Reviews - Babel | The StoryGraph

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65.1k reviews for:

I breezed through this in 5 days but life got in the way and was only able to finish the last 20 pages of the book 3 weeks later. This was exactly by cup of tea; I love going on a deep internet dive into history and etymology, I’m exactly the type of nerd for this book. RF Kuang conveys language and translation so beautifully, reading the paragraphs on them feels like watching a dance. I do think that because everything was mostly told and not shown, Babel would have made for a powerful emotional story, not just an educational one. Rated this a 3.5 so I’m bumping it to 4 because Goodreads sucks. I’m so excited to read Katabasis!

joyceontheroad's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Enjoyed this book, but took me a while to get through. Quite dense in writing, but an interesting read.

kateinsley's review against another edition

3.5

informative slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was a tricky one for me. Was it beautifully written? Yes! Was the concept interesting and well thought out? Also yes! But did I also almost DNF too many times to count? Sadly, yes. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace for this one, maybe I’m just not the target audience, but it was just too heady and pretentious for me to love it. I have learned other languages and have always loved how words work together, but maybe it was simply too “advanced” for what I wanted in this moment. The story was beautiful and the characters were lovable and deep, but it felt a bit of a slog. Still unsure as to how I really feel about this one.

lnalat's review against another edition

4.25

challenging emotional 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: Complicated

zgran25's review against another edition

3.75

informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was so well researched and expansive.

I’m definitely not intellectual enough for what was discussed, which took away a bit of my enjoyment, but I definitely enjoyed this.

nathreadsbooks26's review against another edition

5.0

I was both excited and somewhat intimidated going into this because I figured it wouldn’t be an easy (or short) read. Thankfully, it’s so well-written I was immediately sucked in and was able to fly through it. This was such a powerful and intense dive into the world of translation and language!! So many strong messages and themes!! 100% worth the hype