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A review by cecile87
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
3.0
While I found the play on language and how it reflects and impacts cultural mindsets and thus how one views a problem and then solves it interesting, I found some of the delivery of the story confusing and distracting.
Some parts were deep and other parts felt cartoonish. Rydra’s colleagues felt like a band of Saturday morning kid-fare. Some parts of the story weren’t rendered very clearly—I found myself just moving along to grasp a sense of the trajectory of it.
My favorite parts were the two times the pirate ship members went out on spider-ships to attack the invaders. The fight strategy commands of the pirate captain Tarik were clever and fun. Worth the whole book, almost:
“From the speaker came Tarik’s voice: “Hear this: the strategy is Asylum. Asylum. Repeat a third time, Asylum. Inmates gather to face Caesar. Psychotics ready at the K-ward gate. Neurotics gather before the R-ward gate. Criminally insane prepare for discharge at the T-ward gate. All right, drop your strait jackets.”
Some parts were deep and other parts felt cartoonish. Rydra’s colleagues felt like a band of Saturday morning kid-fare. Some parts of the story weren’t rendered very clearly—I found myself just moving along to grasp a sense of the trajectory of it.
My favorite parts were the two times the pirate ship members went out on spider-ships to attack the invaders. The fight strategy commands of the pirate captain Tarik were clever and fun. Worth the whole book, almost:
“From the speaker came Tarik’s voice: “Hear this: the strategy is Asylum. Asylum. Repeat a third time, Asylum. Inmates gather to face Caesar. Psychotics ready at the K-ward gate. Neurotics gather before the R-ward gate. Criminally insane prepare for discharge at the T-ward gate. All right, drop your strait jackets.”