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abi_sherbs 's review for:
Babel
by R.F. Kuang
I loved this book! The character of Robin was so well developed, his internal struggles regarding his simultaneous love and hate of Oxford was really well written. I've read some reviews that say there is too much information about language and etymology and those passages are too long but I really enjoyed them, they added so much to the plot and my understanding of the alternative history that R F Kuang had built. Even though Babel was set in an alternative history, it's themes of exploitation by England of the countries it colonised are all too real. The British empire's theft of resources from other countries and its hoarding of these resources at the expense of the countries from which they were stolen was really well exemplified.
As someone who can only speak one language, the way that languages cannot always be perfectly translated and meanings can be lost was a relatively new concept for me and I found really interesting. I will always be at the mercy of the translator who will, wether unconsciously or not, always impose their own biases and experiences on their translations.
All of this information and ideas would not have been interesting if they were not delivered within a really good plot with characters that were really well developed. Even Letty's betrayal of her cohort, which was heartbreaking to read, was still written with nuance and I think some empathy, despite her obvious flaws as a person and her narrow way of looking at the world through the lenses afforded her by her privileged upbringing.
This is probably the longest review I've written and yet there is so much more I could say! I loved this book and think it's themes are so important, not only when looking at England's awful colonial past but the attitudes that persist in academia today.
As someone who can only speak one language, the way that languages cannot always be perfectly translated and meanings can be lost was a relatively new concept for me and I found really interesting. I will always be at the mercy of the translator who will, wether unconsciously or not, always impose their own biases and experiences on their translations.
All of this information and ideas would not have been interesting if they were not delivered within a really good plot with characters that were really well developed. Even Letty's betrayal of her cohort, which was heartbreaking to read, was still written with nuance and I think some empathy, despite her obvious flaws as a person and her narrow way of looking at the world through the lenses afforded her by her privileged upbringing.
This is probably the longest review I've written and yet there is so much more I could say! I loved this book and think it's themes are so important, not only when looking at England's awful colonial past but the attitudes that persist in academia today.