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justmys's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
…ok. So. Let me just say, the concept, themes and the way the fantastical elements of the world were woven in amongst real world history and colonialism were masterful. Truly. The love, care and passion that went into the building of those portions of the book were truly jaw dropping.
Kuang’s level of intelligence and brilliance surrounding etymology and translation and her immense skill at bringing issues that are still horrifyingly prevalent in the world to the forefront of the story through a powerful lens were a true gift to read and will be staying with me for a long time to come.
And that’s where my 2.75 stars go. That side of this novel was an astounding piece of work. Unfortunately, the rest of the book had to be consumed alongside it.
I was told that the beginning of this book is slow. For me, the beginning ended up being the first 328 pages. And this is a heavy read to begin with.
I found all of the characters within the book shallow and underdeveloped. So much of their lives and interactions were glossed over. Flashbacks or explanations for their behaviour and decisions were often sewn into the book through footnotes giving them the feeling of an afterthought. I spent the entire time wishing this book would have been at least a duology so as to have given room for us to actually get to know the characters as people, and not just awkward stunted players in a black box theatre production.
The main female characters, Victoire and Letty, were often left T-posing in the corner of scenes, utterly forgotten in place of their male counterparts. When they were used (which was woefully little) they either felt like the author didn’t know their character (as with Victoire) or were an absurd cartoonish creation (as with Letty).
Despite the overall themes being interesting I did feel like I was being smacked over the head with the book at times whilst being asked, “Do you get it? Do you understand? Do you even comprehend yet?” which got exhausting because I don’t think I’m as stupid as this book thinks I am.
This book would have been so much more interesting if the lectures had been edited down somewhat in order to give room for character exploration. I’m certain the characters could have been truly loveable if they had been allowed to exist outside of a 2D space. I said to friends that this book had scope to be up there with Six of Crows or Lies of Locke Lamora if only the characters that inhabited the world were given the same love and detail as the world was.
I do want to give this author another chance so will likely read more of her work in the future. There were so many moments where I was sure I could have fallen in love with her writing if only given more to work with.
Kuang’s level of intelligence and brilliance surrounding etymology and translation and her immense skill at bringing issues that are still horrifyingly prevalent in the world to the forefront of the story through a powerful lens were a true gift to read and will be staying with me for a long time to come.
And that’s where my 2.75 stars go. That side of this novel was an astounding piece of work. Unfortunately, the rest of the book had to be consumed alongside it.
I was told that the beginning of this book is slow. For me, the beginning ended up being the first 328 pages. And this is a heavy read to begin with.
I found all of the characters within the book shallow and underdeveloped. So much of their lives and interactions were glossed over. Flashbacks or explanations for their behaviour and decisions were often sewn into the book through footnotes giving them the feeling of an afterthought. I spent the entire time wishing this book would have been at least a duology so as to have given room for us to actually get to know the characters as people, and not just awkward stunted players in a black box theatre production.
The main female characters, Victoire and Letty, were often left T-posing in the corner of scenes, utterly forgotten in place of their male counterparts. When they were used (which was woefully little) they either felt like the author didn’t know their character (as with Victoire) or were an absurd cartoonish creation (as with Letty).
Despite the overall themes being interesting I did feel like I was being smacked over the head with the book at times whilst being asked, “Do you get it? Do you understand? Do you even comprehend yet?” which got exhausting because I don’t think I’m as stupid as this book thinks I am.
This book would have been so much more interesting if the lectures had been edited down somewhat in order to give room for character exploration. I’m certain the characters could have been truly loveable if they had been allowed to exist outside of a 2D space. I said to friends that this book had scope to be up there with Six of Crows or Lies of Locke Lamora if only the characters that inhabited the world were given the same love and detail as the world was.
