Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

177 reviews

cepbreed's review against another edition

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 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Bullying, Colonisation, Murder, Sexism, War, Classism, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Torture, and Slavery

Minor: Alcohol

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Death, Murder, Gun violence, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Grief, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, War, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: Drug use

jhbandcats's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Racial slurs, Blood, Racism, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, and Classism

ophillya's review against another edition

4.0

holt shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Xenophobia, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, War, Vomit, Classism, and Colonisation

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

dragonwriter's review against another edition

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Drug use

Minor: Addiction, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Religious bigotry

wad3mil3sgarru2's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Grief, Sexism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcohol, Bullying, and Classism

Minor: Religious bigotry and Toxic friendship

one_more_chapter96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

Incredibly written, researched and crafted - I felt like I was reading a university paper (but the most interesting and creatively written one ever, so not in a bad way!). There were so many heart warming and familiar moments in the story from the main cohort’s time as students at Uni that brought a lot of nostalgia. There were also a lot of really deep, soul aching points made (sometimes inadvertently) around race, religion, gender and morality that didn’t feel overbearing but were so impactful to read. This book was awe-some really. Quite dense on the foundation / character gilding to begin with but still interesting. Once you hit the 65% mark it all kicks off and is a whirlwind! I laughed, I definitely cried and I am in awe of this story. So heartfelt and introspective whilst being so interesting to learn about the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Grief, War, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Drug use, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Torture, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

There are a lot of triggering subjects covered in this book but they are based in historical contexts and explained from the perspective of those suffering them as part of a systemic classist and racist society under the rule of the British Empire. I think it is dealt with very well and whilst painful at times to read, it makes sense for the characters and is necessary for the story.

chiaralzr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Death, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide, War, Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Xenophobia

melancholymegs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Colonisation, Death, Classism, Child abuse, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Confinement, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Kidnapping, Alcoholism, and Religious bigotry