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challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
By far one of the best books I've read this year; I'm so glad I picked this up despite being hesitant about the dense language and limited historical knowledge I have of Mid-19th Century England. I always have qualms about the pacing of books and to me, I don't think there was any reason that Babel should have been longer than 400 pages. A lot of unnecessary fluff could have been cut out but pacing isn't a super huge negative for me unless it's very egregious. It's been a while since I've picked up a fantasy novel, and one that makes important commentary about history at that. R.F. Kuang definitely succeeded in sucking me into the world of silver-working and translation; the latter being something I never really gave a second thought to. Throughout the novel, Kuang makes thought-provoking commentary about white supremacy, racism, colonialism, and imperialism by effectively unraveling the very meat of it. Although the novel is very staunchly in opposition to these aforementioned ideas, Kuang does her best to showcase the ideas of the past and flesh out why these notions are wholly incorrect through several characters' actions. I do agree with other reviewers in that Kuang was very blatant about her commentary (very tell not show) but I honestly feel like I'm one of those that needs the guidance to come to the conclusions she wants us to - this novel is great for people that aren't super knowledgeable in these systems and parses it down in an intelligible yet challenging way that makes it still an accomplishment to read and understand. Will be recommending this book to all my friends.
Edit: I also want to point something out about the title of the book that may or may not be spoiler so if you don't want to take the risk I would advise against reading my review further. The full title of the novel (Babel: or, the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution) is in itself, an encapsulating theme of the book. This book tells the story from the revolutionary side - but why is it arcane? It's because the revolution was most likely lost to white supremacy, and we all know that history is written by the winners. A brilliant message just in the title. Kuang is a genius. ARCANE! Amazing.
Edit: I also want to point something out about the title of the book that may or may not be spoiler so if you don't want to take the risk I would advise against reading my review further.