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A review by real__jmt
Babel by R.F. Kuang
5.0
Can I read this one for the first time, again?
As someone who was dabbling in translation in college, this novel truly pulled at my heart strings and reminded me of how much fun translation is, how powerful language is. It drew me in so quick, and I have to say, I wish I had more time to read it once I started.
The characters were both endearing and frustrating, disgusting and menacing. It truly felt like I'd have known about them from history books and poetry. Without spoiling the book, I just have to say that the themes of colonialism, abolitionism, consumerism were so well thought out and explained in a way that made the complexities of the world much less so. The footnotes were a wonderful edition and almost felt as though I really was reading historical text.
5/5 stars, and heavily recommended. R.F. Kuang is truly one of my favorite authors, and I have yet to read her amazing series! (That is on my TBR shelf~)
As someone who was dabbling in translation in college, this novel truly pulled at my heart strings and reminded me of how much fun translation is, how powerful language is. It drew me in so quick, and I have to say, I wish I had more time to read it once I started.
The characters were both endearing and frustrating, disgusting and menacing. It truly felt like I'd have known about them from history books and poetry. Without spoiling the book, I just have to say that the themes of colonialism, abolitionism, consumerism were so well thought out and explained in a way that made the complexities of the world much less so. The footnotes were a wonderful edition and almost felt as though I really was reading historical text.
5/5 stars, and heavily recommended. R.F. Kuang is truly one of my favorite authors, and I have yet to read her amazing series! (That is on my TBR shelf~)