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

5.0

“That's the beauty of learning a new language. It should feel like an enormous undertaking. It ought to intimidate you. It makes you appreciate the complexity of the ones you know already.”

This book is a masterpiece, methinks. A Dark Academia game changer. It's masterfully crafted and it made me fall in love with linguistics more than I already do. It's a very thought-provoking and emotional story. I adored all the lessons about etymologies and the unique magical system.

“How strange,’ said Ramy. ‘To love the stuff and the language, but to hate the country."

The characters are distinct and complex with motives and warring emotions. My favorites were Ramy and Robin but all the characters were wonderfully written.

“For how could there ever be an Adamic language? The thought now made him laugh. There was no innate, perfectly comprehensible language; there was no candidate, not English, not French, that could bully and absorb enough to become one. Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation – a necessary endeavour, however futile, to move between them.”

The book is sheer storytelling brilliance. The final parts ripped my heart to pieces. I seriously can't get over how enchanted I am with this book. It's damn perfect with a powerful message. It's impossible for my words to give this book justice, I will just say that it is the latest addition to my all-time favorite shelf.