A review by sahanasri
Babel by R.F. Kuang

emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • 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

man … still processing this one and the ending / how sad i am its over 

Babel felt frighteningly relevant to not only my personal revelations of late but the state of the world as it is now. I actually really enjoyed how slow paced it was (and all the footnotes!) because of the major soft spot I have for linguistics and etymology (and dark academia lmao). As I’m learning (or maybe relearning?) my mother tongue as an adult, the discussions present in Babel on colonialism and language ring so true for me - Eurocentrism robbed me of a language I wish I’d kept since birth. Reading this now is continuing to fuel my curiosity on Telugu and its origins. 

I loved the characters (especially Ramy lol) and how much you see them grow and change in revolutionary ways.
Robin in particular being so hesistant for the majority of the book was so interesting.
Overall I really enjoyed Kuang’s strategic and thorough takedown of colonial power structures and how they were/are able to last because of their incredible violence (both physically and linguistically). Anyway fuck the British empire and I loved this book

Definitely didn’t fully see that ending coming especially with its discussions on dying for a cause… really thought provoking I gotta sit with that one for a while

also R F Kuang always on her white woman hater soapbox lmfaooo
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