Scan barcode
A review by lobotomynow
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
5.0
"Violence is the only language they understand, because their system of extraction is inherently violent. Violence shocks the system. And the system cannot survive the shock. You have no idea what you’re capable of, truly. You can’t imagine how the world might shift unless you pull the trigger."
I wish I could write a beautifully written review about this book; unfortunately, I can't. All I can say is that this is one of the best books I've ever read, and I will be thinking about it for a long, long time. While reading it, I kept thinking about language, how horrifying it is to realize I can't articulate my feelings in my native tongue, only in English. How heartbreaking it is that I say "I love you" all the time, but I can't recall the last time I said "eu te amo." It was also so invigorating to see a revolution described in such a realistic way. We often romanticize revolutions and martyrdom, but they are not pretty or romantic, they are messy. Dirty. Violent. I wish we lived in a society where I could say that the book's message about how only violence will shake our oppressors was an exaggeration. Unfortunately, we don't live in a society like that.
I wish I could write a beautifully written review about this book; unfortunately, I can't. All I can say is that this is one of the best books I've ever read, and I will be thinking about it for a long, long time. While reading it, I kept thinking about language, how horrifying it is to realize I can't articulate my feelings in my native tongue, only in English. How heartbreaking it is that I say "I love you" all the time, but I can't recall the last time I said "eu te amo." It was also so invigorating to see a revolution described in such a realistic way. We often romanticize revolutions and martyrdom, but they are not pretty or romantic, they are messy. Dirty. Violent. I wish we lived in a society where I could say that the book's message about how only violence will shake our oppressors was an exaggeration. Unfortunately, we don't live in a society like that.