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A review by cognitivebats
Babel by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
thematically, this book is excellent. i appreciated how kuang addressed important topics, such as racism, colonialism, sexism, and elitism, that should be discussed when talking about the history of the British Empire and the history of academic institutions like Oxford. i also found the magical system quite interesting, and it lended towards some very insightful discussions on the role of language as a tool to help colonizers take advantage of and ruin the lives of those they colonize to improve themselves. i also really love kuang's writing in general, her writing is very gripping and there are many quotes that i have highlighted in my copy to look back on in the future. i even appreciated the footnotes, i loved seeing the research and passion kuang had for the topics at hand and i felt that i learned a lot from them.
however, i felt that this book was very academic and read like an assigned reading for one of my history classes more than an actual story. in fact, it was a slog to get through the middle of the book because it was mostly lectures about the topics i mentioned above instead of any real plot. the story picks up at the end but because there was not much buildup to it in the beginning; i didn't feel the impact of these events. the characters were all very flat and underdeveloped, and to me, a great majority of them felt like plot devices to explore the themes in the novel rather than characters to get attached to. additionally, the relationships in this novel all felt very unconvincing due to the fact we were told they existed rather than being shown moments where we got to see the relationships come to life.
overall, i think the ideas in the book were excellent, but i do wish the execution of them was more similar to kuang's previous work the poppy war, which explored many similar themes but also had gripping character development and a more engaging plot rather than being purely academic in nature.
however, i felt that this book was very academic and read like an assigned reading for one of my history classes more than an actual story. in fact, it was a slog to get through the middle of the book because it was mostly lectures about the topics i mentioned above instead of any real plot. the story picks up at the end but because there was not much buildup to it in the beginning; i didn't feel the impact of these events. the characters were all very flat and underdeveloped, and to me, a great majority of them felt like plot devices to explore the themes in the novel rather than characters to get attached to. additionally, the relationships in this novel all felt very unconvincing due to the fact we were told they existed rather than being shown moments where we got to see the relationships come to life.
overall, i think the ideas in the book were excellent, but i do wish the execution of them was more similar to kuang's previous work the poppy war, which explored many similar themes but also had gripping character development and a more engaging plot rather than being purely academic in nature.