I do want to give this author another chance so will likely read more of her work in the future. There were so many moments where I was sure I could have fallen in love with her writing if only given more to work with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Addiction, Deportation, Gun violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture
kitkatmacattack's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.75
Has a slow start that sort of made me want to put down the book, but I'm glad I didn't. The second half is amazing and heartbreaking. You will get teary-eyed. This book will make you think and I love it for that!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Racism, Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Classism, and Death
passionatereader78's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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? No
4.5
If you like political fantasy stories this book is perfect for you! If you enjoyed Yellowface, and Atlas Six you will enjoy this book. It's well written and the story is told well. Robin, Remy, Victoire, and Letty are minorities at Oxford University. They are translators and are in the Babel tower. They stick together because they have no one else. They aren't invited to the parties or to go to town. They each face discrimination daily. As they study and spend time at Babel they begin to accept their fates until they meet Griffin and learn about Hermes. Are they strong enough to face the truth about Babel and the part they play? Definitely, check out the trigger warnings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and War
bookswithlauren's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Abandonment, Trafficking, Bullying, Death, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.0
rip ramy mirza you would have loved comedy specials
rip griffin lovell you would have loved action movies
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Addiction, War, Sexism, Slavery, and Misogyny
amaralh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, War, Murder, Grief, Classism, Colonisation, and Blood
_lazyreader_90's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Slavery, War, Gun violence, and Torture
bekkah_co's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Babel was a book I had heard about rumbling around when I was completing my undergraduate degrees and again when I was working on my postgrad. I remember taking a look at this book, saying "That's too many pages right now." and never going back to it. Until last month. I had been wanting to read it for ages at this point, and I finally found myself in a pocket of time where I could just read. Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of Oxford Translators’ Revolution was one of those books that needs serious dedication. It's a slow, meaty text, rich with interesting, magical twists on 19th Century England and British Colonial/Imperialism. R.F. Kuang succeeds at shifting the known notions of this time period to fit the magic system she created. Kuang balances complex characters, academia, translations, and the Oxfordian Superiority Complex (/hj) to create such a compelling narrative of pushing against institutionalized racism and exploitations caused by centuries of imperialism and colonialism.
This book is almost completed experienced through the perspective of Robin Swift, a Cantonese boy taken from Canton following his mother's death due to cholera. Robin is raised by Professor Lovell and a host of tutors that prepare him in languages like Classic Greek, Latin, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Lovell's training and tutelage is solely to make Robin a tool of Babel at the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford. Lovell's goal is to make Robin a translator and silver-worker, creating the magic that helps their world run. It isn't until Robin attends Oxford where we met the other primary characters: Ramiz Rafi "Ramy" Mirza (Indian - from Calcutta), Lettica "Letty" Price (British, specifically English), and Victoire Desgraves (Haitian-French). These four form the cohort we spend the bulk of the narrative with. It isn't until this group is entrenched with the lifestyle Babel offers with riches and devotion to academia, that the aspects of colonialism and exploitation begin to shine through.
I am in love with the footnotes. I spend a lot of time going over nonfiction texts and historical documents. This book, for all of these reasons, fascinated me. There is an intense focus that Kuang places on blending historical accuracies with fictional-historical accuracies. You would not believe the amount of time I spend with translations and translating for my dissertation and on-going academic research. The translations provided in Babel, how the words link together is fascinating. Kuang balances the need for translation within the narrative by providing the concise etymology for the words that hold significance in the narrative and to Robin.
[The match-pairs and etymology reminded me of my early days in linguistics courses, trying to figure out where our English words derived from and how those words came from other words that came from sounds that, as a species, we arbitrarily assigned meaning to. (Nothing beats a breakdown in linguistics for an English Literature major trying to figure out how words are just sounds that mean nothing and everything all at once.)]
