close at all, this was so unbelievable.
My biggest issue with this book was how Ramy was treated, and the queer baiting.
Ramy and Robin had something going on between them that was definitely more than friendship, but nothing is ever confirmed or said outright. On either their feelings for each other or their sexualitys. It's a 'not confirmed, not denied' situation, which is sooooo frustrating. I literally googled " is Ramy from Babel queer?" and even google couldnt confirm or deny. Its in the context but not explicit :( (This is incredibly similar to what happened with a charicter from Kuang's other series, the Poppy War trilogy, with Chaghan and Altan. I also had to google if they were queer, and got no answer.) And then it gets worse;
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, Grief, Blood, Racial slurs, Suicide, Torture, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, and War
Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
ericius's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ITA:
Un Fantasy non Fantasy
ENG:
A non-fantasy fantasy
This book gives me mixed feelings.
Starting with positive aspects, the book is really well written, it is smooth and not particularly heavy to read, despite the considerable amount of pages (600 in the Italian version) with a multitude of footnotes and etymology lessons that continue for the whole book.
The research in these areas and the obsessive attention to this subject are very noticeable.
However, not everything in this book enjoys the same attention to research, and this is where the sore points begin;
As I say in the title, this book is a fantasy, that is in fact the main reason that led me to read it, however, although it is absolutely quite clear that there are magical elements, this book does not feel like a fantasy and does not convey anything of what you expect from this genre, if at the beginning I didn't understand why, over time I understood: in fact, all that magic does is to be an expedient to drive and justify the story constructed by the author;
In fact, the effect that magic should bring to the surrounding world is missing,
The world is an almost faithful replica of England in the 1800s and it is not clear to what extent magic modifies the world around (it is mostly talked about but not shown) plus the entire functioning of magic is so justified and planned almost arbitrarily that cuts off the feeling of disbelief that magic normally generates,
The result is a boring world in which the construction of the "Magic" does not change in any way what we know.
That the author had shot herself in the foot with the construction of the magical world can be understood immediately upon opening the book, when with an initial note she lays out all the liberties she has taken in historic Oxford to adjust it for her own project, almost as if she were not authorized to modify the world for a fantasy narrative, or as if readers do not have the mental elasticity necessary to accept something too distant from reality (perhaps I am hypothesizing that this mental elasticity is precisely lacking to the author).
I have read several reviews that also raise problems with the linguistic modality with which the author deals with racism, but I refuse to delve into the matter as I am not prepared enough to express myself.
To conclude: It's not what I expected to read and I'm not satisfied, but it's not a bad book; the ending and some plot choices aren't my thing but I can easily overlook those.
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: War, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, and Suicide
lipka's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I think my favorite was the fluttering. ᜋᜌ᜔ ᜉᜃ᜔ᜉᜃ᜔ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜊᜎᜒᜆ. It ends only as it ever could. The audiobook narration is beautiful. The protagonist's voice ages and breaks. Please send birds.
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Classism, Colonisation, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Slavery, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, Child abuse, and Police brutality
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Alcohol, Deportation, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Sexual harassment
In the second half of the book, sinophobic slurs are weaponized against characters, several times.diamondbreezy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Classism, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Murder, Police brutality, and Confinement
Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual harassment
Minor: Car accident
yzer2468's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Racial slurs, Racism, Confinement, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Deportation, Classism, Death, Murder, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Gore, War, and Drug use
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Slavery, and Genocide
potatogrr's review against another edition
- 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
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
rotten_flesh's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Genocide, Abandonment, Colonisation, Slavery, Confinement, Death, War, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Torture, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Racism
emsavors's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
noahsingh's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Ramy, Victorie and Robin are gonna stay with me for a While.
Graphic: Torture, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, War, Vomit, Suicide, Islamophobia, Confinement, Grief, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, and Violence