The characters in Babel are very compelling. There are points where they feel like simply foils to push the plot along. (Howdy, Griffin!) Yet, when a book is this long and this complex, this is almost a necessity. Robin had, by far, the most interesting character arcs as he began to understand the systematic issues and how it pertains to the colonies and him. It was fascinating to watch as he began unfolding these deeply rooted issues. Ramy, Victoire, and Letty were perfect to demonstrate the imbalance of racial issues in 19th-century England. Major Spoiler Warning. And let me tell you, Letty's character arc? A fucking doozy. Going from white friend who doesn't get it to white friend who is trying to get it to WHITE FRIEND WHO KILLS FRIENDS BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T FUCKING GET IT is insane. I get why Ramy had to die, truly, but his character could have done so much good. I think his death is really what set Robin off on his crusade. It's understandable, it's traumatic. The way Robin and Victoire simply don't have time to understand the gravity of this murder is heart-wrenching.
As I parsed through the GoodReads and The Story Graph reviews of this book, I found myself shocked at some of the lower ratings. The plot is, truly, in the expanded title of the novel. Of course there is revolution with violence. Kuang does not hide that from us. It is apparent from the very first page we open to. It is this violence, this reconciliation that demonstrated the necessity of violence in revolution. It was gut-wrenching and I cried at least twice.
I feel like I need to end with this: Babel did not take me a month to read. It was my "read at work" book, and then I couldn't just "read at work". I finally had some down time today to just sit and read. My god am I glad I finally finished this book.
This book is almost completed experienced through the perspective of Robin Swift, a Cantonese boy taken from Canton following his mother's death due to cholera. Robin is raised by Professor Lovell and a host of tutors that prepare him in languages like Classic Greek, Latin, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Lovell's training and tutelage is solely to make Robin a tool of Babel at the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford. Lovell's goal is to make Robin a translator and silver-worker, creating the magic that helps their world run. It isn't until Robin attends Oxford where we met the other primary characters: Ramiz Rafi "Ramy" Mirza (Indian - from Calcutta), Lettica "Letty" Price (British, specifically English), and Victoire Desgraves (Haitian-French). These four form the cohort we spend the bulk of the narrative with. It isn't until this group is entrenched with the lifestyle Babel offers with riches and devotion to academia, that the aspects of colonialism and exploitation begin to shine through.
I am in love with the footnotes. I spend a lot of time going over nonfiction texts and historical documents. This book, for all of these reasons, fascinated me. There is an intense focus that Kuang places on blending historical accuracies with fictional-historical accuracies. You would not believe the amount of time I spend with translations and translating for my dissertation and on-going academic research. The translations provided in Babel, how the words link together is fascinating. Kuang balances the need for translation within the narrative by providing the concise etymology for the words that hold significance in the narrative and to Robin.
[The match-pairs and etymology reminded me of my early days in linguistics courses, trying to figure out where our English words derived from and how those words came from other words that came from sounds that, as a species, we arbitrarily assigned meaning to. (Nothing beats a breakdown in linguistics for an English Literature major trying to figure out how words are just sounds that mean nothing and everything all at once.)]
The characters in Babel are very compelling. There are points where they feel like simply foils to push the plot along. (Howdy, Griffin!) Yet, when a book is this long and this complex, this is almost a necessity. Robin had, by far, the most interesting character arcs as he began to understand the systematic issues and how it pertains to the colonies and him. It was fascinating to watch as he began unfolding these deeply rooted issues. Ramy, Victoire, and Letty were perfect to demonstrate the imbalance of racial issues in 19th-century England. Major Spoiler Warning.
As I parsed through the GoodReads and The Story Graph reviews of this book, I found myself shocked at some of the lower ratings. The plot is, truly, in the expanded title of the novel. Of course there is revolution with violence. Kuang does not hide that from us. It is apparent from the very first page we open to. It is this violence, this reconciliation that demonstrated the necessity of violence in revolution. It was gut-wrenching and I cried at least twice.
I feel like I need to end with this: Babel did not take me a month to read. It was my "read at work" book, and then I couldn't just "read at work". I finally had some down time today to just sit and read. My god am I glad I finally finished this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Racial slurs, and Sexism
Moderate: Slavery and War
moanareads's review against another edition
dark
informative
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? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Slavery, War, Colonisation, Racism, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexism, Murder, Death of parent, and Child abuse
mollyelyn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction and Drug use
Minor: Alcohol and Blood